Page 32 of Cleat Heat

“Oh, thank goodness, little flier. I didn’t know how we would fit all my stuff in your little apartment,” I joke.

Dash plucks her out of my arms and crushes her against him.

“Good girl,” he growls, and the prettiest blush glows on her cheeks before Ty sneaks in to claim our prize under the pretense of showing her the rest of the house.

They disappear around the corner with Ty’s arm slung over her petite shoulders. Her long braid sways back and forth, brushing her lower back. The mesmerizing motion draws my eyes downward, where her round ass snags my attention as it bounces under skintight leggings. She’s physically beautiful, but she’s so much more than just that—determined, athletic, guileless. In my wildest imagination, I couldn’t have created a better omega to spend the rest of our lives with.

“Wish she had our bites on her,” Dash says, bumping my shoulder with his as we work together to straighten the kitchen.

“Wonder if she would take a pack bite before her next heat, just so we could have that little connection until we can claim her,” I consider aloud, rubbing my hand over the raised scars on my wrist that mark me as Pack Walsh.

“No,” he growls, shaking his head—and he’s right, that would send the wrong message.

And everyone needs to know she’s ours.

Chapter Twenty- Two

Vivi

Ishould get to practice.

I should call my parents.

I should answer all of my missed messages….

The list of should-do’s is piling up. But the truth is—I’m not ready to let this happy little bubble burst. After breakfast, I was prepared for the guys to rush off. Back to football. Back to life. They’ve already missed so much because of my heat, but they wouldn’t even consider it.

“Are you ready, baby girl?” Ty asks excitedly as the car slows to a stop outside a colossal nesting store. He bounces in the seat next to mine, boundless in his energy. But his enthusiasm is contagious, and I smile at his antics.

“What are we doing here? I thought we were going to my apartment to pack up more of my nest?” I ask as Dash opens my car door and offers his hand to help me out. The heat of his palm warms me from the inside out—a gesture so gentlemanly I wouldn’t have thought an Alpha-Baller capable of it. But then again, this pack has surprised me at every turn.

“We’ll get your stuff. Promise. We just thought you might want a little something new, too,” he says, slipping his hand protectively down until it rests at the small of my back. The three surround me as we wander toward the store, and a sense of safety washes over me. Being an omega, I’m always alert whenever I wander through public places. Not scared—but I keep my wits about me. With my pack by my side, I suddenly don’t need to worry about anything.

My pack.

A thrill runs through me at the thought.

“I don’t really need anything,” I protest, but Dash steers me into the store anyway, and Ty bounds over to grab not one but two carts. “We definitely don’t need a cart.”

“Oh, little omega, don’t worry about it,” Dash says, quieting my rebuttal with a soft kiss that makes me swoon. Is this even real life?

Fox tugs my hand, leading me toward the enormous sign that says ‘Blankets’—oh God, my weakness. The aisles are piled high with every color of the rainbow, making the urge to throw myself onto the shelves and roll around almost impossible to ignore. A whine builds in my throat.

“What’s your favorite color?” Fox asks, his spring rain scent wrapping around me.

“I love most colors—besides orange—but periwinkle is my favorite,” I answer, spying it amid the sea of colors. My hand reaches for it automatically, grabbing the softest blanket I’ve ever felt. I press my cheek to it, closing my eyes as I imagine snuggling under it with my pack, watching a movie. Or sliding against it during my heat as they fill me with Alpha cocks. And bites.

The smooth, somehow cool material feels like heaven on my skin. And the need to have it claws at me, so I snuggle it close to my chest, giving into my omega instincts.

“So, I take it that one’s a yes?” Ty chuckles. He reaches for the blanket, and I snarl at him, unable to let the impossibly soft material go. My reaction makes my cheeks flame in mortification, but the guys just roll with it.

“Fuck, you’re cute when you’re all riled up,” Dash says. He smiles at me, then grabs all of them and dumps them into the cart with a flourish.

“Holy crap, does that say two hundred dollars? For a blanket?” I gasp, noticing the price tag for the first time. With great disappointment, I shove my soul blanket back onto the shelf and rush to retrieve the rest. That’s an insane price, and I just can’t rationalize it as much as my heart yearns to wrap myself in it like a burrito and never come out.

“Nope. It doesn’t say that at all. You read it wrong. Only twenty dollars. What a steal,” Ty says, snatching it back off the rack and tossing it into the cart. “We get a huge discount for being the best football players in the universe.”

“You’re lying,” I laugh, as he steers me further down the aisle.

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