Page 163 of Forget

Blinking rapidly, I bite my lip as tears start to flow.

“Aiden told me I could reject our scent match,” I whisper. “I’m tired, and probably a little overwhelmed by everything, Dad.”

“Anyone would be,” he says. “You carry the entire world on your shoulders, Aisling. When are you supposed to have time for yourself or your problems? Give yourself some grace. The most important question at this point is do you want to reject Hayes?”

Blowing out a breath, I shrug. “I think he confuses me the most out of them all,” I say. “Aiden is typically unapologetic, but he apologized to me. I don’t want to reject him. I just don’t know how to move forward.”

“You take it one day at a time,” Dad says. “Put them in their place when they fuck up, remind them of what’s important. Tell them when you appreciate something that they’ve done. Those boys want to be in your life, or they wouldn’t have panicked when you disappeared.”

Nodding, I brush the tears away and Dad leans forward.

“I would usually just come over and give you a hug,” he whispers. “Can I still do that?”

Crying harder, I wail, “Yes!”

Standing, he strides across the short distance, sitting next to me to pull me close to him as he hugs me.

“Most importantly, you’re very independent, and those four are as co-dependent as they come,” he says. “You have to remind them to give you space when you need it, okay?”

“They follow me everywhere,” I complain. “The only place I get any privacy is my nest orOmega’s Haven,because they can’t follow me there. Domh followed me around asking me why I was at the grocery store when there was food at the house and I wanted to scream.”

“And now?” Dad asks, smirking as he rubs my back.

“It’s been better,” I admit. “I miss driving myself places, though.”

“I would say you should drive back, but I don’t like this weather,” he says. “I love the winter usually.”

“It can fuck off at any time,” I mutter, making him laugh.

Chef finds us hugging and smiles, leaving our beverages on the coffee table, and taking away my plate.

“Aye, that it can,” Dad says. “They can’t complain if I say that I want to spend time with you. How do you feel about a little target practice this weekend in the woods? You can even imagine it’s them.”

“I think that would be fun,” I tell him, pulling away to wipe my face. Grabbing tissues, he hands them to me, waiting for me to clean up before giving me my coffee.

“Now, catch me up on what else is happening?” he asks.

Wincing, I hold my coffee and take a small sip for strength. He’s not going to like this.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” I ask. “Want to scare the shit out of Emilia Richardson for me? Shaw is coming as well. I think the Regional Omegas’ Women’s Society is under the impression that Wren and I are defenseless omegas that need their ‘well-meaning’ help.”

“Obviously, I’m with you tomorrow, scaring the shit out of old, dried up omegas who insist on sticking their noses in things that don’t belong to them,” Dad says, snagging his hot chocolate.

Dad is a bit of a chocolate addict, and I swear it evens him out when he’s angry.

“Okay then,” I breathe with a nod. “Do you want to see all of our previous communication?”

“Fuck yes,” he grunts. “Show me everything. Emilia has always been untrustworthy, and I know for a fact that she’s been fucking with your food deliveries.”

“I think I may have found someone new,” I tell him. “Would you like to vette them to see if they’re going to work out or not?”

Dad beams at me, and after his explanation of everything, I feel a pang of sadness that I didn’t come over sooner.

“I would love to,” he says, gently clinking his cup against mine.

I’m over way too late at Dad’s house, but it was worth it to find our footing again.

Chapter 30

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