23. Evans
Evans
Having my ass eaten wasn’t the worst way to start my day.
In fact, I’d say it was the best. It was like every nerve in my body was firing off all at once, little sparks skittering over my skin as he owned me.
I’d almost popped a knot. The building pressure, made worse by his hands massaging me, was almost too much.
With Hunter orgasms were easy. Intense, but easy in the way I didn’t have to worry about if I was doing the wrong thing or if it felt good.
I heard his moans, felt the reverent praise in every touch when he worshipped my body.
Every brush of his lips against my skin was an affirmation that he wanted this, wanted me.
Why hadn’t Bell told me that it could be like this before? They had slept with countless alphas. Or was it like this because it was Hunter? No wonder omegas lost their shit when an alpha paid them attention, it was addictive.
Speaking of, I send them a text to say that I’m okay, alive and in one sober piece.
Bell: Great. But wht happened w Hunter/Percy?
Bell: U better nt leave me on read…
Bell: Evans…
Bell: U dick
Grinning, I turn off my phone since I didn’t need it right now. After breakfast we’d all headed down to the lake to swim and lounge on the shore. The twins were running off the dock, bombing into the water with loud squeals and shouts while Diane and Lyle supervised and cheered them on.
Ivii was tanning on one side of me, a glossy magazine in her hand as she lay on a lounger wearing a bikini and a giant floppy brimmed sunhat.
For some reason she’d refused to look at me at breakfast, and earlier when I tried to make conversation, she’d ignored me.
Percy had gone home for dance practice, but without her best friend beside her, it was like she’d turned into the ice queen.
I try not to let it bother me, figuring she’ll say something when she’s ready.
Hunter was on my other side, sitting with his knees up, a sketch book balanced against his thighs as he doodled something on the pages.
His tattoos were all on display, and that damn nipple piercing kept catching in the sunlight.
Some of the marks I’d left last night and this morning were disguised by his ink, but mine were out there for everyone to see.
There was no way his parents had missed them, and I swear I’d seen them share a look when we’d first removed our T-shirts.
Hunter was still refusing to show me his art, which makes me think he might be drawing me…or Percy. The thought that the cream pages are filled with nothing but the pretty omega makes my stomach clench, something bitter uncurling in my chest.
We still hadn’t talked about what had happened between us.
What was happening. Right now we were existing in this little bubble where we were bros who got each other off.
I wasn’t ready for it to burst, for the rest of the world to take this away from me.
Not when it felt so good. Not when I was the one who got to touch him, taste him, moan his name.
I adjust slightly, letting my foot brush against his knee.
Something between us had changed. No, not changed—shifted.
I’d always been touchy with Hunter, we were bros and I never hesitated to nudge, tackle, or slap him on the shoulder but now I found myself reaching for him more.
I liked the feel of his skin against mine, needed it to anchor me, reassure me that we were still good.
After last night and this morning, that feeling was ramped up to a hundred.
Seeking him out, with my foot, my fingers, brushing my knee against his, it was like I couldn’t help myself.
He was my sun, and I was trapped in his orbit.
We stay like that for a while, but I notice Hunter getting restless.
“You good?”
“Yep,” he pops the p and avoids looking at me for a few minutes before giving me a tight smile. “Just a little too warm. Might go for a dip in the water.”
“I’ll join you.”
“Sure.”
We jump off the dock with the twins, and splash around in the water.
Hunter gets out before me, heading back to the sunloungers since Harlow was challenging me to a competition about how long we could hold our breaths underwater.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him speak with Ivii, his body language tense before he walks away but then I’m being pushed underwater by a bossy seven year old.
We played around for a little longer, me winning four out of five challenges, where I may or may not have let him win the last one. Then I toss them off the dock a few times, giving Lyle a break but Hunter still hasn’t returned by the time I sit down next to Ivii again.
“Where’s Hunter?” I ask, rubbing my towel over my hair lightly, spotting his bag is gone. The water had washed off most of his scent from my skin, but a faint hint of oranges remained. It wasn’t enough.
“I don’t know,” she replies coldly, not even bothering to look at me.
Laying back down, feeling the sunlight drying up the water on my skin I wait for him to return, but as the minutes tick into an hour, I grow restless. My mind is unable to focus as I replay the last week over and over again in my head, my fingers wandering over the marks he’s left on my chest.
