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Drew still had his eyes closed but now there was a serene look on his face.
When I stopped talking, he cracked his eyes open and blinked up at me. His blue eyes were full of something I wasn’t ready to identify. It was too soft and sweet, but it filled me with heat nonetheless.
“Thank you,” he said. “No one’s ever read to me before. I liked it way more than I thought I would.”
“Well, if you want to keep reading it with me, I’ll check the book out. It can be our nightly ritual,” I said, running my hands through his thick, brown hair. His breath caught, and he closed his eyes again, as if he was savoring every touch that I was giving him right now.
“I like when you don’t hold yourself back,” he said. “It’s been painful not to touch you or be close to you.”
“Don’t hold back on my account,” I said as I chewed on my bottom lip for a second, trying to figure out how to tell him. “I’m ready to try and open up. I can’t promise I’ll always get it right, but I’ll try.”
“That’s all we can do,” he reassured me. Though he looked like I’d handed him the whole world in that one sentence.
“We never got through the twenty questions,” he said, his fingers running along my forearm. “What’s your happiest memory, Shaye?”
“In my past, probably the summer that Everett and Lake and I went to watch the fireworks. It was just me tucked between them on our picnic blanket, staring up at the sky in our favorite spot. It was the summer before everything changed, but I just remember feeling so whole then.”
“You clarified that that was your happiest memory in the past. So, what’s your happiest memory in the present?”
“Right now,” I said, closing the book and holding it to my chest as I scooted off the armchair and into his lap. His eyes widened in surprise, but I didn’t give a chance for either of us to mess this up. I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his.
Unlike when I kissed Riven, he didn’t hold back. His hand tangled in my hair, holding me in place as his kiss turned hungry. He didn’t take it further than a kiss, but I felt him harden underneath me, and I realized in that moment that I didn’t want to run. I wanted him.
I kissed Drew back, my hand resting on his chest while the other clutched my book, breathing in this moment and committing it to memory.
Because this was the moment that I knew that everything had changed, that there was no going back, and I didn’t want it to.
It was also the moment that I realized there was more to life than just the men who wanted me and who I wanted in return.
There were books that I wanted to read, things I wanted to experience. A life that I actually wanted to live.
The moment was broken as the others hurried over to join us. Lake was holding up a book with a look of triumph on his face.
“I found my code, did you find yours?”
Flipping through the pages, I stopped on a small note tucked in the back.
“Yes, right here?” I said, holding it up before putting it safely back in its place. “So, what was the one thing you guys agreed on?”
Lake let out a chuckle and turned the book around to show me the classic horror novel.
“That the book is always better than the movie.”
ChapterSeventeen
Shaye
As I walked through Lockwood with Lake at my side, his scent filling my senses, I couldn’t help but think how stupid I’d been to push him away.
I think it was more about self-preservation than anything else. I was worried that he would find an omega that was his scent match, and it would break my heart.
But in the process, I had broken his.
The gap between us was slowly closing and I couldn’t help but snuggle in a little closer as we walked, wanting it to close completely but not sure how to make that happen.
We were walking toward the town square where they had set up a vendor fair for the weekend. It featured local artists selling their wares, small food booths, and the local school had even set up a charity booth where everything we bought contributed to getting new computers for the library.
“I know this might be lame,” he muttered as he started to second guess himself.
