Page 15 of Sunshine

I struggled, and failed, to keep the stink eye off my face. I was going to march right down there and tear Chuck a new one.

Julian laughed. “That’s the same look Luca and Logan get. Stop, it’s fine. He’s just an asshole. We all have to deal with stupid coworkers.”

“That’s for sure. My family can be a pain in the butt.” I traced the scales on Julian’s forearm dragon tattoo. It was a little bit bumpy where the ink sat under his skin. I leaned my head against his shoulder. His brown eyes were so close, his plush mouth right there. “You said a bunch of little things. That doesn’t sound little.”

“I love my job, but I didn’t make it easier on myself as an omega choosing the profession I did.” Julian sighed. “That stupid firefighter charity calendar is coming up again and they’re asking me to be in it again.”

“Thewhatnow?” I frowned, looking the TV. It was better to pretend I wasn’t hanging on his every word.

On screen, the celebrity chef was making the poor contestants fillet a whole Alaskan salmon. I consoled myself knowing that no matter how terrible things were, I would never have to fillet a salmon on TV.

“We do a calendar and sell it for charity every year.” Julian cocked his head. “I told you about it when we did it last year.”

“Yes. You said, ‘we’re selling calendars for charity’. Not that firefighters would beinthe calendar.” I squinted up at him. “I need to see this. You have copies, right?”

“Of course.” Julian grinned, and heat zipped through me. I tried to calm down, but the thought of him posing, holding an ax or something, was too much to bear. I breathed deeply, but instead of that helping, I got a lungful of his coconut and pineapple scent. Suddenly I was craving a pina colada.

“The photographer always wants to cover up my bond marks, but it feels wrong, like I’m saying I’m available when I’m not.”

And that doused the lust. He wasn’t available. I could dream about his hands sliding over my body all I wanted, but this was all the physical contact I would ever have.

I had to be okay with that. I shouldn’t be lusting after my friend.

“How do Logan and Luca feel?”

“They don’t need to give me permission, of course, and I’m comfortable with my body. But Luca is also possessive, and covering my bondmarks is just gonna make him more so.”

“Possessive?” I tried to hide the skepticism in my voice. Luca had been nothing but urbane and relaxed whenever I saw him. Rob and Isaac had been possessive around Mason, sometimes to the point of not wanting him to go in public without them. Luca was nothing like that.

Julian laughed. “I know, I know. He keeps his cool, but he’d drag me by my hair back to the nest if he could. I go between using scent canceling products at the station to him jumping me when I get home so he can put his scent all over me again.”

And just like that, all of the oxygen left the room. There was a five-alarm fire in my panties as I pictured it. Julian trying to play nice by washing his omega scent off at work and inadvertently getting rid of the scent of his alphas, but then getting the sex of his life the second he came home.

Luca, possessive and growling. Logan...also growling. Maybe tearing his clothes off. My mind went straight to the X-rated version of Julian’s life.

Julian arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t mean to distract you.”

I was so glad at that moment that he wasn’t being flirty with me. I would have made an idiot of myself by plastering myself against his body. He would have had to let me down gently, probably blame himself, and then pull back.

I shook my head. “It was a lot of exciting information at once.”

“Exciting?” His black hair was rumpled on one side from sleeping, the ponytail starting to fall out. I wanted to either smooth the bit of hair or pull the ponytail holder out completely.

Instead, I answered him. Because I could be reasonable and not jump my hot omega friend.

“Get me that calendar and we’ll do a sponsor thing again this year.” I nudged him. “But back to your problem. If Luca and Logan said they’re okay with it, then they are. You have a choice over your body and what you do with it. If you want to go into a calendar of sexy firefighters for a good cause, that’s okay.”

Julian nodded, looking at the TV thoughtfully. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” I grabbed some popcorn. The way I was feeling, if I didn’t do something with my hands, I would rip his shirt off.

I’d seen Julian in a tank top before, and his bondmarks were extremely obvious. One bite on each shoulder, with a black tribal tattoo circling them. He basically had a neon sign on his body saying bonded and taken by two alphas.

“What the hell sort of position does that photographer think you can take without showing your bondmarks?”

“With my jacket on.” Julian grinned.

“That’s a waste,” I snorted. “How else are we going to see your abs?”

---