Page 57 of Sunshine

She sounded uncertain, and also casual, like what she said didn’t matter.

It must have mattered a great deal.

She struggled with what she was going to say. She bit her lip, looking up at me before looking away quickly. Like she was nervous.

I shifted my body language, so I faced her, and gave her my best winsome smile. “Yes? I could make a habit of it.”

She blinked and nodded. “Yes. That’s what I was going to ask.”

It was definitely not what she was going to ask. She straightened up and smiled, but I could see how she held herself, how her face shut down. “You should wear better shoes next time.”

“Yes, ma’am.” If she wasn’t ready, I wouldn’t push. But I’d try to be as encouraging as I could. “Whatever you want.”

“We’d better get back. Don’t want to ditch my newest client.”

I offered her my arm, and she took it. I walked her back to the gathering and pondered if there was anything else I could do to make her feel more comfortable.

Logan and I stayed to help clean up and got home late. Judging by the quiet, cold hum of the mate bond, Julian was either still on the same call or he had two calls back-to-back.

It was going to be a long night. We’d try to sleep, but there wasn’t a lot of resting until we knew our omega was safe.

Chapter 17

Luca

Iclimbed into bed, and spooned Logan.

“Sunshine was happy.” Logan rolled over, and I flipped onto my back.

I didn’t consider myself dominant but compared to Logan and Julian I was definitely more the top. Julian liked being a bottom, and Logan didn’t care much one way or another.

“She was. I tried to flirt some more.” I put an arm behind my head. “I could have sworn she was going to ask me something personal, but then she lost her nerve.”

“Events stress her out.”

“Really?” I frowned. “She always seems so calm.”

“She’s like Julian. Calm on the outside, panicking on the inside.

“Hmmm.” I tried to analyze the situation, but there was nothing more I could do. Not without just asking her out directly. I’d bring it up and ask Julian what he thought. I ran my hands through Logan’s hair, the strands soft against my skin.

I must have drifted off then, because I woke up when Julian came through the door.

I sat up at the same time as Logan, blinking myself awake.

Julian crawled into bed, Logan scooting over to make room so we could cuddle from both sides. Usually, he only smelled faintly of omega, due to all the scent canceling stuff he used at work, but this morning his scent was burnt.

Alarmed, I wrapped my arms around him, Logan doing the same from Julian’s other side.

“I’m okay. Just tired.” Julian buried his face into my neck and took a deep breath in.

He was still wearing his pants and t-shirt from work, an obvious sign he was exhausted if he didn’t even want to change.

I tugged off his t-shirt, and he chuckled. “I love you too, Luca, but I’m too tired for you to rail me. Give me a couple of hours for a nap.”

“I’m trying to give you skin on skin contact.” I kissed his temple. “And then I promise I’ll rail you after your nap.”

Logan helped lift up Julian’s arms and wiggle him out of his t-shirt. Logan pressed a kiss to Julian’s shoulder and then curled against him.

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