Chapter 83
Chapter Eighty-Three
Robin
Aquick visit to the kitchen to place a dinner order big enough for three is followed by sneaking Shayne up the staircase and bringing him to my suite. My heart is hammering when I open the door, and it’s not because I think we might be caught.
I’m about to be alone in my apartment with two Alphas’ I’m deeply attracted to, one of whom I’ve already shared some time with naked, and the other who just watched me ugly-cry and was sweet about that emotional outburst.
It feels more than a little dangerous.
Shayne follows me inside and closes the door, while I find out Falcon is gone from the couch.
The bathroom door is closed, so I guess that’s where he is.
“Nice place,” Shayne compliments as he looks around.
“Take a seat. I’ll be back in a sec,” I tell him, as I take Falcon’s clothes into the bedroom.
I place the freshly laundered clothes on the bed, and then I knock gently on the bathroom door.
“Um, Falcon?”
“I’ll be right out,” he calls.
“That’s fine. I left your clothes on the bed. They’ve been washed.”
I slip out of the room and close the door to the bedroom as I move over to the kitchen.
“I forgot to order drinks. Is water okay?” I ask, as I head to the fridge.
“Water’s my kind of drink,” Shayne says. “Thanks.”
I bring three bottles and then three glasses over to the table.
Shayne helps me place them, and he sorts out the silverware when I bring it over.
“I was a waiter for a while,” he reveals. “I won’t pretend I was good at it, but I made decent tips when I was younger.”
“I kind of thought Alphas went straight onto the corporate ladder. At least, that’s the way they make it look on TV.”
He laughs. “Yeah. I guess a lot of Alphas skip the regular people jobs. I was always good with trying anything. I’m not one of those guys who have a calling, or whatever.”
“Did you ever try acting?”
“Oh, yeah. I was incredibly bad at it. I took some classes, got some good feedback. So, then I went on about a hundred auditions, and I bombed spectacularly every time. They always “liked my look” whatever that means, but I was too stiff and awkward when it came to the actual acting part. I forgot my lines, too, so I guess it wasn’t meant to be. ”
He smiles, like it’s a good memory, even if it’s something he wasn’t successful at.
“I thought Alphas were supposed to be good at everything,” I blurt, making him laugh.
“Hell no,” he corrects. “We’re good at some things, like everyone else.
I haven’t found the one thing I’m really good at yet, but I’ve come across a lot of things I’m awful at.
I did okay on the stock market, so my savings look good, but virtually everything else has been like lighting a dumpster on fire and sitting inside it. ”
I laugh, and he grins at me.
“You have a nice laugh.”
I’m trying not to blush when the bedroom door opens, and Falcon walks into the room in his freshly cleaned clothes, with his hair wet from the shower.
“Thanks for cleaning my clothes.”
“It was nothing,” I murmur.
He pulls out the chair next to mine, positioning it slightly closer to me before he sits down.
“Hey,” he greets Shayne, with a nod.
“Hey,” Shayne echoes in reply.
Falcon takes my hand in his, and we sit in silence for a few tense seconds while my heart starts to race.
I don’t know much about packs, or how it’s supposed to work when Alphas’ share a mate, so it feels pretty weird to be sitting here with them both now, especially since this was supposed to be my chance to get to know Shayne.
Maybe it was a mistake to bring him to my room.
“How’s Shadow doing?” Falcon asks, reminding me that Lana’s Omega is Shayne’s brother.
Shayne nods, as he opens his bottle of water. “He’s doing good. He really seems to like it here.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Falcon murmurs, giving me a wry smile. “It’s so nice I don’t want to leave now that I’m here.”
Shayne pours his water into his glass, not looking back at us until he puts the bottle back down.
“Well, you don’t have to. If Shadow had any say in it, he’d have us all move in today.”
“Too bad he’s not the one in charge.”
Falcon’s thumb strokes my hand lightly.
He wants to stay, and Shayne’s brother wants his whole pack here.
That really would be a dream, for me at least.
I kind of like it here. I’m not so sure they feel the same way.
“He may not be in charge, but he did give me some information that we could use to make a proposal to Lana. It sounded good to me, so maybe it would work for the pack.”
Shayne takes a long drink while Falcon’s brow furrows.
I don’t know exactly what they’re talking about, and the suspense is driving me crazy.
“What is it?” Falcon asks.
Shayne looks from him to me before he answers.
“Shadow’s pack want to buy a house off campus, but that means hiring a second team to be in charge of things here when they’re at home.
Shadow thinks another pack would be the perfect solution.
He said Owen’s been reaching out to guys he worked with in the past, but so far no one’s interested in being in charge of the operation of the academy.
So all he has are some new security guards.
They still need someone who’ll care as much as they do about keeping this place safe from threats. ”
“And our pack will have good reason to keep this place safe,” Falcon surmises.
“Exactly,” Shayne says, before he takes another drink.
Falcon’s quiet for a moment, and I feel like I’m sitting here holding my breath.
“It’s an interesting idea,” Falcon admits. “But I’m not sure Lana will feel the same way Shadow does. At least, not when it comes down to me.”
He sags a little in his seat.
“Maybe not right now,” Shayne agrees. “But give it a week or two …”
He shrugs as he trails off.
Shayne thinks Lana will say yes once I’m mated to them.
Regardless of whether that’s true or not, I can’t believe they want to stay here for me.
“Don’t you have a home to get back to? A life somewhere that’s not here?”
They look at me, and I feel completely overwhelmed with emotion all over again.
My eyes fill with tears, and my breathing hitches.
They can’t want to be here just for me.
That’s crazy.
Falcon takes my hand in both of his. “The apartment we have in Silver Valley was never a home. It was just a place to stay. We don’t have any reason to go back. This is where we’re supposed to be now. With you.”
I blink as I start to cry, seeing these men through blurry vision and wishing I could find the words to tell them how good it feels to have them with me.
Falcon puts an arm around me and lets me cry on his shoulder.
“You’re okay, Robin. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”