Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
EMILY
“ Y ou want me to take her so you can go get something to eat?” Beau asks over the roar of the crowd.
Penny’s fast asleep in my lap, her head perched against my chest, her bunny blanket acting as a pillow.
The announcer rallies the crowd again as the final barrel racer stops the clock, the last barrel slowly twirling and then settling back into its spot without falling over.
Lance glances up from his phone and then tucks it into his pocket. “I can grab something for you, too.”
I shake my head even as I offer a smile. “That’s all right. I’d like to stretch my legs before his event anyway.”
Beau takes Penny from me. She doesn’t even twitch at the transfer, the bunny blanket moving from my chest to his without mishap.
As I grab my purse, I ask, “Do either of you want something?”
Both men shake their heads. Beau grabs my hand and kisses my wrist. I can’t help but smile even more, my cheeks hurting.
Then I quickly navigate the stairs back to the main concourse, turning to the large concession stand a few sections down from where we’ve been sitting.
I mess with my nails while the line slowly dwindles in front of me.
Even still, I can’t help but hear some of the conversations around me.
A trio of women giggle behind me, crowding around one of their phones.
“He’s so hot,” the one in the middle says.
She has bleach-blonde hair worn wavy to nearly her waist. Her boots and hat don’t have a single scuff on them.
Most of her artificially tanned skin is on display given the short hem of her denim skirt and the white halter top.
“I need him bad. And my name goes so well with Harding. It’s fate. ”
My stomach twists.
The girl to her left laughs, too. She can’t be more than twenty, though none of them seem older than college age. “You think what Knot Weekly said is true? That he’s packed up?”
The third girl flips her curly red hair over her shoulder. “It can’t be. Why wouldn’t he have mentioned it the last two years? I’m sure it’s just someone trying to make a buck.”
“Did you see those photos Western Knot posted a couple days ago? That toddler?” the blonde asks. When the other two girls answer, she frowns. “There’s no way they’re lying about her being his. They look almost identical.”
I vaguely watch the line in front of me slowly lessening. I edge forward even as my curiosity keeps me eavesdropping and focusing on the girls.
The redhead shrugs, unbothered. “So he had a one night stand. Who cares? Lots of cowboys have kids. Not going to detract from trying to hook up with him.”
“That’s true,” the second girl agrees. “And why is she just now being toted out? I bet the mom is crazy. So you probably won’t have to deal with the baby that much, honestly.”
The growl races up my throat, so fast I barely stop it from gaining noise.
“Oh, true!” The blonde girl messes with her cowboy hat. “That would be perfect. Just enough that the press will think I’m this great person stepping in to be mom.”
Lance’s voice keeps me from turning around and making a spectacle. Even still, my hands shake with the desire to punch the girl and feel the crunch of bone as her nose breaks. My scent whirls around me, edged in my possessive anger.
“Found you before you got through the line!” Lance says, a broad smile lighting his face. “Beau decided he wanted a drink, but you left your phone with him.”
I nod but don’t dare move more than that while my hands tremble.
The smile drops in an instant, his gaze reading me much more clearly than most Betas would be able to manage. He must have experience managing Alphas in addition to Triston’s Omega nature. His mouth thins into a line, and he shoves his hands in the back pockets of his dark jeans. “You all right?”
My smile is more of a grimace. “Fine.”
He doesn’t believe me, but the girls behind me have shut up, so the urge to be truly violent is able to shrink to manageable levels.
“Is Penny still asleep?” I ask to keep myself distracted while the person in front of us finally starts to order.
“Yep, out cold. I’m impressed she can sleep through so much noise.”
I mange a small laugh. “Yeah, she’d be able to sleep through a hurricane, I’m pretty sure. Maybe I’ll grab a snack for her just in case.”
“Good idea.” Then he pulls his phone and sighs at whatever he sees on it.
“Triston’ll probably have a bit of press to manage afterward, especially if he lasts the full eight.
The NbrA have said they’ll donate a quarter million to the retreat if he manages, so I’m sure the press will want to get his statement to go with the announcements. ”
“That’s fine. If she wakes up, we’ll let her walk the grounds while we wait. Our passes include the after event access, right?”
