Nelly
By the time Tansy and Lo arrive, I've almost convinced myself I'm being ridiculous.
Almost.
Then the hotel room door bursts open and a whirlwind of energy barrels inside.
"Oh my god, where is she?"
Lia snickers. "She's a human being, Tansy. Not a rare artifact."
"I just want to meet her!"
I blink as a woman with long dark hair practically launches herself into the room. She's carrying two giant shopping bags and somehow has a blanket hanging off one shoulder.
"Tansy?" I ask.
She holds up the bags with a big smile. "The one and only. You must be our new friend."
"That's me, yeah. I'm Nelly."
She sets down the bags on the couch. "You're prettier than I expected."
"Tansy," another woman says as she steps into the room behind her, "you can't greet people like that."
Tansy wraps herself up in the blanket. "And why not?"
"Lo?" I ask the other woman.
She just smiles and nods before turning to Tansy. "Because it's weird and we want our new friend to like us."
Tansy groans. "But being normal is so boring."
I nod at Tansy. "She's got a point. I don't do normal well."
"There, that settles it," Tansy says as she looks up at me. "You're pretty and that's awesome. End of story."
I snicker. "Okay, thank you. You're pretty yourself."
"Awww, thanks," Tansy says as she waves her hand at me.
"Hi. I'm Lo," she says as she walks over and offers me her hand. "I believe you work with one of my Alphas."
"Ford, right?" I ask as I shake her hand.
"Mhm."
"He's a good man."
Lo smiles. "He is, isn't he?"
"Oh, thank God," I mutter. "A normal person."
Tansy props her feet up on the couch. "Anyway, I brought supplies."
Lia furrows her brow. "What kind of supplies?"
Tansy rattles off a whole list. "Nail polish. Snacks. DVDs. Face masks."
"Chocolate," Lo adds.
Tansy points back at her. "Lots of emergency chocolate. And pickles."
"Ohhh, pickles?" I ask. "I love a good crunchy pickle."
Tansy opens her arms, blanket and all. "A woman after my own heart. Get over here so we can bust open this massive jar I found at the grocery store."
"Your pickle breath is why you're still single," Lia says as she sits in one of the armchairs.
"No," Tansy corrects, "I'm single because the Alphas of this town are cowards."
"Not mine," Lia and Lo say at the same time.
I don't even realize I've said it with them until my lips close.
Tansy grins at me as her gaze quickly darts to my neck and back again. "Newly mated?"
I tilt my head side to side. "How can you tell?"
Tansy motions to her neck. "They're fresh. At least, they look pretty fresh."
Great. "It's… complicated."
"Obviously, if you're here and not with them," Tansy says as she pushes herself upright. "Want a pickle? I always talk better with pickles."
"Nah, I'm okay," I say.
Tansy shrugs. "Suit yourself. Anyone else?"
"I'll get some cups!" Lo chirps as she disappears toward the kitchenette.
"So," Tansy says as she shoves her fingers into the jar. "Tell me why you're here having a girls' night with puffy red eyes instead of curled up in your nest with your Alphas."
I fill them in on everything that's happened, including showing them some of the marks that were left on my body. I watch their reactions, trying to gauge how they'd feel in this situation if it were them.
All I get is smiles, though.
"I swear, some Alphas are hungry for their Omegas, you know?" Tansy asks as she bites into a pickle.
"I may have to talk to my pack about thigh bites. That's kind of sexy," Lia says with a blush in her cheeks.
Lo nudges her. "I ended up with one around my nipple, if you can believe it."
"Ouchhh," Tansy says with a wince. "And it didn't hurt like a bitch or anything?"
Lo's head falls back with easy laughter. "Not in the slightest. My Alphas are gentle with their teeth."
None of them seem taken aback, and believe it or not, that makes me feel better about things. Maybe I'm panicking over nothing.
A knock comes at the door before I can think more of it.
"I got it," Lia says as she pats my knee and stands.
It isn't long before I hear her giggling. "Walker, what are you doing here?"
"You girls need fruit," he says simply.
I crane my neck in their direction just in time to see Walker pass off a fruit tray. "Need help?"
"I got it!" Lia says as she bumps the door closed with Walker still trying to peer inside.
"Ohhh, do I smell pineapple?" Lo asks. "I love me a good, fresh slice of pineapple."
Before too long, Clueless is playing on the television as Tansy pulls a bag out of her massive purse. She dumps out a bunch of nail polish onto the coffee table and Lia is quick to grab my hands.
"Here, let's put flowers on yours. Do you like flowers?" she asks.
I smile as I pop a grape into my mouth. "Daisies are my favorite."
"Love it," Lia says as she sorts through Tansy's offerings. "Daisies on a pink background. How does that sound?"
"She doesn't really look like a pink gal to me," Lo says.
"Hey, anyone can love pink," Lia says.
I smile at the girls. "Pink is perfect, thanks."
"You guys heard anything about Summer Solstice or the Water's Edge Games?" Tansy asks. "I've heard rumors at the bakery that they're being combined this year. We got a date for that yet?"
Lo shrugs. "If we do, I haven't heard anything about it yet."
"Are your Alphas going to be competing?" Lia asks as she starts cleaning my nails.
"Of course," Lo says as Tansy begins cleaning her nails as well. "Beck won't stop talking about it. Apparently, the firefighters are ready to kick the police department's butts."
"Good luck," I murmur as Lia cracks open the pastel pink color.
