Page 73 of Craving Their Omega

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “That you lost her. That you had to give up your family to get peace.”

He nods. “Thank you.”

“I think…” I bite my lip, not sure if this is going to be overstepping or not. In the end, I decide to just do it. “I think you should reach out to your family. I bet they miss you, and I bet they’d be so proud to see how far you’ve come.”

He nods again, a faraway look in his eyes. I know it’s not a ‘yes, I will do that’, but at least he’s hearing me.

“It’s been a long time,” he says after a beat. “Maybe too long.”

“I don’t think so. They’re your family, you know? They wanted to help you when things were at their worst for you. And you said yourself that you were always close, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe they’re just waiting to hear from you. Maybe they feel like you’re missing from their lives as much as you miss them in yours.”

He didn’t say all that, but I feel safe in assuming I’m right. And he doesn’t argue with me. He just looks thoughtful.

“I know I’d miss you if I was them,” I say.

His eyes meet mine again, and there’s a loaded moment between us. I don’t know what he sees when he looks at me, but I know what I see in him.

So much pain, so much strength. The kind of man who has been hurt by loss but not broken by it. He’s still pushing on, still living, and that’s important.

I have no idea how to tell him any of that, but maybe he understands. Right now, I feel more connected to him than I ever have before. Like he’s not so closed off, and I’m allowed to see what goes on behind his walls.

Unable to help myself, I reach out toward his face, wanting to touch his scar.

Tristan jerks back, and whatever openness was in his eyes is gone in an instant. It’s like I can see the very second his walls go back up, shutting me out all over again.

My heart drops. That must have been the step too far. I overstepped, tried to get too close too fast, and just proved to myself that Tristan is never going to truly want to let me in. Not in any real way.

The realization is an ache in my heart. For myself, and for him too.

“Thanks again for the blanket,” I murmur, and turn to leave before he can say anything. Or not say anything.

I don’t look back until I’m in my own office, alone with the feelings that I have to wrestle with. Because I like him. The more I see of him, the more he lets me see, the more I want to get closer. My feelings for Tristan are just growing and growing, but with that is now the painful understanding that no matter what I feel for him, he will never be mine.

Chapter 26

Penelope

I spend the next couple of days just feeling… off. Strange and kind of icky, just not like myself. My emotions are all over the place, bouncing back and forth and refusing to settle, and it leaves me out of sorts, I guess. It’s a struggle.

One morning I wake up and before my eyes are even open, I know something’s not right. My head hurts with a pounding behind my eyes, and my stomach rolls uncomfortably when I move to sit up.

Trying to get out of bed just leaves me feeling exhausted and bad, and I groan and flop back amongst the pillows. My eyes are heavy, and it’s the sort of feeling that goes along with being sick.

Maybe I’ve got the flu.

One of the other assistants was out because her kid was sick recently, so maybe the bug followed her back to the office?

Either way, I feel awful.

I lose track of time, drifting in and out of sleep, until a knock on the door rouses me.

“Come in,” I call, wincing at how miserable I sound.

Dominic walks in and takes one look at me. He crosses to the bed, arms folded. I can only imagine how pathetic I look, hair a mess, pale and sick.

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