Chapter Eleven
I go into work relaxed and satisfied. Nothing can bother me all night. Not even when the crowd is rowdier and handsier than normal. By the time the bar closes, I'm exhausted again and can't wait to go crawl into bed with Cordell.
"Hey, Billie," Ross calls out after paying all of us. "Would you mind hanging around for a second?"
I look to the others, but Fran just shrugs and Trinity refuses to look at me. I watch them leave before nervously sitting on one of the stools waiting for Ross to come back.
"Thanks," he says walking around the corner carrying a crate full of beer. He moves over to stand directly across the bar from me. "I can't tell you how much I truly appreciate everything you've done for me and the bar since you started working here."
"But," I say, knowing something more is coming.
"But," he agrees with a short nod of his head. "I just found out that you're running the media account for one of the bars in the city. That's a conflict of interest, so I'm going to have to let you go."
"Just like that?" I ask. "Not going to give me a chance to choose between you."
"I wouldn't ask you to do that, for one," he says, resting his palms on the bar like he's tired too. "Also, I don't like that you didn't tell me. Things might have been able to be different."
I nod, trying not to cry. "Well, thanks for the opportunity."
Sliding off my stool, I check to make sure my last paycheck is secured in my back pocket before walking out for the last time.
Palmer is out of the car, leaning on the hood of his car and stands with open arms when he sees me. I walk straight into them and bury my face into his chest.
"Ugh," he says, sensing my distress. "I can't let you carry on like this if you're going to be miserable every time I pick you up."
"Well, that won't be an issue anymore," I tell him. "I just got fired."
He pulls away to look at me. "Fired? For what?"
I explain to him the reason Ross gave to me, and he shakes his head. "That's a shit-ass reason, but maybe it's for the best. You know what they say about doors closing."
"What? That if you don't hurry up and get out of the way it'll hit you in the ass on the way out?" I tease.
He barks out a laugh and squeezes me tight. "Damn, I love you."
Both of us freeze and he starts word vomiting on his words. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I don't know why I said that. I know it's too soon. I'm an idiot."
I cover his lips with my fingers to get him to quiet before replacing them with my lips instead. It's all the reassurance he needs as he begins to kiss me back. As we pull apart and get into his car, I warn him. "I promised Cordell that I'd sleep with him tonight. I hope that's okay."
"As much as I'd love to keep you forever as my own, we're a pack deal," he says. "Never feel bad or apologize for spending time with one of them."
His kindness is one of the main things that really sucked me in, and it shows right now, making me want to kiss him again.
The next day as I sit in the restaurant waiting for my mother to show, I sip on my ice water and think about last night. Ross gave no hints whatsoever the whole entire night and knew already then that he was going to let me go. It makes me slightly angry to even think about.
I'd spent most of the night awake thinking about it. Cordell could tell that something was bothering me and didn't pressure us to do anything. Rather, he'd held me all night. When he woke to find me still awake, he'd purred, relaxing me to the bone and putting me to sleep. It'd worked wonders. I knew it was supposed to be a big thing between omegas and alphas, but reading about it and actually feeling it were two different things. The deep vibration leaving his chest and going into mine was an instant hypnotic sedative. Of course, it's now driven me to want to ask Roz and Brent to do it, too, just so I can see if theirs is different.
I wait around for an hour at my empty table alone before I start calling my mother. After the fifth time of getting her automated voicemail, I give up and leave her a quick message. Not wanting to look like the loser whose date didn't show, I go ahead and order food since I'm famished anyway. She still hasn't gotten back with me by the time that I'm done eating and paying my bill, so I send her a quick text telling her that I hope she's okay and to please call or text me back.
Deep down, I think maybe I knew that she was going to be a no show today. Doesn't change the hurt that sits in my chest. For once I wish she'd be the mother who was there when I needed her to be. When it's most important and counts. Unfortunately, I don't think that'll ever be the case.
That thought alone is what spurs my next action. Taking out the business card that I've been carrying around in my pocket, I dial the number on it.
He answers on the first ring. "Hello."
"Hi, this is Billie. You told me to call you," I say.
The words have barely left my mouth before he's already talking. "Yes, thank you for getting back with me. I wasn't sure you would."
"Well, your presumptions are pretty farfetched, and I still think you're wrong, but I'm willing to listen to what you have to say."
"Great, great," he replies. "Are you busy? Have you had lunch yet? I could meet you somewhere."
"I actually just finished lunch," I tell him.
There's a slight pause before he suggests, "Coffee then?"
