Page 14 of Our Time

“I miss you too,” I tell him and mean it. Christopher and I became really close while we lived together. He works for the same studio the rest of us do except he’s a phone operator, conducting sexy calls for clients. I’ve listened to one too many of his phone calls and I gotta admit, the man is good at what he does.

“So? How’s the trip so far?”

I can’t help but grin as I think about everything that’s happened. “Really fucking good,” I admit softly. He pulls the phone closer to himself, really looking at me for a long moment before he makes a surprised noise.

“Did you get laid? Benjamin! What the fuck is going on?”

“Oh my god,” I say again, covering my face with my hand, wishing I didn’t blush at every mention of sex. Jesus Christ. “Stop yelling like that. Parker is gonna think something is going on.”

“He’s not even here right now so spill the beans!”

“Fine,” I say, rolling my eyes. I look over at the bathroom door, listening to the content sighs of Ryder before looking back at my phone. “Here’s the truth. Ryder and I are--” I lick my lips. “We’re together.”

“Well duh.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “We’re like actuallytogethertogether. We’ve kissed and stuff. He’s my omega.” Silence stretches on for far too long before Christopher bursts into tears. “Oh fuck. Parker is gonna kill me.”

“No, no. I’m totally fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m just emotional because of the hormones and shit. It’s fine.”

“Maybe I should have waited til I was back home to tell you.”

“No. I would have hated that. I’m just sohappy, Ben. You two deserve each other. I’m so glad you’re finally together.”

“Me too.” I can’t stop grinning as I talk to Christopher, catching him up on our little adventure. I tell him about the excitement I feel at seeing Ryder’s sister and her mate. He tells me about the chocolate donuts Parker brought home last night. It’s a really good chat and at the end of it, I feel better about everything. My friend approves of this. I didn’t need his approval but having it makes my chest feel just a little bit lighter.

I toss my phone to the side once I hang up, letting out a happy sigh. That feeling of lightness comes shattering down when a pained noise comes from behind the bathroom door. I’m on my feet before I even process what’s happening.

“Ryder? Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

I go to grab the door handle but Ryder is shouting before I can open the door. “Don’t come in here. Please, Ben. Stay out of here.”

“What’s wrong?”

A sad whimper comes in response and my inner alpha is immediately on edge, wanting to fix whatever is going on with my omega. I put a hand against the door, waiting for him to respond.

“I didn’t want to tell you like this,” he whispers and I can hear that he’s pressed up against the door. I stand there, waiting, ready to comfort him however he needs. Nothing he could ever tell me could push me away. I’m here for the long haul and I’ll do whatever it takes to make him understand that. The love I have for him has been in the making foryears.

“What is it?”

“Fuck,” he hisses out, his voice taking on such a sad tone that it makes my stomach sink. “I’m so fucking sorry you’re finding out like this, Ben. I must have left my stupid makeup at the last hotel we stayed at. Fuck.”

“Show me,” I whisper and a moment later, the door is opening.

CHAPTER SEVEN

RYDER

I stareinto the bathroom mirror in shock. My scar is on full display after my bath, which normally wouldn’t be an issue but as I look through my bagagainI come up empty. My usual foundation and cover-up is nowhere to be found.

“Fuck,” I hiss out. How the fuck could this happen? How could I have been so stupid? This is a disaster.

My stomach is tying itself into knots. Just when I finally have Ben as my alpha,thishappens. How could he ever forgive me for keeping this a secret for so long?

It’s one thing to hide my feelings, it’s another thing entirely to have a mating bite from when we were teenagers. Tears well up in my eyes as I stare at my mating bite in the mirror. I touch it gently, a shudder going through me.

When Ben was high with heat, I had done the best I could to help him through it. He was barely lucid and during that time, he’d bit me. Afterwards, he kept talking about how much he hated it. In my mind, that meant he hated everything that had happened between the two of us and there was no way I was going to tell him he’d given me a mating bite. How could I? That would only remind him over and over and over again of all the things he’d hated during that time. I couldn’t hurt him like that.

So I kept it hidden.

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