Page 38 of My Begrudging Scent Matches

“It’s excessive, really,” Alice agrees.

“Not to mention you’re exceptionally stubborn,” Grant says.

“So fucking stubborn,” Alice nods. “I can’t help myself.”

Grant and Caleb both step closer, close enough that any of them could touch if they just reached out. The beast inside her is quiet, not pining and yearning and aching for once. Just a quietness settling in herself.

“I don’t want to be alone,” she repeats, then emboldened by them not telling her to fuck right off, “I want to do the thing where we try to love each other and keep trying to make things work, even after we learn all the bad things. Especially after.”

“You mean it?” Grant asks. His arms are crossed over his broad chest, like they always are when he’s playing hardball. “Because if you mean it, you can’t mean it halfway. If you say you’re in, it’s all in, or nothing, baby.”

“And if you change your mind?” Alice asks.

“We won’t,” Caleb says, his voice gruff. “I am so sure about this, Alice.”

Alice’s pulse races beneath her skin and she grins, taking one of each of their hands in hers. Something wholly and perfectly right clicks into place. She pulls them towards her and they wrap her in their arms. The tightest hug between the three of them as they bask in the quietness of the rooftop, the whole city is at a standstill as the sun sets in the distance.

fourteen

It's been three months since Alice quit her job at Labyrinth Solutions. Nothing that Logan said could make her stay, though he did try his best before witnessing Grant and Caleb walk her out of the building with a box of her desk trinkets and mugs in their arms.

Lily officially followed suit a month later, making their new company Walton Marketing her full-time job.

It was humble beginnings, but they were making just enough that both of them could do it full-time. It was enough to live on and, soon, would be enough to hire some more help. Alice worked fifty-hour weeks. Sometimes from the office, they'd set up in the upstairs loft, sometimes from the local library or her favorite cafe.

Even when it’s a lot, it’s never tedious.

The deadlines are her own and she doesn’t have to deal with any of the corporate nonsense that she'd grown accustomed to.

It’s hard work, but she’s steadily getting new clients. And between her and Lily, they'd need to hire a few more helping hands soon. Before the end of the year, they’d be a team of five if everything went the way she wanted it to.

Tonight she’s four-nonstop-hours deep into finishing up a project for a new client when warm hands descend onto her shoulders. She immediately relaxes her hunched posture and pushes off her headphones.

"Five already?" she asks with a yawn. She tilts her head back and accepts a kiss from Grant, still in his work clothes, his tie loose around his neck. “You’re handsome.”

"Thank you." he kisses her again. “But it’s actually six, baby.” She curses and looks at her desk clock where, sure enough, it’s already six. "You need to eat something."

She motions to the half-eaten sleeve of saltines next to her keyboard, which pulls a laugh out of Grant. He swivels her chair to face him and kisses her some more before pulling her up into a hug. She lets his scent wrap around her, pressing her nose into his chest. Her favorite part of any day.

"We ordered Thai."

"Oh, thank god." Alice squeezes him one last time before patting his butt and leaving him to change while she investigates the Thai situation downstairs.

Caleb is already serving noodles and curry onto plates for the three of them. She holds him around the waist, standing on tiptoes to peer over his shoulder.

"Did you get rangoons?" she whispers and feels a laugh shake his chest.

"Of course." Caleb reaches into the plastic bag and removes one more styrofoam takeout box. Her mouth waters just thinking about it. "How was it today?"

"Great!" Alice starts on getting out forks and cups—the blue ones, her favorites—moving around him in the kitchen. "By some miracle, all the clients we billed this week paid on time and Lily delivered a bunch of projects, so things are looking good for next week."

"And how were you feeling?"

"Ah," Alice shrugs. "Maybe just a little antsy."

Her second heat is just about due, they can all tell. She’s clingier than usual and can’t stop messing with the nest. The blankets have been washed and re-washed and nearly every hoodie owned by Grant and Caleb has been commandeered, either to be worn by Alice around the house or put over pillows like cases. The blackout curtains were secured, the whole house cleaned top to bottom, and she’s been having the hot flashes that tell her it really won’t be long now.

"Do you feel sick? Feverish?"

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