Chapter 28
Sofia
Devon laughs as he swirls me around. The last two days of avoiding them go down the drain the second his scent hits me.
I stand still while my body reacts to him like he leaned in and whispered something dirty in my ear.
Everything about him just turns me on, especially after the dreams I’ve been inundated by.
I break free of him and try to put space between us, but as soon as he sways towards me, I find myself leaning towards him.
I’ve missed him so much. Which is ridiculous, it’s been two days.
“We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“I’ve been right here,” I say shortly, trying to put some chill into my voice.
“You’re avoiding us, and that’s okay. But we’re not going to let you.”
“Not going to let me?” I ask, raising an eyebrow and folding my arms over my chest. It is really hard to be a stone when he’s smiling at me like that.
I back up and step up one of the stairs, then another, so I’m at his height. I knew I should have left home earlier. Since they moved to the lighthouse, I’ve gotten too confident here.
“Mm. You can say there’s nothing between us, you can pull away and pretend-”
“I’m not pretending it didn’t happen, Devon. I just need a little bit of space to think.” Meeting his eyes is impossible. I hate how emotional I sound, but I haven’t heard back from Aunt Ophelia yet.
He stops moving, his shoulders slump, and he gets serious.
“How much space do you need? I think we’re all worried you’re going to hop out of town, and we’ll never see you again.”
My frustration dies, and I reach out to him, pulling him until his face is buried in my neck, and his arms are wrapped around me.
“You’ll always have me in your life, Devon. I’m not going to run and cut you out completely. I’m just trying to see if Sunshine fits me now.”
“Like a glove,” he mutters.
I laugh despite myself. “I need to figure that out for myself, Devon.”
“How long?” He pulls back, looking up at me. “How much longer do you need?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Fine, what does space mean? I need an exact clarification.”
I smile, liking this sulky alpha. “It means I don’t stay at your place at night, and I spend some of the day alone.”
The intense unhappiness vanishes instantly.
“Really? So, you want to go to lunch with us, then?”
I laugh because he’s so cute, and I am so happy right now.
“I give you an inch,” I tease.
He touches his lips to mine. I don’t look away from him as I kiss him back. He’s got beautiful brown, almost black eyes, the kind you can fall into forever. There is so much emotion in them.
“I’m not gone, Devon. I’m right here.”
His arms tighten around me.
“Come out with us. We need to see you. Let’s go on a lunch date and do something wild.”
I laugh softly. “A lunch date?”
“Yeah, or just a friendly gathering, it can be whatever it’s going to take to get you to say yes.”
I waver, but in the end, there is no choice. I have missed them maybe more than they’ve missed me. Saying no isn’t really an option.
“Let me go up and grab a coat and get Danger.”
His hand trails down my back and over the curve of my ass as I step back up the stairs. It’s hard to look away from him, but as soon as I do, I rush up to get my coat so I can come back.
I grab a sleeping Danger and his lead, throw on a light green cardigan, and pad down the stairs.
Devon shifts, looking nervous.
“What’s wrong?”
I stop in front of him, my mind tripping over all the things that could be upsetting him.
“I have something for you. I bought it years ago, and I carry it everywhere with me, but it was always meant for you.”
He lifts his fist, and a tiny dolphin drops out on the most delicate silver chain. I reach up and touch it.
“Devon, it’s beautiful.”
“Do you remember that day we saw the dolphins? When they came right into the beach, the day we all went swimming for Felix’s eighteenth birthday?”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “You were having fun with Sebastian, but he decided to leave, and you and I stayed when everyone else went home.”
“And the dolphins came, and you were so excited.”
“It was amazing.”
“I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so joyfully happy. When I think about happiness, I think about your face on that day and how much I wanted to be a part of your life.”
He steps closer.
“May I?”
I turn, and he carefully puts the chain around my neck, laying the dolphin against my collarbone. My stomach flutters, and the protests and walls I’d built up vanish. He barely touches me, but I shiver with every brush of his fingertips.
“Thank you, Alpha.”
He exhales roughly, the hot heat bathing my neck, making my skin prickle. My body turns to liquid heat, and all I want to do is take his hand, lead him up to my bedroom, and lick every inch of him.
“Come on, lunch.”
I clear my throat. “Okay. Yep. Let’s go.”
He smirks but puts a hand on my lower back, guiding me out. I never understood why anyone would like to be guided, but it’s his touch on me, more intimate than holding my hand, slightly possessive, comforting, strengthening. Like he’s saying to everyone, ‘I am here. We are together.’
Danger bounces along beside, warbling and letting us know all about how happy he is as well. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, just a flash of white, but it’s there and gone. I dismiss it as we walk down Main Street.
“Where do you want to eat?”
Danger pulls on the lead. He jumps up at Devon, barking. He kneels down and picks up Danger, cuddling him close. I watch how sweet my alpha is with my dog and, again, my brain short-circuits.
“So, food?”
“Um, we could get hot chips and sit on the beach, just the five of us. Talk.” Because I have to tell you. I can’t keep it in anymore. No more excuses, no more distractions.
“Sure.”
As we get closer, I see Mack and Elijah waiting near the ramp to the beach.
“Do you three have ESP?”
He laughs. “Nah, I was just sure we’d end up here if I was successful in luring you out.”
“Oh, is that right?” I say, chortling at his confidence, but I can’t take my eyes off Mack and Elijah.
“Go, I’ll order.” He passes me Danger and walks off.
I hesitate, unaccountably nervous for some ridiculous reason. I force myself to start walking. But when Elijah sees me, his face lights up, and I don’t know what I was nervous about. He meets me halfway and pulls me into a hug that makes my bones ache in the best of ways.
