15. CHAPTER 15
“I’m walking on sunshine.”
Everett
As soon as we finished a yummy breakfast, I followed Austin into the living room, spotting Henry's cell phone and car keys on the side table next to the front door.
Austin must have come across Henry's truck and assumed the worst had happened to his friend.
Well, that explains why he came over here knocking on the door like the rent was due.
Stepping into the space behind Austin and Henry, I let my eyes roam around the room. I will admit that the short amount of time I've been in Henry's home was spent with my eyes rolling into the back of my head in pleasure and heat lust. So, I haven't had the capacity to take everything in.
Wide windows take up one wall, flooding the space with natural light and giving us a front-row seat to the happenings in the forest. I already know I’m going to spend hours sitting right here, watching the trees and the animals outside.
A brown fabric couch takes up the majority of the space in the living room.
The couch I am familiar with, it's extremely soft, even when your face is being pressed into it. A deep burgundy throw rests over the back, with matching pillows scattered across the seats. A fluffy rug covers the floor, warming my toes from the cold, wood floor in the kitchen. The space is open plan and absolutely beautiful. It’s missing some personal touches.
I can’t wait to see pictures of Henry and Austin, Henry and his family, and of course Henry and me, on the walls.
Perhaps some little knickknacks on the hearth and side tables we collect as the years progress.
Austin stayed for most of the afternoon, regaling me with stories of Henry as a boy.
The crazy things they got up to as teenagers and eventually how they ended up in business together.
Perhaps it should have been Henry telling me his life story, but I was soaking up every bit of information regardless of the source.
I especially like the story of how Henry found this land, bought it, then immediately started to build this incredible cabin with his bare hands.
Looking around now with new eyes, knowing he did this himself, makes every notch in the wood, every smoothed out crack that much more impressive. Sure, the place could use an omega’s touch to bring some warmth into it, but that will come in time.
“Then once he was finished with his house, he walked a half mile through the forest and found a clearing to build mine. Fucker didn’t even give me a choice, I’m here against my will you know,” he jokes, making me laugh and not for the first time.
Austin is a hoot, I can already tell Christopher is going to love him.
Which reminds me, I really need to call my friend and tell him my news.
Later, though, he would totally rush over here if I called him now.
I can’t wait for our friends and family to meet.
Just not today. I want some more time with Henry before all the craziness that comes with families invades our love bubble.
From everything Austin has told me, Henry's parents are great, his brothers and sisters are spread-out over the country as bears are solitary creatures generally, until they decide to settle down, and even then it's not like a wolf pack where they have a connection with their family and feel compelled to stay close.
Something tells me Austin sees my Henry as pack, probably his whole family. Maybe even me, too, now that I’m mated to his best friend. The thought gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Henry squeezes me tighter against him, feeling my contentment through our bond.
“So, when will you be moving in, little Hellcat? I’ll make sure I’m available to help with all the heavy lifting,” Austin offers, throwing me a wink just to wind Henry up. Seems like their friendship is built on sarcasm and pranks. I love it. His question makes me pause, though.
I’ve been daydreaming about living with my alpha, but I think I need time to work out the logistics. I don’t have a car. It's much easier to walk everywhere in town, and with how early my shift starts, I don't expect Henry to ferry me around.
I mentally try to tally up my savings and this month's paycheck, figuring if I have enough I can find a small used car to get me around. Yeah, I can totally make it work. Just not as soon as I would like. Or as soon as Henry assumes, given his response to Austin's question.
“Next week,” he says so casually like it's a foregone conclusion. Turning in his arms to look up at him, I smile softly, not wanting him to think I don’t want that. It’s just not going to happen that quickly.
“I have a few things I need to organize before I can move in here, alpha. Can you be patient with me?” I ask sweetly, making sure to push out my bottom lip just enough to have him rumbling against my back and nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck.
“Okay that feels like a conversation you guys need to have without me here. I’ll catch you later, Hellcat. Don’t be a stranger okay?” Austin reminds me before bouncing to his feet and hightailing it out of the cabin.
“Are you mad at me?” I ask hesitantly. I didn’t think he was, but with the way Austin practically ran from the place like it was on fire has me worried.
“No, sweetheart, I could never be angry with you. Do I wish I could just keep you with me at all times? Yes, but I also realize that isn’t healthy or practical.
You have a life and I have to respect that.
Barney might be a little sulky, but he will get over it.
” He assures me, dropping soft kisses to my shoulder and neck as he speaks.
My body visibly relaxes at his words and his touch.
“I know it’s not ideal to be apart when our bond is still so fresh, but we can still see each other often and talk all the time.
I just have a few things I need or get into place, like a car.
I doubt there is any kind of public transport this far out that will get me to work at four am.
” I chuckle, laying my head against his broad chest and resting one arm over his middle.
“You don’t have a car sweetheart? That's an easy fix. We can go tomorrow after your shift at the cafe and pick up something with four wheel drive that can handle the terrain out here.” He offers so earnestly, like the idea of going out and spending that kind of money on little old me is nothing to him.
