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The doorbell rang before our lips could meet. “That’s our food,” he said with a grin. “Now get off your feet before I have to pick you up again.”
I rolled my eyes, but did as he asked. As soon as my body hit the bed, I felt it. Exhaustion pulling me down once more.
Ash’s chuckle rolled through my sleep-darkened mind, and his arm slid under me, lifting me to sitting. He was now in only a pair of boxer briefs, and I didn’t remember him changing. “Any other time I’d let you sleep. But you need to eat something. I know you haven’t.”
“And how do you know that?”
He didn’t bother to take things out of the takeout containers, instead handing me a plastic dish of chicken curry. “Because every time we ever walked to class together you would never eat because you said you didn’t like how it made you feel during class. Or are you going to lie to me and say you had something other than that tea this morning?”
I glared at him. It wasn’t like I could lie about it, considering we’d been together since then. He knew I hadn’t.
The first bite reminded my bodyexactlyhow long it had been since I’d eaten. I groaned, digging into the curry like a starving woman. “Fuck me, this is good.”
Ash didn’t say anything. He was eating his just as quickly. I wanted to consume so much more food than the one container. But I also didn’t want to make myself sick. “Will you judge me if I eat the leftovers for breakfast?”
“Saves me from having to make sure we get food on the way to class.”
I made a face. He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t like eating first thing in the morning before class. It made me feel heavy in my steps. “Maybe I’ll bring it for lunch instead.” Suddenly I blinked. “Ian literally didn’t let us break for lunch today, did he?”
“He did not.” Ash didn’t sound happy about it. “But it won’t happen again. No matter how hard we’re working, we need to eat.”
“What’s going to stop him?”
A smirk. “Gabriel.”
My eyes went wide. “Will that get you in trouble with Ian?”
“I don’t care if it does. He wants to push us, he can. But he’s not going to harm people while we’re around. Especially now that you’re here with us.” He gathered up the dishes and took the leftovers out to the refrigerator. “My Omega will not go hungry because Ian has a chip on his shoulder about the contracts and company transfer.”
My Omega.
I loved hearing that. My whole body tingled with it. I was somebody’s. Someonechoseme.
Asher pulled back the blankets on my bed and got me underneath them before turning off the lights and joining me. He pulled me against his body, tangling our limbs together. My head fit under his chin, and he washard.
Stroking my fingers along his spine, I smiled into his skin. “Struggling?”
“You have no fucking idea.” His tone was teasing.
My whole body relaxed, realizing I was safe with Asher and I could sleep. Anxiety that had been living under my skin for years was gone now. We could have been doing this the whole time.
“I’m sorry, Ash,” I whispered. “You have no idea how sorry I am.”
He rolled me underneath him, whole body pinning me to the bed. “I’m sorry too.”
“But—”
A kiss silenced me, and we let it happen, deepening until we had to pull back or it would go further. “Listen.” Our breath was loud in the darkness, both of us catching it. “There is still more to talk about. A lot happened to both of us in the last five years. Maybe there was a reason for it. But what wecan’tdo? Is keep dwelling on the fact that it happened. It did. No matter the reason, and no matter whose actions got us here.”
“I know. I’m just not sure I can move on so quickly when I feel so guilty.”
His lips met my skin, and I gasped. “You’re here with me, blue. Nowhere else. What happened before doesn’t matter as long as we’re together moving forward. We’ll talk about it when we need to, but I don’t want you to think you need to keep apologizing to me. I forgave you and I meant it.” Then, after a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how I felt. Maybe things would have gone differently if I had. If you look at it that way, I drove you away.”
I tensed, and he kissed me softly. “See? You don’t agree. And there’s about a hundred ways both of us can spin it to make it our fault. So let’s agree to give each other and ourselves some grace while we figure this out. Because I am not letting you go, Sloane.”
“Please don’t.”
He rolled us back to the side, keeping me close. I let myself sink down into sleep, but I still heard him. Like a vow or a prayer. “Not a chance in hell.”
