Chapter 19
Luna
If anyone asks, I am currently achieving peak spiritual alignment.
Submerged up to my collarbones in a cedar-lined hot tub inside my room, I’m soaking in hundred-and-two-degree water while my pores absorb complementary pink mineral salts.
The perfect treat after an intense (though rejuvenating) yoga session.
I let out a long, relaxed breath.
Beth, Harper and Maren would love it here... Especially Maren, knowing how hard she works at her bakery.
Which reminds me, we haven’t talked in at least a week.
I dry one hand on a towel and grab my phone off the bamboo stool beside the tub.
Me: you’re missing out on that yoga retreat...
Me: there is a hot tub. INSIDE my room. With pink mineral salts. I’m melting as we speak.
Send.
The three dots come up before I’ve even set the phone back down.
Maren: Whaaaat
Then the screen starts buzzing in my hand, her name swallowing the whole thing. Maren calling. I tap accept, drop the phone back on the towel, and put her on speaker.
“Hi Mar!” I say. “How are you?”
“Hi, Lu!” Her voice fills the steam. “Good, good. Just making myself some cookies.”
“Look at you. Working even when you’re done working.”
“It’s not work if I get to eat them,” she says, and I hear something set down somewhere on her end. “And you, how are you? It’s been too long!”
“I’m great! Currently being marinated, as you know.” I sink another inch into the water, letting the heat seep into my tired muscles. “And I think the salts are pulling four years of bad decisions out through my pores.”
She lets out a long, suffering groan. “And here I am, in my pajamas with flour on my face. I wish I was there so badly...” She pauses. “Oh, by the way, how was your ex’s cousin’s wedding?”
Oh, that. Right.
I give her the abridged version. The wedding was a disaster from the welcome cocktails on, Derek parading me around his whole family as still being his girlfriend.
My eventful encounter with Ash. Me making a run for it until I got to the orchard.
Bram breaking the door of my cabin down, handcuffing me to the bed...
I think I’ll leave out the whole bag situation thing. Maren doesn’t need to worry about that, and honestly, neither do I.
“And then everybody calmed down, it all got sorted, and they let me stay. Room and board in exchange for some work around the place until the retreat started.” I tip my head back against the cedar.
“Wait, I’m sorry—back up.” Something clatters down somewhere on her end. “You’re telling me you wanted to stay there. After a man handcuffed you to a bed.”
“In his defense, he thought I was breaking in.”
“Luna.” Flat. “He sounds like a dick, if you ask me.”
“He apologized.” Stiff and red-eared and barely able to look at me, which was kind of cute. “It’s all good now. Honestly.” I trail off, watching the steam curl off the surface of the water. “And I mean, there’s another reason why it’s all good...”
“Oh, I love that tone.”
I bring the bubbles up to my chin. “The deputy.” A beat. “He’s—well. It’s not just him. All three of them. The brothers who own the place.” Another beat. “They’re my scent matches.”
A loud clatter comes through the speaker, followed by some genuinely creative swearing.
“Maren?”
“Sorry, I dropped an oven tray. Did you just say you met your scent matches???” Her voice climbs an entire octave. “Why am I only hearing about it now?”
“It’s been a lot to wrap my head around.” I close my eyes and tip my face up to the ceiling. “I think I wanted to make sense of it all before I said it out loud. And honestly? I’m not even sure I fully have yet.”
“Okay. Okay.” She pulls in a breath. “So tell me more about them. What are they like?”
I think about it. Ash’s hand at the small of my back. The steady weight of Bram’s gaze. Reed’s grin, slow and crooked—
A fresh heat blooms between my thighs that has nothing to do with the hundred-and-two-degree water. I press my legs together and sink lower. Ma’am. We are on the phone.
“They’re amazing,” I say. “Which is the terrifying part. Because logically? On paper they’re a very peculiar bunch. And yet I just... want to be near them. All the time.”
She makes an aw sound. “I mean—yeah. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? That’s exactly what scent matches are supposed to do to your brain.”
“I guess.” I shift in the water, finding a different angle against the slope of the tub. “Oh, and did I tell you one of them is actually the stranger I hooked up with the night before I ran away?”
“What?” Maren shrieks. “Wait—are you just going to keep dropping bombs like that? What are the chances of that even happening?”
“Yeah, I know, right?” I laugh, the steam warm on my face. “I wouldn’t have believed this was possible outside of a romance novel. It’s completely insane. But it’s not all perfect. I mean, there’s the distance. Lakeview is eight hours away. I have no idea how we’re supposed to deal with that.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Maren says, her voice softening. “If they’re feeling the pull as much as you are, you’ll find a way to make it work. Alphas with their heads on straight can be pretty resourceful when they want something.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. At least I have ten days up here to think about this logically, without their pheromones hijacking my brain.” I chuckle. “Anyway, enough about my drama. What’s going on with you? How’s the bakery?”
“Oh, you know. I work a lot.” A soft, rhythmic sound starts up again on her end, then slows down. “It’s fine, though. I’m fine. Except my distributor called to tell me vanilla’s going up another twelve percent.”
“Twelve percent.” I wince. “That’s brutal, babe.”
“It is, considering I use a lot of vanilla.” She blows out a breath.
“You’ll figure it out, though. I’ve watched you. You’ve never once not figured it out. You don’t just survive the hard stuff, you come out the other side thriving.”
“Yeah.” A pause. “Yeah. You’re right.” Another breath. “But enough about vanilla. I don’t want to complain because, honestly, I’m super happy for you, Lu. You deserve good things to come your way.”
“Thanks, Mar.”
“And so remind me, when do I get you back in Lakeview?”
“In about fifteen days,” I say. “And it’s my turn to host wine night. I’ll get the expensive stuff.”
“I gracefully accept,” Maren says. Then she gasps. “Oh, shit. Something smells like it’s burning. Lu, I’ve gotta go.”
“Careful! Don’t burn your kitchen down. Talk soon, bye!”
The call drops, leaving me with just the low burble of the jets, the eucalyptus, and the steam.
I look up, smiling at the ceiling. Classic Maren. I really ought to buy her a kitchen timer that works.
“Ow.” Something under my sternum gives a sharp little tug, pulling me out of my thoughts. My fingers find the spot, pressing against the bone.
Huh. I sit with it for a second. It’s the yoga, probably. Or the detox juice. Maybe it’s working.
The ache pulls again, a sudden, deep contraction that makes me catch my breath. My nose twitching uncontrollably before it cuts off just as fast.
Okay, I don’t think it’s the juice...