"Well, I think it should happen sooner rather than later," Lia says as she starts with my right thumb. "This town could use a pick-me-up after how awful this storm system was."
"I went to the Water's Edge Games for the food trucks a few years back. Wasn't half bad," I say as I reach for a cookie.
"Water's Edge is my favorite gathering of the year," Tansy says. "I do the most business there, but it's also nice to watch all of the big, beefy Alphas get all sweaty and angry and—"
"Hey, you better not be drooling over my Alphas," Lo says.
"Same goes for mine," Lia says.
All three of them look at me and I just shrug. "I mean, you can drool, but you probably shouldn't touch."
"Probably?" Tansy asks with a smile. "So, you wouldn't mind if I just… went right up to one of your Alphas and just… gave them a little victory side hug so I can smell like them all day?"
I clench my jaw at the mere thought, and something must pass across my face because the girls fall apart in laughter.
"Jerks," I mutter.
"You're down bad for them more than you think you are," Tansy says through her laughter.
"Stop making her laugh," Lia says as she giggles. "I'm trying to make her nails look nice."
"Really, the Water's Edge Games are just a bunch of Alpha nonsense," Lo says as she goes back to Tansy's nails. "But it's a lot of fun, and I've attended every year just to lay out by the lake and eat every single funnel cake I can handle."
"With that food truck lemonade," Tansy says.
"I assume Knox and Ford are participating?" I ask.
Lo and Lia nod and hum. But it's Lia who speaks next. "Eli's not participating, though. He claims he's protecting his dignity, which means he just doesn't want to lose in front of his daughter, which I think is adorable."
My eyebrows raise. "One of your Alphas has a kiddo in tow?"
Lia smiles softly. "She's amazing, too. Love her to death."
"Are your mates participating?" Tansy asks.
It takes me a long time before I answer. "Yeah, Nash will compete with the police department, I'm sure. I don't know about Levi and Beau, though. Levi doesn't strike me as someone who cares much about that kind of thing, and Beau's family is probably all participating, which means he won't."
The girls are staring at me like I've grown a second head.
"What?" I ask.
Tansy leans toward me. "You're mated to the hunky town sheriff?"
Jealousy kicks up at her words, but I stuff it down. "They're all hunky, actually."
"Oh, yeah," Lia says with a smile. "You've got it bad for them."
"I do not," I murmur.
"You're being defensive of them," Lo says with a smile. "You've totally got it bad for them."
"You're a lucky one," Tansy says as she reaches for a cookie. "Nash is pretty sexy. I hope one day to be swept off my feet by a sexy hunk of muscle."
Mine.
The word flares in my mind so quickly that it startles me. It doesn't go unnoticed, either.
Lo nudges me playfully. "You're getting jealous."
"Am not," I grumble as I go back to watching Lia paint my nails.
"You absolutely are," Lia says with a smile, "and that's a good thing. It's normal with new mate bonds."
My cheeks heat. "Well, this is embarrassing."
"It really isn't," Tansy says. "You don't get jealous over people you don't care about."
I'm thankful when the conversation shifts, but Tansy's words bounce around in my mind for a while before I'm pulled back to the present by a proclamation Lia makes.
"We should all go together."
I draw in a short breath. "To what?"
Lo snickers. "To the Water's Edge Games and Summer Solstice combination. We should all go together as a group, especially since it sounds like most of our packmates will be participating."
"That sounds like fun. I'm in," Tansy says.
"We can make a whole day of it," Lia says as she moves to the nails on my left hand. "We can get there a bit early. Snatch up some fresh food from the food trucks. Settle ourselves by the lake. We could even bring a little speaker and listen to some music."
"Summer Solstice usually has music," Lo says.
"Well, we can play our own music in between theirs while we cheer on our Alphas," Lia says.
"This is gonna be great," Tansy says.
A laugh escapes my lips. "That sounds like fun. I'm in."
Our conversations bounce around while we paint each other's nails and watch the rest of Clueless.
I talk to the girls about renovation things, and I realize Tansy's got a bit of a handywoman side to her.
Lo and Lia ask questions, but not once do they make me feel like this is work I shouldn't be doing.
It's… nice.
But eventually, exhaustion wins. Lo claims the couch while Tansy steals half the bed and Lia falls asleep sitting upright in an armchair, still mid-sentence.
The room grows quiet with the glow of the moon streaming through the windows, and as I make my way out onto the balcony, the cool night air brushes against my skin.
The vineyard stretches beneath the stars, and all I can focus on is wondering what my guys are up to.
My chest is filled with so many things. Steady concern and warm worry. Frustration wrapped around something softer. I can feel all three of them, and it makes me rub at my sternum. My pack is unsettled, and I don't blame them. I ran, just like I always do.
Part of me wants to continue running.
But part of me wants to go back.
Then, my phone buzzes in my back pocket.
I pull it out and find I've got a group text chat from the guys.
My breath catches as I open it up to read the messages filtering through.
Nash: I'm sorry if we overwhelmed you. Take whatever time you need. Just let us know you're safe.
Beau: No pressure, sweetheart. We miss you, but we'll be here when you're ready.
Levi: Still annoyed you ran, but I get it. If running is what you need, then run. Just don't forget where home is.
I stare at their messages for a while. My thumb hovers over the keyboard while I try to figure out what to send back. Is all of this complicated? Yes. Messy? Without question. But if this girls' night showed me anything, it's that I've let my family have too much power over me for much too long.
Maybe I don't have to choose between the life I've built and a life with them.