Page 67 of Talk About… Rivalry

“As enticing as that sounds, there’s also the issue that most of them don’t allow heat rentals. There’s too much risk for damage.”

“You have to talk to your pack, Sidney. You have to tell them what’s going on.”

“What if they walk away?!” My voice was now bordering on hysterical.

“Then they’re idiots, Sidney. You can’t change that if they are, but I have a feeling that not one of them is going to walk away.”

She said it with so much confidence. I wished I could do the same. All I ever wanted was to have a pack.

Now I have a chance to have one. This heat could change everything for me.

Taylor had made his intentions clear. He may not have a knot, but he would be there for me.

Maverick was still a wild card. I had no idea if he wanted in or out. I’d been in love with him since we were teenagers and the thought of not having him there made my skin crawl.

Then there was Leo. It was clear there was hesitation when he first connected with me again and I felt like some of the rivalry we had when we were kids was still there. But now, after spending the evening together, there was something different. He was Taylor’s best friend, so he couldn’t be all bad, but during the dinner it felt like we were on the same team for once. I liked it more than I could reasonably explain.

Could I even trust him with this?

“Sidney!” Grace yelled, her voice loud enough to shake me out of my panic. She was concerned enough now that she started talking in a huge rush. “You can’t drive yourself anywhere and I can’t leave work, but I’m calling someone to come get you.”

Before I could protest, the call ended.

I leaned forward, banging my head against the steering wheel, wishing that I could just get my shit together. I’d never felt so vulnerable and unsettled in my life. I’d always been strong and independent. I took care of myself.

The idea of letting them in knowing that they could really hurt me was so fucking hard. I didn’t know how to do it.

Tears started falling before I realized it until I was full-blown sobbing. All of the emotions had come to a head: anger, frustration, hope, need. It all spilled down my face in hot tears, evidence of years of pain.

I was so fucking lonely that it hurt. Every night that I went back to my cabin to just my sweet cat, it was a reminder that I didn’t have a close family and I had no one to come home to.

Sure, I had friends, but it was different. They were there for me but had their own lives, were forming their own packs.

I’d be forgotten again.

I was crying so hard that I didn’t hear anyone approach my car. The door was wrenched open, the sound jarring me out of my panicked breakdown.

Maverick was on his knees next to me, his hazel eyes full of concern.

“Sidney, baby, talk to me. What’s going on?”

I tried to open my mouth to speak and it didn’t work. The tears just fell faster. He cursed and I heard him tapping at his phone for a few moments before he unbuckled me and pulled me into his arms.

He settled right there on the concrete in the parking lot. He held me to his chest, rocking me back and forth as he whispered words of encouragement. I didn’t absorb a single one in my fog but I clung to the deep rumble of his voice.

The years of tension were leaking out of me, bit by bit, and Maverick was here to witness it all. He didn’t protest. He just held me close, wiping the tears away and smoothing out my hair.

I wished I could believe it, that those words would be enough to chase away the fears that had been clinging to me for god knows how long.

When the sobs had quieted to silent tears, he shifted me so I was sideways, his hand firm but gentle on my jaw as he turned my face toward him.

“Sidney, tell me what’s wrong.”

Maverick

“Everything.” That one word held so much pain that my chest ached for the small omega in my lap. I continued to run my hands up and down her arms, never breaking eye contact.

“What does that mean, Sidney?”

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