Page 10 of Knotty Pumpkin

“So, Muscle Man, you own the gym in town? Am I remembering that from the note in the safe haven bedroom?” Saylor asks as we near the wooded area beyond the lake, fallen orange and bronze leaves crackling under our feet.

“You are,” I say, my eyes scanning the wooded area as a shadow flits across my peripheral. More than likely it’s just a stray animal, but my guard is always up these days, having witnessed too many alphas acting on their feelings of entitlement towards omegas.

“I inherited it from my uncle about five years ago now. I’d already been working there as a personal trainer, but atnineteen I really did not know how to run the business. Uncle Rhys had built up quite the loyal customer base, and they stuck around, guiding me through the transition. I was lucky to have them. School wasn’t my forte, so I left and managed the gym full time.”

There's a stab of pain in my chest as I talk about Uncle Rhys. He’d been my only family at that point and losing him had been… hell. It had been hell. As the grief washes over me, my coffee scent dulls and I know Saylor scent it, even before she speaks.

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine losing someone and trying to step into their shoes at the same time.” She gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Thank you,” I say through the lump in my throat, squeezing her hand back. “It wasn’t easy, and I guess I was lucky to have the community around me.”

“Time doesn’t make it easier, does it?”

“No, not really.”

We continue our walk around the lake, quiet for a few minutes, the only sound the gravel crunching beneath our heels and the occasional quacking from the ducks on the lake.

“Tell me about you, Saylor. What’s your calling?” I ask as we complete our circuit around the lake and startmoving toward the festival, music now floating to us across the space, the smell of freshly popped, buttery corn on the air.

“Well, as you know, I work at Sip ‘n’ Study. I’m a shift manager there and actually really love it. There’s just something about the buzz of people coming through for their morning coffee, or muffin and being a part of their day that makes me feel good. I’m also studying business in the hopes of building my own coffee empire someday.”

“Must be why you agreed to this date,” I say with a wink as we pass through the opening gates. Saylor giggles, letting out the cutest little snort, a sound that really shouldn’t cause my cock to stir, but somehow does. My spicy little omega is alluring in every way.

“Would you like something to eat, Pumpkin?”

“Gods, I could kill for a caramel apple.”

“Coming right up. No murders on the first date.”

“No, we should save that for at least the third,” she says with a straight face, and it’s my turn to snort as we approach the vendor.

“One caramel apple, please,” I ask, handing over some cash as Saylor chooses an apple coated in a thick layer of caramel, crushed biscuit and peanuts. “Thank you.”

“How do you feel about the house of horrors?” I ask Saylor, watching as she takes a bite of her juicy apple, andlicking her lips, leaving behind a smidge of caramel at the corner of her lush lips.

The urge to lick the caramel away, to discover how she tastes, overwhelms me. My hand rises, cupping her cheek as I step closer to her. Our eyes lock as I lean in, pressing my lips to hers.

The second our lips meet, my spicy little omega perfumes for me, her pumpkin spice scent thickening in the air, strong and heady, causing me to groan against her mouth. She stiffens for a moment before relaxing into me.

My thumb strokes along her jaw, my other hand wrapping around her waist and drawing her closer as I lick her bottom lip, tasting the sweet, spicy combination of candied apple and pumpkin spice.

The feel of her body flush against mine, and the way her lips part, opening for me, our tongues dancing together, feels so fucking right. My scent strengthens, joining hers as our kiss deepens, her arms wrapping around the back of my neck, a gasp escaping hers as our kiss deepens and I lose all sense of where we are, and who might be around us.

There is only her—only us—in this moment. The sounds and smells of the festival fall away as we explore each other, tasting and nipping, finding a rhythm together. One that is so natural I can’t help but feel it’smeant to be.

Heat pumps through my veins as the kiss continues, and I suddenly wish we were alone and able to explore the physical connection more than this.

But we aren’t. We’re here to get to know each other, on a deeper level than the attraction we clearly both feel.

Breaking the kiss, I press my forehead to hers, the two of us panting as we catch our breath from what is one hundred percent the best kiss of my life.

“I love Halloween, love the House of Horrors,” she breathes. “Not as much as I loved that kiss, but I would like to go.”

Chapter Seven

The second Noah presses his lips to mine, I’m a goner. His touch sends my omega instincts into overdrive, and I perfume for him instantly the action causing me to stiffen for a moment.

I’m usually more in control of myself—I’ve had to learn to be to ensure my own safety, especially after everything that went down with Luke. But there’s something about Noah, this incredibly well built alpha, his incrediblecoffee scent and his care and consideration towards omegas in general that sends all that hard practiced control flying out the window.

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