Page 23 of Crushes and Confections

But for now, I was content just sitting here on the sectional, enjoying an evening with the two alphas we never expected to crash into our lives and bring us together.

My best friend knew how I felt and she loved me back. Now that my secrets were out in the open, it could only go up from here.

CHAPTER 9

Claire

Things were looking up, but I was frankly, frustrated as fuck.

Which was why I found myself readily agreeing to girls night with Autumn and Lindsay the night before the Dates & Delicacies auction.

To say things had been interesting around the house the past couple of days would be putting it lightly.

Ever since Riley had confessed to being in love with me, we’d been dancing around each other and it was driving me crazy. Sure we still snuggled on the couch, and held hands, our touches lingering longer than before, but at the end of the night we still went to our separate beds…him with a hard on and me with another restless night of using my toys to take the edge off.

All I wanted was my best friend to fuck me senseless.

Was it really too much of a stretch for us to Netflix and chill already?

Usually, I was pretty okay taking care of my own needs, having done so most of my life, because, frankly, every alpha I’ve ever smelled had my nose wrinkling. And the couple betas I dated, I ended up comparing to Riley, which of course they never measured up. Unfair? Absolutely. But I also wasn’t going to settle for anyone I didn’t want or be driven by my heats.

Maybe it was Holiday Hollow or maybe it was my parents, but I grew up with a very independent outlook on what I could do, regardless of my designation or not.

Which was why I was out tonight, alone, well, besides the girls. Something I could not get away with as an omega if I was in a different city. Damn, I really did love this town.

“Hot damn, girl, the triplets are going to have to bat the tourists off of you tonight,” Lindsay said, pulling me in for a hug.

“Yeah, you’re putting off some serious vibes,” Autumn said, as I moved to greet her too. “Ollie just brought us the first round, which means we’re about to be properly hydrated for you to spill. I’m assuming because your bestie isn’t here tonight, this might have something to do with him. He’s been acting kind of off the past couple of days.”

“Off how?” I asked.

Autumn owned Cedarwick Orchard and had made Riley a partner there last year after she’d found her pack and settled down back here in Holiday Hollow. While they handled different sides of the business it was a bit concerning if she noticed the difference too.

“Preoccupied maybe?” She said, tapping her finger against her lip. “Not as sassy?”

“Lord forbid if the beta loses his sass,” Lindsay said before taking a drink of her beer. “I’m pretty sure it’s one of the things I look forward to every time I see him. Is Riley without attitude, even Riley anymore? What happened?”

I took a drink of my cosmo, and then another, my two friends waiting patiently.

“He loves me,” I said when I finally set my drink down.

“Wait?” Autumn said freezing and leaning closer. “Loves you in what way?”

“As in, when we were at dinner with Vance and his partner the other night, he told me he’s in love with me and has been for a while.”

“I knew it!” Lindsay said, with a grin, the beta doing a little happy dance in her seat. “The looks he gives you when you’re not looking sometimes are way more than friendly.”

Autumn grinned as well, clearly pleased the suspicions I knew she’d had were true.

“So why are you here and not underneath the covers making up for lost time?” Autumn asked after a moment.

“I’d love to know that answer as well,” I said, finishing off the rest of my drink, enjoying the warmth of it flowing through my system, my shoulders relaxing slightly. “He hasn’t even kissed me yet.”

Gasps wrung out from my friends. “No way.”

“Yep,” I said with a sigh. “I mean, I could go ahead and jump him, but I’ve wanted him for so damn long, been in love with him so damn long that part of me still believes I’m going to wake up and this won’t be reality. Is it too much for me to want him to take that first step? To show me he really does want me as desperately as I want him? Is that some omega thing I don’t know about?”

“Definitely not an omega thing,” Lindsay confirmed. “That’s a friends to lovers thing, and there’s nothing wrong with you wanting that.”

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