"Sure," I give in.
He tells me the time and place to meet him at. It's somewhere downtown in the city. So, I Uber a ride before leaving the restaurant. I could call Palmer, but that would open up a topic of conversation that I'm not ready to have with anyone yet. Not until I find out what the man wants and what truths he thinks he's speaking.
He beats me to the cafe. I spot him immediately, even before he waves me over to the booth he's sitting in.
"I wasn't sure if you'd actually come or not," he admits as I sit down across from him.
After my mother just standing me up, it's a cold reminder that I'm nothing like her. It makes my reply snappish. "If I say I'm going to do something or be somewhere, I don't go back on my word.
He holds his hands up palms out in surrender, but the barista behind the bar interrupts him from saying anything.
"Daryl!"
Sliding out of his seat, he goes to the counter to retrieve two cups. Daryl. My potential father's name is Daryl. It's such an awkward feeling to even think about.
When he sits back down, he sets a cup down in front of me. "I wasn't sure what your usual is, but everyone deserves to try a white-chocolate mocha if they haven't already."
I don't tell him that it's one of my favorites, nor that I very rarely drink coffee period.
Waiting until I take a tester sip, he starts talking. "Can I ask you how your mother is?"
"Not until you tell me who you are," I tell him.
"That's fair," he says. "I'm Daryl Montgomery. I'm from a small town a couple hours south of here. I once attended the North Five University where I studied for my law degree. I once fell in love with a beautiful woman named Maureen who broke my heart."
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you," I tell him, shaking my head. "She's always said that my father and his pack ran out on her when they found out she was pregnant. She wouldn't have any reason to lie to me."
I feel the sting of the lie on my tongue. It most certainly wouldn't have been the first time and definitely not the last.
"I don't know why she would tell you that," he says, tone defeated. "I really did love her. My whole pack did. I wasn't the only one whose heart she broke."
"It makes no sense," I murmur, thinking about the other times she's lied to me about things. "Did you spring some kind of big news or change on her suddenly?"
He doesn't even have to think about it. "As a matter of fact, we did. I told her that we were moving up here so that me and one of my pack mates could attend the college. Within a matter of weeks after that, she ghosted us."
By the sounds of it, she either knew she was already pregnant and possibly didn't want to hold them back. But, I know my mother. Even the person she used to be, and she's always been kind of selfish. I kind of wonder for a moment if she didn't let them get her pregnant on purpose so that she'd have me, and I'd never be able to leave her. Maybe she thought that's what they were trying to do.
"Did you ask her to move with you?" I ask quietly.
"Yes," he states. "Many times. Her answer was that she'd think about it. We took her silence as an answer when she ghosted us."
My stomach feels like it's in my throat, making my chest hurt.
"I'd really like to meet with her," he says, having not noticed that I'm mid freak out. "Maybe if everything goes well and you're both willing, I could pitch in and help pay for your college. It's the least I could do."
That's it. Final straw. Sliding out of the booth, I make a beeline for the door, ignoring him trying to call me back. I make it outside to the sidewalk before I realize it.
An arm goes around my shoulder and I shrug it off, spinning around to face him. "Don't touch me. I don't know you. I don't know if my mother even knows you. You could be a total creep for all I know. Strangers don't just go around offering money to people, especially if they're in your situation and haven't even proved I am who you think I am."
"That's what I'm trying to do," he says just barely hiding his exasperation. "I just want to meet with her and find out what really happened."
"I'll talk to her and see if she's willing," I tell him, withholding that it's not likely since she can't even be bothered to meet with her own daughter.
"Thank you," he says sadly. "That's all I'm asking."
We part ways, and I take an Uber to the Apollo house. It seems as though everyone is home per usual. However, I worry because there's an unfamiliar bright red car in the driveway. Surely, they'd have said if they were having company over since they knew I'd likely be coming back today.
Getting to the door, I don't bother knocking as I haven't for weeks when they told me to stop when I feel comfortable since I'm always welcome. Walking in, I hear the TV going in the den, so I head that way.
Palmer is the first one to spot me and almost bounces over Cordell's head to get to me as he comes over the couch. "Billie's home!"
He wraps me up in a tight embrace, and I forget about the stress of the day for a second. Burying his face into my neck he takes a deep breath before pulling away slightly and giving me a confused expression.
"Come on, love, we've got a surprise for you," Brent says, coming up beside Palmer.
