Page 49 of Instant Bond

“They’re cute,” he said, handing the phone back to me. “We should all go out for dinner sometime. If we can get babysitters,” he added, rolling his eyes. I chuckled in response.

We discussed the course of action of building a case a little more, with Anthony telling me to make a detailed list of the story I’d told him, with dates and times of the events as close as I could get them. Any evidence I had like text messages, the article with the photo at the bar, all that would need to be sent over, too.

“This is my retainer fee,” he said, sliding a sheet across the desk at me. I picked it up, skimming over it.

“You must be pretty in demand these days,” I noted. The prices were high.

“Hey, I got mouths to feed,” he reminded me, raising his palms up.

“Money’s no object,” I said, sliding the paper back over to him. “I’ll be in touch once I can make a list and get the evidence together.”

“Talk to you then.”

That night, I slept like a log. Cameron had gotten a lot of Ty’s things unpacked when he’d gotten home from work, so his room was on its way to being finished.

We’d eaten a dinner of Ty’s choosing, spaghetti. I’d tried to order some from the Italian restaurant a few blocks down, but Cam hadn’t let me. He’d made it himself, in what was the first full meal that had ever been cooked in my kitchen. And it had been delicious. Not that I’d doubted him, but it was nice that he could actually throw something decent together. I liked the idea of him cooking for me. I hoped that wasn’t an offensive thought that perpetuated negative stereotypes about traditional relationship roles between alphas and omegas. My moms had drilled that kind of thing into my head.

He’d put Ty to bed after a bath and some TV, which we’d all watched together. Ty seemed excited and happy to be here, which was a relief. After, when I was ready to go to bed, Cameron had followed me into my bedroom and slipped under the comforter next to me.

I’d wanted to tear his silly little hamburger-printed pajamas off him and show him how happy it made me that he wanted to sleep next to me, but I was forced to resist. Still, being able to softly talk about our day and feelings, snuggled together under the warm blanket had a very specific appeal I hadn’t even known I wanted.

I woke up to the sound of hushed voices next to me, something I wasn’t remotely used to. Blearily opening my eyes, I grabbed my phone off the stand to check the time. It was after 1:00 AM.

“I’m sorry,” Cameron said, glancing over to me when he realized I was awake. Ty was standing on his side of the bed, looking supremely miserable. “He never does this, but he had a nightmare. I think he’s just nervous about sleeping in a new place.”

“Dad!” Ty hissed the word out, glaring at Cameron. “Don’t tell him, he’s gonna think I’m a baby.”

I blinked as my brain worked overtime to process the scene in front of me. I was not generally all there mentally when I first woke up, and I wasn’t used to waking up in the middle of the night.

“No,” I managed to say. Their outlines were blurring in front of me. Rubbing my fingers into my eyes to clear them, I shook my head. “No, I can understand. Sleeping in a new place can be scary.”

“I’m just going to go sleep on the floor in his room,” Cameron said softly, throwing the comforter off his legs as he drew away from me.

“Ah, wait.” My hand flew out to grip his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. I didn’t want to lose his warm presence next to me. “There’s plenty of room in here, so…” My bed was huge, with tons of space on either side of us. I scooted away toward my side, so that he would have more room.

“You won’t make fun of me if I sleep in here?” Ty asked, regarding me with the most pitiful pair of puppy eyes I’d ever encountered. I could actually feel my heart clench.

“No!” I assured him. “No way, buddy.” I’d started calling him that from our first meeting and hadn’t been able to shake the nickname. “I don’t mind it at all, but just so you know, I’ve had this whole place checked out for anything spooky.”

“You have?” He repeated, blinking in surprise as he lifted himself up off the floor to wriggle up onto the mattress.

“Absolutely. No ghosts, ghouls, goblins, any of that. Completely guaranteed.”

“What about werewolves?”

“Definitely no werewolves.”

He glanced up at his dad, as if requesting confirmation that what I was saying was true.

“I told you,” Cameron said, giving him an encouraging nod. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“Well, okay,” he relented. “But can I still stay in here? Just for tonight?”

“Of course you can,” Cameron said, tucking the blanket around his little body and pulling him in close. Once Ty was sufficiently tucked in, nuzzling close to his dad, Cameron turned back toward me for just a moment. The expression on his face was ripe with infatuation. He was obviously pleased with how I’d handled the situation. Being woken up was worth it if it made him look at me like that.

They fell asleep quickly, while I was still lying awake long after. The sound of their soft, synchronized breathing wassoothing to me. I sat up slowly so I wouldn’t disturb them, but so I could stare down at them.

Their features were softer and more relaxed when they were sleeping, and it was even easier to notice the similarities in their appearances. My muscles tensed briefly as my alpha instincts hit me with a quick jolt. This was my family. They were mine to protect. And I would protect them from anything or anyone.

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