“Well, it’s a wee bit of a lovers’ lane. Along with being a major hangout spot for the local misfits. Lain, Callum, and I have spent a few nights rightly pished, acting like we were truly seeing fairies around the lochan.”
“I can’t picture Callum drunk and joking about fairies,” Maisie says and I shake my head with a heavy sigh.
“I know he’s been a right arsehole to you, but I promise he isn’t always like that. These past years have been tough.”
I’m contemplating how much I want to divulge to Maisie. Do I tell her about Fiona? I decide against it, there’s no point, not if this is temporary. I’m mentally fortifying my heart for that possibility. I’ll be honest if she asks, but it’s not just my story to tell.
“I’m sure,” she says, though her tone is disbelieving.
“Ah. Here we are.” Regretfully, I let go of her hand as we approach the small shore and I toss the old blanket onto the sandy, rocky shore. I take a seat and she joins me as I take out items from the tote. “Alright, you’ll have to let me know yourfavorite,” I tell her, using the pairing knife to cut small little slices of each of the cheeses I bought at the market.
She hums at the different options until I hand her a cracker with Strathdon Blue on top. She slightly gags and shakes her head as I laugh, pouring her a glass of Irn-Bru. Luckily, that seems to take the taste out of her mouth.
“All of them except that one,” she says, taking another sip.
“Cannae blame you.”
“Which is your favorite?” she asks and I swipe the Crowdie on two crackers.
“You can’t go wrong with a staple,” I tell her and she nods, pushing the cracker into her mouth.
With the tea sandwiches between us, we eat and stare out at the calm water before us.
“Does it ever get old?” she asks, waving a hand at the water. “How beautiful it all is?”
“Never,” I reply easily. “When you have something perfect, you learn to cherish it, see the beauty in it every day.”
She’s leaning on her elbows as she turns to the side to face me.
“How do you not have an Omega?” she blurts, and then quickly covers her mouth. “Don’t answer that. That was incredibly invasive of me.”
Alright, so I guess I’m indulging a bit into our history.
“We did. Things didn’t work out. It was the hardest on Callum,” I say.
There, she has the gist of it, but not all the gory details.
“I could ask the same of you, ye ken, why no pack?”
“Me?” she says in a perplexed tone.
“Aye.”
She snorts, crinkling her nose. “I haven’t really given it much thought. I’ve been so focused on my career, I don’t date. I alwaysgo to a heat facility when necessary. I’m not all that sure I’d even be a good pack Omega.”
“That sounds extremely lonely,” I say softly, and she gives me a weak smile.
“I guess it is. I…it’s been easier to take the deodorizers, scent blockers, heat blockers, really anything that’s on the market to dull being an Omega, I guess. Losing Mom, my job, being here, I think it’s only hitting me how on autopilot I’ve been.”
Her words are so shockingly honest and vulnerable I can’t help but to reach out and comfort her, running my thumb against her cheek.
She leans into the touch, nearly rubbing against my palm like a needy little kitten. Poor thing is touch starved, among everything else she’s going through.
There’s this deep, possessive part of me that wants to wrap her up in a blanket and take care of her.
“Not that you asked, but I think pack life would suit you. Seems like you could really use someone taking care of you for once.”
She swallows thickly, not moving her face from my hand. “I don’t even know what that would look like.”