He captures a hand and pulls me to the door. When we get there, a different set of hands close over my eyes. By the scent of spicy aftershave, I know that it's Cordell. Very carefully they maneuver me down the step leading outside. As soon as we come to a stop, his hands lift and I'm left staring at the driveway with all of their cars.
I glance from the cars back to them and back again. I don't understand, other than the red car. Then it clicks. When I turn to them again, Jake is holding up a key fob dangling from a keychain with a new car tag. My lips part in an o.
For whoever knows how long, I stand like that, my brain not believing what they're trying to say before I finally say, "No."
They all smile, and Palmer laughs. "What do you mean ‘no?’"
"No," I repeat again, shaking my head. "I'm not taking that."
"Rules are rules, babe. You have to," he tells me. "If it's offered as a courting gift, you'll offend your potential pack by turning down a gift."
My eyes cut to him. "Did you swallow one of those pamphlets from the center?"
Even Roz laughs at that as Jake walks over and places the fob into my hand after he unclenches my fist. "It was Roz's idea."
I peer up to find him watching me. "Much safer than Uber rides."
"Not like I mind in the least," Palmer sighs. "But, I was outvoted."
"You can't just buy a person a whole-ass car," I tell them.
"Well, we surely couldn't have bought you a half of a car," Cordell teases, making them all laugh again.
"Come on, love," Brent says, casually pulling me toward the bright-red, ostentatious beauty. "Let's take it for a drive."
And we did. For hours, we drove around the city and even down some back roads where Brent teased me to push her limits. Of course, my grandma driving ass, I didn't go above sixty. I had to admit that I loved it more than anything I've ever gotten in my life, and I made sure they all knew it when we got back, thanking them at least twenty times, especially Roz.
My day has been an up and down roller coaster of emotions. As I sink into my favorite tub, I feel some of the tension leaving my body. I don't know what I'm going to do about my mother and Daryl, but that's not a problem I can solve right this second. Not that I even want to try while I'm enjoying the feel of the jets on my back as I watch one of my favorite alphas get undressed.
"You’re looking at me like you want to devour me," Brent teases, stripping down the last bit of his clothing.
"Maybe I do," I tell him, licking my lips. I love the way his cock is already hard and jumps at my words.
He steps into the water and the majority of his body disappears beneath the partially soapy water. As many times as we've bathed together, never once has he made the move to take it any further. I've come to the conclusion that he's leaving it up to me to make the first move.
Wading over to him, I straddle his legs, bringing my torso out of the water as I knee-walk up until our chests are touching. Placing a hand against his chest, I can feel the hard thump of his heart against my palm. Bringing my lips to his, I kiss him until we're both senseless with need.
After the day I've had, I need him. I don't want to wait any longer. Apparently, he agrees with me since he's the first to reach between us to help guide himself inside of me. I lower myself down on him slowly, enjoying the feel of his cock stretching me out. I wouldn't dare tell the others, but he's definitely slightly bigger than them. Where some might find it uncomfortable, it makes me feel amazing.
We continue to kiss as I start moving on top of him. Slowly at first so as not to disturb the water too much. But then his lips drop down to my neck and I feel his teeth scrape against my skin. The desire to beg to have him claim me right then and there is so strong that I almost beg him to. Somehow, I manage to keep my wits about me and channel the feeling into riding him instead. The water is splashing over the edges a bit as I feel his knot start to swell, and that's when I lose the battle.
"Ahh, Brent," I call out softly. "Mark me. Bond me. Make me yours."
He grunts against my neck the warm air making me clench down on him. Just as his knot hits that spot inside of me, his mouth closes over my neck and he sucks. Hard. I may cry out. I may not. One second, I'm riding the best high I've ever felt, and the next I'm waking up draped across him with my head on his shoulder as he skims his hands down my back.
He must sense the shift when I come to. "Welcome back, love. You okay?"
Slowly I lift my head to look at him, the movement reminding me that he's still locked inside of me. Then I remember what I asked him to do. My hand moves to my neck, and his smile blooms wider.
"I didn't bond you, love," he tells me gently, trying to curb the hurt feelings. Which are definitely there.
A sadness and feeling of rejection hits me hard enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I don't understand why. I should be grateful that he didn't bond me in the spur of the moment. Even if I have grown to trust him and his pack. It shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Hey," he says, lifting my chin with his finger. "Not that I didn't want to and not that I won't. We just need to wait for the right time for it."
I nod, knowing he's right. Pressing my forehead back down to his shoulder I let out a deep sigh, releasing the hard feelings so that we can enjoy the moment.