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She’s quick to change, racing back out of her room in record time, ready to go.
Lexie skids to a halt once I get her back outside on the sidewalk. “Aww man."
I stop with her, studying her, trying to see what’s wrong. “What?"
She frowns. “We should've invited Mr. Bouchard along with us."
Surprise and pleasure shoot through me. “Why is that?"
She shrugs. “Because he's awesome. And he likes to feed us."
I can’t help the laugh that bursts out of me. “That he does. You know we still haven't had our hot chocolate experiment like we spoke about. We'll have to plan it soon and invite him to that."
"And Coach Hendrix,” Lexie adds.
"Yeah, and Coach Hendrix." I smile down at her. "You like them then?"
She nods. “Yep. Book club is fun. They don't ignore me and just talk to you."
"They don't. They are pretty great."
I like them way more than I should and Lexie is completely in love. They’re so good with her. So patient and kind and genuinely interested in what she has to say.
"I think they'd like coming to pizza."
"Do you want me to invite them? I'm sure if they don't have plans, they can meet us." I’m more than happy to invite them, it’s usually them inviting us to stuff, so I’d like to repay the favor.
"Yeah, invite them!"
"Okay." I pull out my phone and shoot off a text in our group chat, letting them know that Lexie wants them to join us for dinner.
They both respond immediately that they'll meet us there.
"They're coming."
Lexie cheers. "They should be your boyfriends. They like you. And they're nice."
I shoot her a glance as we wait at the pedestrian light. ”You think I need a boyfriend or two?"
"You don't need one, but they seem like they'd be nice to have."
"What's nice about having a boyfriend or girlfriend?" I ask, curious about her answer.
"It's nice when the table is full and loud and there's a lot of laughter."
My chest aches and my eyes sting. She's longing for a pack, something she's never had for herself, but there's no escaping it in our society, the importance of packs. They're made to look like the ultimate goal for everyone. The reality is much different, not quite so magical.
Especially for betas. Way too often, if we're even invited into packs, we're expected to be there as the workforce, there to provide financially to the pack and then to come home and keep the household running while the alphas and omegas are slaves to their pheromones and biological needs.
I'm going to need to make more of an effort to build a different kind of pack and family, to satisfy her needs. She's lonely and now, more than ever before, recognizing how isolated we've been. I wish I could be enough for her, but that's sadly not an option.
But if I surround us both with laughter and friendship and fill our home and space with plenty of people, hopefully that'll be enough.
For both of us.
I squeeze her hand. “Now that we're settled, we can start having people over more, planning more get-togethers."
"With Coach Hendrix and Mr. Bouchard?"