Not even a second's hesitation about it.
“While I love that you offered, I would prefer to do this for myself. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to spoil me in our future.” I smile, sitting up to place a soft kiss on his lips, not wanting him to think I don't appreciate his kind offer or that I’m just being awkward for the sake of it.
I watch his brows crease in confusion, but I'm quick to run my fingers down the line to soothe them out. “None of that now, I might not be able to move in right away, but I’ll be actively working toward it, and when it does happen, it will be all the sweeter because good things come to those who wait, right?” I ask, taking a sip from his lips to kiss away any objection he might have.
“Let’s revisit this conversation later, omega mine. I can think of a much better use of our limited time today.” Henry growls against my skin, one large hand shifting my body to straddle his lap before he devours my mouth, effectively switching off my brain.
My muscles feel like they are made of lead as I walk toward the Rainy Day cafe the next morning.
Henry and his sexy furry chest convinced me to stay the night, promising me that he didn’t mind dropping me to work at the ass crack of dawn this morning.
True to his word, when the alarms blared he jumped out of bed, then carried me to the shower.
Sucked my soul out through my cock and plopped me into the passenger seat of his truck like a princess and drove me to work.
It was harder than I want to admit walking away from my mate. He dropped me off at the back entrance and kissed me goodbye so thoroughly my knees felt weak. Even the promise of him coming back in four short hours to take me to college did not ease the dull ache of missing him.
I seriously hope the mate bond settles down in time, otherwise neither of us are ever going to get things done.
By the time midday rolled around, I had to convince, or more accurately bribe, Henry with promises of constant open lines of communication between our link and our phones to get my mate to go to work.
I know Austin understood, or at least is aware that it’s the newly forming mate bond making Henry overly protective.
He isn’t flaking his responsibilities on purpose.
He just feels an overwhelming need to make sure I am safe at all times.
It's equally adorable and frustrating. I think if I wasn’t so determined to show my alpha I was a worthy omega it would have been easy to just give up my job, drop out of college and live off Henry.
Probably take a job at the bar so we could always be together.
That's not me though. I want to contribute and the first step in that is buying my own car.
Stepping through the door of my dorm room for the first time since I met my mate feels almost surreal.
Like this is not my life anymore, not my room, not where I should be.
How strange that things can feel so foreign after only a few days.
Dropping my backpack on my desk, I drop onto my bed with a sigh.
I am exhausted and now that I’m laying down, I can feel the ache in my muscles not only from being on my feet since four, but the aftereffects of a weekend of non-stop fucking.
“Where have you been?” Jack's voice startles me out of my musings, making me sit up in bed with a groan. Even with the pain in my ass and the throb in my feet, I have the biggest smile on my face.
“It happened Jack, it worked. I found my mate and he is everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
I manifested the fuck out him,” I tell him excitedly.
“We met Saturday morning, he just came into the cafe in all his lumberjack glory. Apparently, he had caught my scent and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from so he showed up planning to sit all day in the cafe until his mate made his appearance. It was so fucking romantic.”
“Saturday? And you what just went with him for the whole weekend? A total stranger? He could have killed you!” Jack exclaims. That is not at all what I thought he was going to say.
“He’s my mate silly, he would never hurt me.
Besides, I came back here to get changed but you were still asleep and then he took me for a date, a picnic in the forest by his house.
” I sigh wistfully, remembering how nervous we both were and how incredible Barney looked.
I make a conscious choice not to think about the whole choking thing.
“There are bad alphas out there Everett, you have to be more careful.” Jack is not being the hype man I expected. He almost seems pissed. Which is weird. Why wouldn’t he be happy for me? Standing up with a slight wince, I cross the room to study him closer.
“I know there are bad alphas, but Henry isn’t one of them.
He is wonderful, kind and caring. Just how I manifested him.
” I smile, hoping he can see how genuinely happy I am.
I guess it's sweet that he's so concerned for me. I didn’t think we were that close, but maybe I was reading it wrong. I’m not mad at it.
Who doesn’t want to have friends that look out for you like that?
I watch as his body deflated, the anger seeming to bleed out of him as he releases a long breath.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’m glad you found your mate, Everett.
I guess that manifesting thing really does work.
Although I’m still not convinced there isn’t a little magic at play here.
” He grins, his demeanor switching fast enough to give me whiplash.
Chuckling softly, I sit back down on the side of my bed to kick off my shoes and fill Jack in on everything that happened over the past few days. I spare him the details of my heat and the things that transpired in Henry's bedroom. That feels private and not something I should be sharing so freely.
The whole time I talk, Jack listens attentively, nods in all the appropriate places, but it's almost like the smiles he offers me don’t quite reach his eyes.
Instead of dwelling on it, I leave him to his studies and grab my cell phone to call Christopher, already preparing for the tongue-lashing he's about to give me for waiting so long to tell him. At least I don’t need to worry about an adverse reaction from my bestie.
I know he’s going to be so fucking happy for me.