“Yep,” he says, popping the “p” the same way Triston always does.
There’s a charged silence behind us, and I can’t help but smirk.
We order the snacks without fuss, though I request the jalapenos from the nachos on the side just in case Penny does wake up.
I also snag a bag of m&ms. Lance balances Beau’s soda in one hand and his phone in the other, frowning as he taps out a reply to someone.
When we turn to head back to our seats, all three girls are focused on me.
The redhead and other girl are pale, their eyes wide.
The blonde in the middle is staring daggers into me as if looks can truly kill.
I only smirk more. My scent changes, too, filling with smug satisfaction.
The third girl pales even more, clearly able to tell the subtle adjustment that the others aren’t.
“For the record, I’m not crazy,” I say as we pass them. “And it was more than one night.”
All three girls’ mouths drop open. Lance snorts but doesn’t say anything as we walk by them.
Triston slowly eases onto his elbows, pulling his weight from me.
I wrap my arms around him, forcing him still, and run my tongue up the side of his throat.
He shudders, and I know Beau’s pulled out of him.
A moment later, and Beau’s weight disappears from the hotel’s large bed.
A door clicks shut, and then there’s the running water of the shower.
Triston kisses the hollow of my throat and then my collarbone, letting his teeth bite every other kiss.
I arch into him, clenching around him as if my lock isn’t holding us together.
He grunts, and his clove scents swirls around us again.
I can’t help but laugh, and he groans again, dropping back on top of me as his arms give out.
“Fuck,” he mutters. “That’s not fucking fair, Em.”
I kiss him hard, delving into his mouth until he scents all over again, the clove rising around us like steam from a hot spring.
The sour edge is entirely gone, and satisfaction fills me at that reality.
When he pulls away, panting, his eyes are blown wide.
He twists a hand into my hair and presses his forehead to mine.
“The touch-starvation…” I trail off as he nods.
“Yeah, it’s gone.” There’s a contented wonder in his voice, and I wrap my arms tighter around him.
Neither of us say anything as the time passes.
After several minutes, the shower cuts off and Beau steps back into the room.
He trails a hand down Triston’s arm and then mine, kissing us both.
Then, without a word, he pulls on a set of jeans and leaves the suite’s bedroom, closing the door behind us.
The monitor on the table on the far side of the bed crackles with Beau’s movements and then the softer cry of Penny as she wakes up.
A minute later, my lock finally releases him.
He groans as he eases onto his knees, pulling me with him.
He kisses me again, soft and light, then slides off the bed.
I follow him into the small bathroom and the modest shower that really isn’t big enough for us both.
His lips flip in a small smile as I press a kiss to his sternum, not caring at all that I’m only getting the smallest bit of the shower’s water.
“You’ll be safe while we’re at home?” I ask.
Worry is a well-known friend in my head, and I can’t help it as it sinks its claws deep into me.
He tilts his head into the spray, his curls lengthening and darkening from the water.
“I’ll be fine,” he says without opening his eyes.
He washes and conditions his hair in record time, then twists so I’m the one under the water.
He grabs the hotel’s body wash and drops to his knees, running it over my legs and then higher, around my hips.
My scent lashes out, surrounding us, and he kisses my hip bone.
I swallow down all the things I want to say.
None of them will be helpful. Most aren’t even true, just scenarios my brain is spinning.
I ease him back to his feet once he’s finished with the body wash, kissing him until his dick is a heavy weight against my stomach and his clove interweaves with my vanilla, strong enough it’s all I can think about.
“Emily,” he whispers. “I promise I’ll be fine. It’s a photoshoot and a small interview. Just a couple hours of press tomorrow, and then I’ll be on a plane. I’ll be back home with you before you wake up Wednesday morning.”
I nod, trying to believe the words.
“Fuck me again,” I murmur.
“We don’t have time.” His voice is breathless.
I shake my head. “I don’t need to lock you. Just… just let me feel you for a bit longer.”
He lifts me into his arms, presses me against the tiled wall, and drives into me in one hard thrust.