Finally getting to my feet, I head over to the grill to help Diane with the late lunch she’s preparing. “Have you seen Hunter?”
She smiles softly, focusing on the meat sizzling in front of her. “Oh, I sent him into town for a few things. He said not to wait for him for lunch so we’re going to eat now and he’ll grab something later.”
“Oh. Okay.” I’m confused why he didn’t ask me to tag along with him.
I also missed him already, was that normal?
It’s like there’s an ache building in my chest, a hole that’s swelling, throbbing with anxiety the longer he was out of my sight.
I switch my phone back on, and fire off a text but there’s no reply.
Building a fire with the twins with wood we collected from the nearby trees, I try to ignore the strange sense of wrongness spreading through my limbs.
Why was I so needy? It wasn’t like me to be this clingy was it?
And besides, Hunter wasn’t my boyfriend or anything…
maybe he just needed a bit of space. If he was here, I would feel better. Calmer. Mine.
After another swim and a little afternoon nap in the sunshine I wake frustrated, a low simmering anger making me snappy and disgruntled.
Lyle hands me a cold beer with a tight smile, which I practically snatch out of his hand, before asking if I wanted to go for a walk around the lake’s perimeter with him and the twins.
“Where’s Hunter?” I question as I pull my sneakers on, the feel of them against my skin making me frown. I was beginning to realise why Hunter walked around barely dressed most days.
“He was just here,” Lyle looks around as if searching for his son. “He must have gone to paint for a while. You know what he’s like.”
Glancing around, disappointment takes root. Had he come back out and I’d missed him? I hadn’t even caught a whiff of his spiced scent. Maybe he had, but something was definitely off. All my senses were screaming at me to head back to the cabin, but Lyle kept insisting I walk with him.
The walk takes the better part of two hours, and when I return Diane offers us cold beers, and we sit on the decking while Mrs. Marlow prepares dinner.
Quenching my thirst with cold beer is great, but the fully fledged anxiety settled in my bones is not.
I try to ask about Hunter but everyone talks over me, the usual chaos of dinner seeming even louder as the last of the day fades into the evening.
After, the twins head to bed, followed by Mrs Marlow and I’m left with Lyle, Diane and Ivii.
Listening to the answer message on Hunter’s phone for what feels like the millionth time, I growl, patience worn out.
After an entire day of them acting strange, and now this evening trying to distract me constantly, cornering me every time I tried to leave, I know something is wrong.
I’m frustrated, and there’s a restlessness lodged in my chest like a huge gaping wound.
I need Hunter, and these people are standing in my way.
“Where is he? And don’t lie to me Ashbourne’s. One of you needs to tell me where Hunter is.” I demand finally, slapping a hand on the table, making the bottles of beer shake with little clinking noises. The three of them look at one another, but no one looks at me and it’s pissing me off.
It’s like watching a broadcast as I see the excuses they try to think up on their faces. They still don’t want to tell me. Why?
The restlessness is growing, it’s an itch now, like thousands of fire ants scuttling over my body just beneath my skin while a buzz rings in my head. I don’t know what it is, all I know is that Hunter will make it stop. He’ll make it better.
“Now please.” My words are sharp, surprising even me. I liked these people so why was I so agitated by their secrets and lies?
“He’s gone back to the cabin,” Diane says softly, avoiding my gaze.
“Without me?” My brain starts going into overdrive. Why would he leave? Why wouldn’t he say something? Has Percy returned? Was he angry with me?
Lyle clears his throat and offers me another drink, but I politely decline. “I think it’s best if you stay here for a few days.”
“What?” Wow. He didn’t even want me near the cabin? What the fuck was happening right now? Agitation blossoms into rage, like a peony unfurling its petals, taking up space until I’m consumed by it. “Have I done something wrong?”
“No, no. Not at all!” Diane shifts closer, softening as she places a hand gently on my arm. Even without inhaling, I know she’s using her nutmeg scent to try and reassure me.
“Hunter’s going into rut early,” Lyle explains, his words heavy, laden with implication about what that means. “He needs some space right now.”
Frowning, I clench my hands into fists. “He’s going into rut alone?”
Lyle gives me a knowing look. “Evans…”