Page 178 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

Emerson chuckled, his chest bouncing against her. “If you wanted to puppy pile, we should’ve just stayed on the bus.”

Lyric shrugged. “Then can we go back to the bus?”

Emerson looked over at the beta, who already had his phone out and was tapping away at the screen.

“Don’t see why not. We are using the buddy system, aren’t we?” Nohen asked.

Lyric chuckled, and quickly grabbed her things, including appropriate clothing, before following them down to the bus.

It was small, and maybe a little cramped, but it was theirs and nothing felt better than sleeping somewhere that smelled less like lemon cleaner and more like home.

That night, she fell asleep sandwiched between all her alphas and her beta, even if there were still a few she hadn’t claimed.

As morning dawned, and she rolled over face to face with Javi, who blinked against the early light, she wondered just how long her own patience was going to last.

Her patience wasn’t holding up strong. In fact, it was growing weaker with every ingredient Javier added to the big ass bowl of brownie mix.

The white tee stretching across his broad chest was well worn, the sleeves stretched out and loose around his thick biceps which flexed and moved like liquid as he stirred the bowl.

“Want to help?” Javier asked.

Lyric shoved her hands under her thighs to stop herself from reaching out to feel his muscles, but did nothing to control her dreamy expression. “Nope,” she answered, popping the ‘p.’ “I’m fine just supervising.”

“Supervising, hm?” he replied with a knowing smirk.

Lyric chuckled. “You’re doing a great job, if anyone asks. Stars across the board.”

“I’ll be sure to let management know,” he teased with a wink.

Lyric was glad she was seated, because otherwise her knees would have gone weak.

He added the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stirred even more, holding the bowl to his abdomen with one arm, and mixing with the other.

“So what makes these brownies fun?” she asked. The ingredients looked pretty normal to her. No rainbow M&Ms or weird chocolates in sight.

Javier nodded to one of the empty bowls. “THC infused butter.”

Lyric’s cheeks flushed. She palmed her forehead. “Oh my god. I was thinking rainbow sprinkles or something. I’m so dumb.”

The deep chuckle that drifted across the counter was like a dessert itself, and Lyric could have indulged for hours.

“It’s a recipe from my friend Green, different than the one we made earlier in the tour. It comes highly recommended from his omega.”

“Another omega? Do you know many?”

Javier shrugged. “Not really my omega friend. I only know Green, and I’ve never met his omega.”

“Oh, okay. Have you talked to Emma recently?”

Javier nodded with a fond smile. “Yes. She’s doing great, and she’s so excited to come to the show. Thank you again for letting me invite her.”

Cheeks flushing under the praise, Lyric waved a hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it. I’m excited to see her again, especially since she’s such a big part of your life.”

Javier lifted his gaze to her, something shining through that she couldn’t name, but it warmed her from the inside out.

Silence filled the small space as she watched him work, and only a few moments later, the pan slid into the oven with a clank.

“While we wait for those to get done…” His tan cheeks flushed as he opened the microwave and pulled out a Tupperware container.