Page 25 of Claiming Their Omega

“You don’t have to tell me it’s hard for her,” Cade growls.

I scrub my face. I’m just trying to keep my mouth shut. Every time I think about Grace pressed against me, begging me to help her, my heart climbs up into my throat. It feels wrong that I let go of her, that I let her walk out that door. All I wanted to do was keep her safe.

Forget waiting until the presentation. I hadn’t wanted to let her go in that moment, not at all. I would’ve declared myself right then if I’d followed my heart.

But following your heart willy-nilly isn’t what adults do. Besides, Grace doesn’t actually want us to court her. She wants us to pretend to court her while she figures herself out.

And on the one hand, yeah! I want to fucking help her! Of course I do. I just don’t want to get my heart stomped on in the process and this whole thing sounds like an absolute recipe for disaster.

“She wouldn’t ever truly be ours,” Cade growls. “It’s insane. She’s insane for even asking.”

“Cade’s got a point. That woman is a wildcard and you want to bring her in and fake court her? It’s a disaster waiting to happen. We’d be playing with fire.”

“I know, I know,” Hendrix sounds defeated. “I just don’t like the idea of her being left to the wolves.”

“We have enough on our hands already,” Jesse adds. I hear him grunt as he lifts up a hay bale and starts carrying it over to another section of the barn. “Now’s not the time for distractions.”

“There wouldn’t even be a damn issue if those assholes…” Hendrix mutters, the rest of what he says lost as he gets his own hay bale.

I stare up at the underbelly of the tractor. I know I can’t hide under here forever, but I’m also in knots over this whole thing. I don’t want them to ask for my opinion.

I push myself out from under and sit up, staring across the grass at one of the horses. “You got any bright ideas?”

The horse ignores me. Of course.

“Easton!” Jesse yells. “Can you help me muck out the stalls?”

“Yeah, coming.”

I get up, brushing off my jeans, and head into the barn after the others. Jesse has taken off his shirt and is wiping his face off with it. I roll my eyes when I see him.

“Guess there’s a reason you’re the one who goes through the most laundry,” I joke.

“Ha.” He deadpans a laugh, then looks at me expectantly.

I see Cade and Hendrix peer at me up from the hay loft they’ve climbed up to and let out a sigh. “Guys…”

Cade swings down from the hay loft, landing neatly on his feet. Hendrix takes the ladder and Jesse playfully wolf whistles at him. Hendrix flips him off and jumps down the last few rungs.

“Well?” Jesse prompts.

I groan and lean against the wall of one of the stalls. “I… I don’t think it’s an easy situation,” I say slowly. “But I also think…” I rub the back of my neck. “Look, she asked, and she needs us. Who else is going to be there for her? Would any of you trust random strangers to fake a courtship to help you get your life back? Or respect that you have a whole life and career in another city?”

“She should’ve gone to New York then,” Jesse retorts.

“Yeah, but she didn’t. She decided she was going to place her trust in us instead. I hate to admit it but it does kind of make sense. With us, we know her, there’s a chance we’ll fake the courtship with her. She can trust that better than some stranger.”

Not to mention the idea of some strangers getting their hands on her makes my blood boil.

“Look.” I cross my arms. “Are you really going to let her down? Are you going to look me in the eye and tell me that you’re going to say no to her?”

The other three look at each other. I can see the war in their eyes, as their pride fights with the truth that we all know is unavoidable.

We can’t say no to Grace Whitmore.

The fact that she has no idea just makes it all worse, but there’s not much we can do about that. And now she’ll never know, because letting her know now would be the worst kind of unfair.

The other three look at me, and their silence is my answer. None of us can deny her anything.

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