Chapter 21
Carson
“You’re still here?” Damien sighs heavily when he sees Reid and me sitting in his living room.
“Of course we’re still here,” I scoff. “We meant what we said. We’re not going anywhere until we talk to Addison.”
“How is she?” Reid asks, getting to his feet.
Damien looks rough. Good. He deserves to feel like shit. For what he did to Addie, he deserves a hell of a lot more. Acting like keeping our identities from Addie for less than two weeks is more serious than him keeping it from her for like what, the last ten years?
I’m not saying keeping this from her was right on our end either, because it wasn’t. We know that. And we will be doing what we can to make it up to her.
“She’s hurt and rightfully so. Confused.
Overwhelmed." He sits in the chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and puts his face in his hands. “I want to be there for her, hold her, and tell her everything is okay. Or, at least that it will be. It’s killing me. Walking away from her to come down here was pure hell.”
“I mean, you’ve done it for years, so it shouldn’t hurt so bad now.” I snort in annoyance.
“Fuck. You.” He raises his head, shooting me a murderous glare. “You have no fucking idea what I’ve been through. You don’t know me.”
“I know you’re a raging asshole. What else is there to know?” I smirk.
“Enough,” Reid growls, standing between the two of us. “We agreed that fighting isn’t good for Addie. If we’re going to have a chance at earning her trust and making things work, we need to lay off each other. We don’t have to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but we do need to tolerate each other.”
“Fine,” I huff out, not liking the idea, but I care more for Addie than fighting with Damien. “So, what do we do?”
“Addie will most likely be up there until morning." Reid turns to Damien. “You got a room we can sleep in for the night?”
Damien glares at him. “Go back to your hotel. You’re not fucking staying here.”
“We’re not leaving.” Reid stands firm. “So either you give us a room, or we sleep on the floor.”
“Or, I can call the cops.” Damien smirks.
“Yeah, and Addie would love that when she finds out,” I droll. His smile drops.
“Fine, sleep on the floor.” He waves his hand at the ground. “Have at it. I’m not gonna stop you. The rugs are soft enough.”
“Stop being an asshole.” I get to my feet. “You’ve got to have at least twelve bedrooms in this place, pick one and let us use it.”
“You know, you’re really fucking annoying,” he mutters.
“You’re one to talk,” I growl.
“Fine.” He gets to his feet. “Follow me.”
Reid gives me a look, telling me to behave. I roll my eyes and follow the cocky asshole.
“Wait. Addie’s room is that way,” Reid says as Damien turns the opposite direction from our Omega’s hallway.
“Way to go. Want a cookie?” Damien says dryly.
“Why are you putting us in a room so far away from her?” I mutter.
“Because I can,” Damien says. “Just because I have to give you a room doesn’t mean it’s going to be one with easy access to her.”
“You really are a fucking man-child,” I grumble. “So damn petty.”
“My house, my rules.” We stop in front of a door. “Here you go. Don’t steal anything. Eat whatever you want in the fridge, just leave the chocolate-covered strawberries alone. They’re Addie’s favorite.”
Damien heads back in the direction we came before we even have the door open. “God, I hate him,” I say.
“Well, we’re going to have to learn to deal with him for Addie’s sake.”
“You think she’s going to keep letting him be like this with us? Surely she’d say something, right?”
Reid gives me a blank look. “Carson. We’re big boys. We don’t need to go tattle to our Omega.”
“Not what I mean, asshole.” I shove at his arm.
“Let’s get some sleep. It’s pretty late, and I’m sure Addie is sleeping already. The sooner we sleep, the sooner we can wake up and talk to Addie.”
Opening the bedroom door, we walk into a pretty savage looking guest room. Nothing fancy, but it will do.
“How is this happening right now?” I throw myself backward onto the queen-size bed. “We went from being on top of the world with our new Omega to having her think we’re the biggest assholes in the world.”
“We made a mistake, and we’re going to learn from it. We will let Addie know we didn’t do any of this to hurt her. We have to make it clear that we love her and that we will do everything we can to be the best Alphas for her. No more secrets. No more lies.”
“What if she doesn’t forgive us?” I close my eyes, the idea causing my heart to hurt.
“We’re scent matches. It’s not something she can easily walk away from. That doesn’t give us a free pass to abuse it, but it’s something we fight for, not give up on easily."
“I hope.”
Reid gets into bed, and I kick off my shoes and crawl under the blanket.
I manage to get a few hours of sleep before I wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
I try to get back to sleep, but I can’t. “Reid,” I whisper, pushing at his shoulder.
“What?” he groans, “Go back to bed.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Count sheep or something.” He rolls over, burying his face into the pillow.
“What the fuck?” I frown at him in the dark. “Fuck that. I’m going to see Addie.”
I get out of bed, and Reid sits up. “No. You’re not.”
“Yes. I am.” I start for the door. “I’m not going to wake her. I just need to be near her.”
“Carson,” he groans.
“You coming with me, or not?”
“I’m coming,” he grumbles.
We’re not sure whose home, so we make sure to keep quiet as we tiptoe down the hallway to Addie’s room.
Reid places his finger over his mouth, telling me to be quiet. I am being quiet! I flip him off, and he rolls his eyes.
Stepping inside, I take in the room and smile.
So much pink. Like everything is pink and girly, which is very much Addie.
Very much our PastelPrincess. It’s crazy to think they’re the same girl, but the more I think about it, the more I can see it.
I’m glad things worked out the way they did, and at the same time, I wish she had found out under better circumstances.
“Guess we all had the same idea.” A voice in the room has me slapping a hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming.
“What the fuck?” My eyes snap over to find Damien sitting in a pink fuzzy chair in the corner of the room. “Like that’s not creepy as fuck.”
“Shhh,” he whispers.
My eyes flick over to Addie. She’s curled up in a mountain of pillows, blankets, and a million stuffed animals.
The soft glow of the fairy lights above her bed frame allows me to see her.
She looks so damn precious when she sleeps. I hate knowing we made her cry, that we upset her, and made her doubt us.
Her cupcake scent fills my nose, settling the unease inside me enough for the pain to lessen. It’s not enough, though. I want to curl into her, pull her into my arms, and hold her tight.
Instead, I look around and decide to take her gaming chair. “I’ll take the bean bag, I guess,” Reid whispers, stepping over to the other side of the room with the bean bag.
The three of us sit spread out around the room like protective sentries.
With my head against the headrest, and my eyes lock on Addie. I watch her sleep, making sure she’s safe, until my eyelids grow heavy and I drift back to sleep, comforted by the scent of cupcakes.