“You look beautiful as always.”
“Divine,” Mack says. “And you, too, Mr Handsome, you look bigger.”
Danger barks and wiggles, so I pass him to Elijah, who immediately gives him all the attention he needs.
Mack hugs me quickly, glancing around. “Shall we go down to the beach where we aren’t the entertainment for Main Street?”
I look up and catch a whole heap of people staring, but they are all smiling. Instead of the embarrassment I would have felt once upon a time, I just feel amusement.
Elijah croons to Danger. “Hello, my baby boy, look at you, I swear, you’ve grown a whole inch. You are so big, aren’t you? Oh, thank you for the kisses.”
Mack laughs. “How have you been? You know, since the heat?”
“Oh, fine. I’m sorry,” I say in a rush. “It’s not you; well, it was partly you, but it’s definitely a me thing.”
Mack’s lips tilt up. “It’s not you; it’s me?”
I glare at him.
He bites his lower lip. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
I huff. “It’s true, though, in this case. I don’t know if I want to start a life in Sunshine Cove, so I needed to do some thinking.” Be cautious Sofia, don’t give anything away.
“What did you decide?”
“That I’m even more confused than I was before,” I say wryly.
“There’s nothing confusing about it. This is where you are happy, where you feel safe, where your family is. This is home,” Elijah says without looking away from Danger.
“It’s not that simple-”
He stands up, his blue gaze holding me captive. “It is that simple.”
I look away, shaking my head. Frustrated.
“Okay, okay, let’s table this conversation and enjoy our lunch,” Mack says.
“I’ll take Danger for a quick run and come back.”
I watch Elijah leave, a disquiet growing inside me. “He’s angry with me.”
“He’s not angry; he’s hurt. He thought the heat would end, and you would stay.”
“I can’t promise that, but I’m working on it,” I whisper.
Mack cups my cheek. “You don’t have to explain to me, Secret. I know about not staying. About doing things because you have no choice. Whatever is eating you up must be strong because you are fighting to be here with us.”
I close my eyes, my lower lip trembling. I don’t deserve this alpha.
“When you are ready, the words will come, and it will be okay.”
I launch myself at him, hugging him tight and burying my face in his chest. He strokes my back and lets out a slow, deep, rumbling purr.
I love him.
I am in love with them.
“Mack, I need to tell-”
“Lunch is ready. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
I slam my mouth shut on my secrets that almost escaped. Mack gives Devon a look that tells him his timing sucks, but the two of them guide me down to the sand where we sit. Devon unwraps the chips and sighs.
“Sebastian and I used to get chips and sit here after we got back from working with Dad,” Devon says. “We’d crash here, exhausted, with a little bit of money that felt like a fortune and plan our futures. I never dreamed of this, but I wouldn’t trade it for all the chips.”
“Chips are not a currency,” I murmur.
“Sure, they are,” Devon says and winks at me.
Elijah returns, though he won’t meet my eyes.
We eat in relative silence. The waves pound the shore, and with Danger quietly digging holes in the sand, the day feels almost perfect. He lies in them and looks up with huge eyes before bouncing to a new spot, digging deep, and lying in that one.
It’s hard to stay upset or remember the impending trouble when he’s being so adorable.
When we finish, Mack runs the rubbish up to the bin, but I’m not ready to let this moment end.
“Shall we go for a walk?” I ask, indicating the beach that stretches away from the lighthouse.
“Sure.”
Elijah glances at me, then sighs and pulls me to a stop. “I’m sorry. I have issues with abandonment.”
“I’m not abandoning you,” I say quickly. “Never that.”
“I know that in theory, but it feels like it. It’s a me thing, just ignore me.”
“Never!” I smile and shake my head. “I said that to Mack earlier, too, the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’.”
Elijah grins, but I can still see how upset he is.
“I don’t want to make you unhappy, Eli.”
“You don’t-”
“I am already.”
“No, I’m unhappy because I miss you, not because of you.”
“You miss me?” I ask quietly.
He stares at me like his words have just vanished. After a long second, he finds it in a growl. “How can you even ask that? I missed you when you were on the other side of the room.”
“But-”
“No buts, I miss you. Period. I want you around all the time. I am unhappy being apart from you, even for a few minutes.”
I exhale roughly. “Eli.”
“You can keep saying my name; it’s not going to change the facts.”
He turns, and I reach out, grabbing his arm. We both freeze at the contact, our eyes clashing. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of something shiny in the sand dunes.
“What is that?”
I make my way up the beach, with Elijah just behind me, and find a gold ring in the sand.
“Someone lost a ring.”
Elijah grunts and picks something off the ground. “And a pearl necklace.”
“No way!” I say and rush towards him. But in his hands, to my absolute shock, is my mother’s pearl necklace. I would know it anywhere.
“What is it doing out here?” Devon asks. “I would have thought a thief would have sold it.”
“People steal for lots of reasons,” I say quietly.
Mack nods. “That’s true. But stealing and dumping the goods, that’s not normal.”
“Maybe it’s a kid,” Devon says. “Or someone who didn’t want to get caught.”
“Maybe we should-”
“There’s more,” Devon suddenly says and jogs a few feet away.
We follow him, Danger more than happy to run with us in the sand.
“Another one!” Elijah calls out.
“Where did this all come from?” Mack grumbles as he bends down to pick up a set of keys.
“That’s it! It’s time to stop this thief in their tracks!” Devon growls.
We cross up one of the pathways between the beach and town, leading us on the trail of the thief that has been haunting Sunshine Cove, determined to end this charade today.