“I’ll share it with you, but you,” I point at Orin, “are not getting a piece for being so impatient.”
“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” I swear, I see the corners of his mouth curve upward, but then it’s gone in a flash.
“Let’s go, firecracker.” Adler takes my hand again, holding on so tightly, like he’s afraid that I’ll slip through his fingers. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I reply. “And now that I have my cheesecake, I’m ready to face anything.”
Whether I like it or not, Adler Ace is going to be in my future.
TWELVE
Sabs
The tension is so high in the car that the air seems to possess a new heaviness. Orin is behind the wheel, me and Adler in the back. Usually after spending a night with a guy, I’m a “hook-up and run” kind of girl, so this is new. However, Adler stroking my thigh, always remaining in contact with me, quashes my uneasiness. I practically melt at his slightest touch, leaning against him to breathe in his scent because I seem to need it as much as oxygen.
“I’m sorry for leaving earlier.” I strap on my big girl pants to address what everyone is probably thinking about head-on. “I freaked out, so I just… ran.”
“It’s okay.” Despite his words, I feel how hurt he is. “This whole bonding thing is… a lot.” A pause stretches on. “Did you climb the gate?”
“Yeah.” I cringe inwardly. “Probably not my finest moment, but I didn’t know the stupid code to get out.”
“It’s a tall fence.” Disbelief creeps into Orin’s tone.
“So?” I arch an eyebrow, catching his gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’m the best tree climber in my family, and I’m not afraid of heights.” I look down at my nails, sighing in disappointment when I see my glittery pink gel polish ischipped. I have to keep them short for volleyball, but I still like them looking cute. “But I did chip a nail.”
“You don’t blink at scaling a fence, but you’re sad about breaking a nail.” Orin taps his fingers on the steering wheel, his eyebrows knitting together. “Interesting.”
“How are you feeling?” Adler shuffles even closer, sandwiching his leg against mine. It’s like he can’t bear to be more than a few inches away from me at all times. A feeling I completely understand as I cling to him tighter.
“Better,” I shrug. “A bit hungry, and…” I instantly salivate, looking down at the cheesecake taunting me from my lap. “Holding this bad boy isn’t helping.”
“We’re almost there.” Adler nuzzles into my hair. “Then you can eat all the cheesecake you’d like.”
I see the familiar gates approach and swallow hard as they open.
“You don’t have to worry about anything.” Presumably, Adler senses my nerves. Fuck, I knew that bonding involved sharing emotions, but where’s the privacy? Faye and Delilah never mentioned this to me, but I guess it was different for them. They chose to bond with their alphas. For me, a stranger has basically got an all-access pass into my head, which is irritating considering I prefer to hide my feelings.
“I’m not worried,” I lie.
Obviously, I’m not fooling Adler, but he doesn’t say anything. Hopefully, at least Orin is tricked into thinking that I’m not intimidated by him or my new living situation.
When we stop, Orin swiftly jumps out. He moves around to open my door, but I get there first.
“I can open the door for myself, thanks.” I stifle a smirk, stepping out with zero help from him. “If you think chivalry is going to get you a slice of cheesecake, you’re wrong.”
He chuckles, my skin heating as his eyes skim down my body. “You are very protective of that cheesecake.”
I stand my ground. “You would be too, if you’d tried it.”
Talking about cheesecake seems ridiculous given our current predicament, but being a cheesecake bodyguard is giving me a sense of purpose right now.
“Let’s go inside and help you feel at home.” Adler cuts through my and Orin’s standoff. “Luca has been working on the nest.”
“Great.”
I should be grateful, but I’m not, and I don’t bother hiding it in my tone. Although it’s a sweet gesture, a nest is deeply personal. How can someone who doesn’t know me possibly create a space that I’ll feel comfortable in?
My idea of a perfect nest would be far too chaotic to appear in an issue of Nest Weekly—the world’s most famous nest design magazine, which people often look to for nest inspiration. While Kady loves calming quality fabric, Faye favors twinkling lights, and Delilah likes warm colors, I prefer my nest to be bright and bold. When Mom bought me nest supply catalogs, I’d get bored looking through them, complaining that everything was too dull. Thankfully, Nora’s Nesting Nook has been my savior since coming to college. It’s the first store I’ve been to that actually caters to all omega preferences in one place, saving me from having to shop around.
