Page 42 of Fragile Heart

“Everything okay?” he asks. He’s dressed in jeans and a plain black tee and looks terrifyingly similar to Caleb, even more so than when I’d seen him at the rodeo. The only real difference is Hudson’s well-groomed beard—and the lack of visible tattoos.

Olivia hums in answer, and he cautiously crosses the room, running a hand across her shoulders before kissing her temple.

“Bri invited us to go camping.” Olivia smiles at Hudson. He raises an eyebrow as she laces her fingers with his and presses her cheek into his chest, breathing deeply. “There’s a group of us going, just south of the Tetons.”

“Us?” he asks, amusement weaving through his voice.

“Yes, us,” she says, pursing her lips. She pulls away from him and pokes his stomach. “You promised you’d take a few weekends off this summer. I want to spend time with Bri.”

Hudson’s lips tip into a barely-there smile, and the similarities between him and Caleb become even more obvious. Caleb had smiled like that when he left me on the porch of Emily’s guest house, breathless and perfuming for him all over again from his kiss.

My scent surrounds me before I have a hope of controlling my body’s reaction, the sour edge more intense this time. I grab the lotion from my purse.

Shit, I need to get better about wearing my scent blockers from now on. Clearly the lotion isn’t enough now that I’m off the suppressors. Hudson freezes, and Olivia wraps her arm around his waist.

“Caleb didn’t say anything about you being touch-starved,” he says, a growl in his voice. An Alpha responding to my body’s siren call of need, different from a heat but just as dangerous in the wrong crowd. A bonded Alpha, luckily, is about the least dangerous option available.

I swallow and focus on getting the lotion on every piece of skin I can see. It’s not perfect, but it cuts through the worst of it, dulling the lavender until the sour feel of it isn’t noticeable anymore. Not to me, at least.

“Don’t,” Olivia says, her voice hardening. “I’ll make you take a vow of silence, Hudson Pierce.”

Hudson frowns, his gaze flicking between me and his Omega. After a long stretch of silence, he nods, his eyes landing on me.

“You’ll tell me if you need help,” he says, not an ounce of give in his voice. “I promised Caleb I’d watch over you before he left.”

A warmth spreads through my stomach. He’d told someone to make sure I was safe while he was gone?

I offer a small nod.

“Why didn’t he ask Ethan?” Olivia asks. “Since they’re the same pack, wouldn’t it be easier for him to watch over Bri?”

Melissa grabs my hand, her grip so tight it borders on pain. I breathe carefully through my nose to keep my reaction from showing on my face.

Of course he didn’t ask Ethan. Ethan hates me, has hated me for nearly a decade. I was never more than a summer fling for him, something to pass the time. No matter what I felt about him. No matter what I might feel about him now.

I shove the feelings down until I can barely feel the memory of them.

Hudson shrugs before kissing her temple again. “Not sure, darling.” He focuses on me. “If you’ll text me the information, I’ll make sure to have the restaurant covered for camping.”

He disappears out the back door before I can offer any kind of reply.

Chapter Twenty

CALEB

It’s nearly nine at night when I finally pull into the garage and ease out of my truck. Gone a a full week this time. I blow out a breath as I gather my thoughts, trying to find the will to get inside the house and drop into my bed.

It’s not even that I’m exhausted, though I am. It’s that I can’t get the craving for a certain Omega’s scent and taste and feel out of my mind—or my body. She might be the one touch-starved, but I need her just as intensely. If Alphas could be touch-starved, I’d bet money that I would be right now. I shove the thoughts away before my dick can get interested and open the door into the mudroom.

Camden’s laugh echoes through the house as I toe off my shoes and drop my bag on the small bench that leads to the garage. Some of the stress eases away from me. A hug from my son and a chance to see Brielle, and I’ll be just about back to normal.

I follow the sounds of my son, smiling as I step into the kitchen. Camden’s sitting on the island, mixing something inone of the large stainless steel mixing bowls my mom gifted us when we matched with Kayla. Ethan stands just beside him, an arm propped on the island strategically placed to keep Cam from falling. His shirt sits in a heap beside them both, sopping wet.

“Next time, let’s make sure that I’m paying attention when you add the water,” Ethan says, humor in his voice.

Camden laughs.

“Didn’t realize you took up bread making,” I say.

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