Page 74 of Slick Handling

His other hand comes around to hug me against him.

The first step of him accepting a hug works. Now to understand who hurt him and make sure that he knows that he didn’t deserve whatever they did.

“My parents filed for a divorce this summer. It was my fault,” He tries to pull back, but I shift myself so that we’re chest to chest. My body moves to straddle him.

If Vaughn really wanted to get away from me, he could. But he stays to finish his story.

“Terry was my girlfriend. She was a Beta who I dated for a long time. We were talking about bringing her into the pack. We figured it might help ease an Omega in eventually. Especially with all of us planning to go pro. It would be nice to have someone be there for an Omega and for Terry not to feel left out of anything.”

I try really, really hard not to get jealous at the idea of them with two other people centering their pack. Having a Beta and an Omega pairing. Someone that isn’t already in the pack. Someone that isn’tme.

I already know that Mick is with Apollo and Griffin. He smells like them a lot in a way that goes beyond just puppy pile stuff. That doesn’t make me jealous.

Curious?Yes.

Jealous?No.

“It shouldn’t make me feel better smelling your jealousy, but for some reason it helps.” Vaughn says as I snuggle into him.

I’m here to comfort him. Not the other way around.

“I’m sorry about your parents.” I whisper and he squeezes me in response.

“Terry was home with me. She was close with my family. Turns out she was too close.” He squeezes me tight and I try to stay loose in his arms so that he doesn’t get scared, “She got pregnant by my dad.”

Oh.

Oh no.

Do I say sorry? Or do I congratulate him on his new sibling?

This is a very, very confusing situation.

“She said that it just happened. An accident. But she also said that he was a real Alpha. Made her feel safe and protected. Made me feel like it was my fault. That I wasn’t enough for her. She said that being in a pack with other Alpha’s made me less. Said I had to rely on them because I couldn’t cut it. She didn’t like that she wouldn’t center our pack like an Omega would. Didn’t understand that I could love her and everyone else. If she didn’t want that, we could have done something else. Instead she decided to go after my dad as revenge.”

His hurt is so evident in his voice.

I’m not a violent person, but if I ever see this Terry person I’m going to kick her right in her shin. I’ll step on the back of her shoe and make her trip. I’ll pinch the inside skin of her arm so hard it leaves a bruise.

“Vaughn,” I pull back, looking at him and seeing the way he has all this shame written across his face, “You’re enough. You’re enough for your pack. You’re enough for me. And if anyone thinks you’re not enough, well, they’re really dumb. I mean, you could see how upset I was at the store and you danced with me without caring what other people thought. Only a good Alpha would do that for an Omega. No. Only a great Alpha.”

His brown eyes brighten at that, a smirk on his face.

One of his hands slips over my cheek, rubbing over it with that calloused pad of his thumb.

“McKinley is right. You are the perfect Omega for us.” I think he’s going to kiss me and I’m so excited for it. I’m ready for this kiss and want to feel what it’s like to kiss Vaughn. “I want you to open your gift and if you’re okay with it, maybe I can hold you for a while?”

Oh.

He’s not going to kiss me.

I still can’t read the signs that well. That’s okay.

Slipping to sit beside him, I pick up the present again. Pulling out all the pretty tissue paper, laying it beside me and pulling out a metal water bottle with a straw. It’s a pretty lavender color with dark purple stars on it.

“So that you can stay hydrated. I think it’s an Alpha thing that makes us want to take care of you. But there is something else.” I smile, setting down the tumbler beside me and dig into the bag again.

My fingers slide over something soft and as I grasp it, the bag falls down to the ground.

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