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That was met by an answering sound as both Jonah and Toby started to purr. It was quiet, but it was there. What kind of alternate universe was this? I didn’t even know them.
My brain finally came online. Trying to be casual, I gently let go of Jonah’s hand to pick up my drink and leaned forward out of Toby’s touch. I heard some murmurs of protest from both of them, but I turned to Luke. He had started eating, and he wasn’t looking my way.
“Luke, I saw some of your climbing videos online. It looked like you do a lot of traveling?”
He nodded and sipped his beer, still not making eye contact. “Yep. There are a few places to climb around here, but if you go into the mountains, there are better ones.”
“Have you been doing it long?” I made a little plate of cheese and salami and started to nibble.
“Yep, a few years.”
I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t say more. His demeanor was totally different from Toby and Jonah. Different, even, from when he greeted me. It was obvious he didn’t want to be here. He wasn’t feeling it.
As I was processing that, deciding this probably wasn’t going to work out, my eyes fell to the steps of the man walking toward the table. To his bright red shoes.
It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. My heart was beating out of my chest as my eyes inched upward. Jeans, light blue polo over a wide, muscular chest. Biceps I wanted to sink my teeth into. Open buttons showing a throat that begged to be licked. Up to a firm jaw with a bit of five-o’clock shadow, full lips on a strikingly handsome face. Longish dark brown hair with a bit of curl and warm brown eyes.
Eyes that were wide, staring at me like I was an alien from another planet.
That headshot hadn’t done him any justice, and I certainly hadn’t recognized him.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
6
WILL
Her.
Here, sitting next to Jonah and Toby. Holy shit, it washer.
“You’re an omega.” She flinched, and as soon as I said it, I felt like an asshole. I’d been feeling like an asshole ever since I snuck out of her room seven years ago. “Sorry, that was the wrong way to start. I just… Hi, Sylvie. I tried to find you, but I didn’t know your name.”
I wanted to stuff all the words back in my mouth as soon as I said them. She was flushed a dark red, and I didn’t intend to make her uncomfortable. But shit, it meant she remembered me. She had to.
So beautiful. Her hair was longer, but it was the same gorgeous face, same haunting green eyes. Wearing a pretty sundress that showed off her curvy body. Curves I had gripped, a body I regularly dreamed about. Fantasized about the beta who got away.Who I ran away from.
And she was a goddamn omega.Fuck.
Jonah cleared his throat, and I was startled at how murderous he looked. I pulled out a chair across from her and sat, trying to sort through the million thoughts in my head for the right thing to say.
“William.” She tilted her head, her stare icy. “I didn’t know your name either. If I had, I wouldn’t have wasted everyone’s time coming here.”
She started to get up and I panicked, just as Jonah let out a growl.
“Wait.” It was close to a bark, but I managed to rein it in. I raised my hands up in front of me. “Please. Please, let’s just talk.”
Sympathy flashed across her features as she glanced from me to Jonah and over to Toby. All of us looking like if she walked away, she’d be ripping our hearts out. We let out a collective breath as she sat back down.
“What’s the story?” Luke asked. He wasn’t agitated like the others, more amused. Or if he was on edge, he was hiding it well.
It was our story, hers and mine. I’d never told them about her.
“We met once, in college. I was a prick.”
That earned me a small smile, and I felt like pounding my chest in victory.
“You thought I was a beta,” she said.
