Page 11 of In Too Deep

Tori heads over to Oli’s first, and I glance over, smirking to myself. Eli wasn’t kidding about the size of it. It only stands about a foot tall from the ground to the tip of a little kelp flag poking out of the top of the singular tower. He found some sea glass somewhere along the way, and made a pretty incredible mosaic on the front, which he says is a stained-glass window.

“And the best part is that this is just the entrance to the rest of the base. All the cool stuff, like the ice rink, the indoor pool, the gym, the twelve bedrooms, are all underground.” He finishes his explanation.

Eli scoffs, but I can’t help but laugh along with Tori. I hate to admit it, but that’s a clever tactic. Tori doesn’t remark on it, though, before she stands in front of me, her hands on her hips. I look up at her face, my breath catching in my throat as I take in her appearance above me. Her blonde highlights flash like strands of gold in the tropical sun, her complexion taking on some color.

“This is pretty cool, BlackJack,” she says, breaking my trance.

Clearing my throat, I turn my attention to my castle, pointing out the features I worked hard to create for her. I don’t have any fancy story or secret rooms, but it’s sturdy and detailed without being over the top.

“This is amazing. I love the little shell door.” She smiles as she looks it over, and my heart beats faster at the sight of her smile.

She moves on to Eli’s… Well, it’s not so much a castle as it is a sand village. Instead of one large building, a dozen or more little houses are scattered across a hill of sand, each one with a shell for a roof, and paths connecting them. There is a slightly larger house, and all the paths seem to connect to it.

“This is my home,” Eli says proudly, an arm sweeping over his creation.

I turn my body to face him more, head tilted in curiosity. Tori crouches down to inspect it with a furrowed brow.

“These cabins are for all of my brothers and sisters,” Eli says, pointing to a close grouping of about a dozen little houses, “and these are where the bonded adults live. And we’ve got a few guest cabins over here. And this is the central house, where there’s a massive kitchen, and a family room with games and books and all sorts of other things.”

“And what are these?” Tori asks, pointing to a small group of cabins set away from the rest.

Eli’s smile is soft, but there’s a heat in his eyes I recognize. “Those are the omega cabins. When someone goes into heat, they get to nest in there and ride it out with their alpha or alphas,” he explains, tenderness in his voice.

Tori doesn’t respond at first, her eyes distant as she gets lost in her thoughts.

“Do you have a nest at your house?” I ask gently, not sure if I really want to know the answer.

Tori shrugs at first, but then eventually shakes her head. I glance at Eli, and we share a moment of concern, though he’s more worried than I am. While I don’t know much about the different dynamics, I do know enough to understand that Tori not having a nest of her own is a big deal. But it sort of makes sense; she’s admitted she hasn’t gone through a true heat in over six years. So maybe she’s just never had the desire to make one?

“And here is where a meteor hit the compound, fired by from a certain underground bunker a few castles down.” Eli points to a serious crater on the edge of the build as he fires off a half-hearted glare over my shoulder.

Looking up, I find Oli standing behind me with his arms crossed over his chest. I catch the tail-end of his serious frownand lowered brow before it disappears in favor of a smirk. Tori seems to snap out of whatever trance she’d fallen into and giggles, getting to her feet and brushing the sand off her knees.

“Well, they’re all pretty good. But I think I’m going to give it Eli for having the most shells,” she says, tossing her hair over her shoulder before she flounces back toward the shade.

I get to my feet with my jaw practically hanging to my knees. “I thought it was a sandcastle building competition…”

Tori shrugs. “It was. But then I decided it was a shell gathering competition. Too bad you didn’t hear me tell you that over all the bickering,” she replies with a teasing lilt.

Oli and I share a look of bemused irritation before we take off down the beach, scanning for shells in the sand. Eli is right behind us, joining the frantic search, each of us filling our hands before heading back to the blanket to pile out little offerings at her feet like rockhopper penguins.

Eventually, the sun and its inescapable heat force us to retreat to the villa. We leave the majority of the shells on the beach as we clean up, trying to spread them back out rather than keeping them in the piles. But before we do, Tori takes a small sampling of each pile with her, the pretty shells clutched to her chest like so many precious gems, giggling to herself.

Those penguins have the right idea, I decide, giving their mates shiny things to win their affection. And it seems their tricks work on stubbornly independent omegas, too.

This might have beenthe most relaxing day of my life.

After we cleaned up from the beach, we had a snack lunch on the patio, spending the hottest part of the day either in the pool or lounging in the chairs around it. We’ve taken turns making drinks for each other, thankfully no “hockey player specials” this time. The sun was warm, and not a cloud drifted across the vast blue sky. And now, a chill is coming in as the sun sets, and we’ve lit the gas firepit in the middle of the outdoor sectional. Eli is rooting around in the fridge and cupboards to find the ingredients for dinner. Spencer is sprawled out in one of the armchairs. Oliver is kicked back at the opposite end of the couch from where I’m curled up, still a little buzzed from that last daiquiri Spencer made for us a little while ago.

In a word, today has been perfect.

I don’t know where my sundress ended up, but the breeze has goosebumps erupting on my skin. It’s probably time for me toget changed. I glance around, but don’t catch any of their eyes. After Oliver’s handsy greeting this morning, I’d expected to be thoroughly fucked at least once today. But they’ve been proper gentlemen. And it is a wildly new feeling for that to be strange. Guess I’ll just have to fix that.

“I’m going to shower before supper,” I announce, getting to my feet.

Spencer keeps his gaze lowered, but I catch Oliver’s heated stare for a moment before I flounce away, swishing my hips more than I normally would.

I don’t bother to look back as I enter my bedroom via the patio, stopping briefly to pick out a new sundress and a light cardigan, but I skip panties for now. Always good to have a backup plan if no one joins me.

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