Page 54 of Free Me

“It’s like what we talked about a few weeks ago,” Linus finally admitted. “How we both always feel overshadowed by our brothers. All of their achievements, like mine, or all of their health drama, like Peyton’s. Feeling like we’re afterthoughts. And now we can’t even have our own thing as best friends who discover they’re bondmates, because our older brothers already did that. With each other. You know?”

“I get that, trust me. And I’ve thought that way, too, but you know what makes our romance unique? It’s us. We are not Peyton and Layne. We are the first best friends who are bondmates inourage group.” Miko rested his hand on Linus’s thigh. “And we will get something they never will. Something that will be one-hundred-percent unique to us when it’s time.”

Linus’s heart skipped and he smiled. “Heat.”

“Exactly.”

Linus hadn’t quite understood it all the night Layne and Peyton announced they were pregnant without Layne having ever had a heat. He’d never heard of gamma-omega before, and he hadn’t truly understood how upset Layne was about it until he’d overheard Layne talking to Papa one night. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop—okay, yes, he had, because he’d stood there and listened without making his presence known to his brother or omegin.

Layne had aired his fears over being gamma, over never going into heat, and that Peyton would hold it against him. Linus had sympathized with Layne, and he’d tried to see things from an alpha’s perspective. The idea of never experiencing heat, never developing a knot and being tied to his chosen omega? Okay, that would suck, but it wasn’t the end of the world. At least, that’s how teenaged Linus saw it.

Now? At twenty-one, after nearly dying himself, and sitting beside his bondmate and best friend? Now he couldn’t imagine never experiencing heat with Miko. And he had a new perspective on exactly what Peyton and Layne would never get to share. He was sad for their brothers, but beyond thrilled for himself and Miko.

“You’re amazing,” Linus said.

“Oh yeah?” Miko batted his eyelashes. “Tell me why.”

“Because you know exactly what to say to keep me focused on the positive, instead of stewing on the things I’m angry about. I don’t know if I’d have made it through rehab without you, Miko, honest. Not without a lot more cussing, screaming and tears, and there was already plenty of that.”

“I never saw any of it.”

“I didn’t want you to.” Linus had saved the worst of his tantrums for the long, lonely nights he’d spent alone in his rehab room, mourning the life he’d known and terrified of a future he’dnever planned for. One of the night nurses, an older beta named Douglas, had tried to befriend him and had listened to a few of Linus’s angry rants before he was transferred to a different wing of the facility. Those rants had helped Linus expel a lot of pent-up rage, and he still needed to send Douglas a thank-you note.

“Call it alpha pride if you want,” Linus continued, “but yeah, I didn’t want you to see me upset all the time. And never mind my parents. I couldn’t add more stress to their shoulders, especially not Dad. And you were recovering, too. I still see you flinch sometimes because of your ribs.”

“Bruised ribs can take a long time to heal, but they don’t make my shoulders any smaller. If we’re going to be mates, then we need to be able to share our burdens with each other. Please, don’t ever be scared to let me share the load for a while.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good enough for now. Thank you for being honest with me.”

“You’re welcome. So Perks?”

“Yes, go shower so we can get some food. I’m starving.”

“Yes, sir.” Linus collected clean clothes for himself and slung them over his shoulder for the brief journey to the bathroom. He smiled at the tub. Miko had put the small shower seat in for him. He’d tried to shower standing a few days ago, but his left leg simply wasn’t strong enough to bear all his weight for that long. Not yet. He was working his way up to that.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

After he showered, he debated a quick shave but kind of liked the dark stubble on his chin and cheeks. He frequently toyed with the idea of growing a full beard like Dad had done a couple of years ago. Maybe when Linus was a bit older. Besides, Linus heard through team gossip that stubble could be very effective as a foreplay tool, and he wanted to know if that was true.

Soon. He hoped soon.

After he strapped on the prosthetic, Linus put his pants on and went looking for his bondmate. Miko was sipping coffee in the living room when Linus joined him. Even though they’d probably both get coffee at Perks, Linus didn’t want to waste what he’d brewed here, so Miko poured the rest into two travel mugs.

Miko had also proved himself a master of forethought, because by the time they were ready, a car had pulled up in front of the house. At first, Linus thought Miko had called a friend—then he saw the small private taxi sign on the blue car’s front door panel. Smart move with all the family cars in use.

And why would his parents have left a car for Linus? It would be a while before he mastered driving with his new circumstances.

Their driver found Perks with no fuss, and as soon as they stepped inside the small coffee shop, Linus was hit with a flood of familiar things: coffee, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla—and more than scents, with memories. Linus had been ten-years-old when Miko’s omegin inherited Perks from the former owner. Linus had thousands of happy memories in this place, everything from after-school study sessions to a few birthday parties.

Brogan and Mikel usually took off this morning so they could spend brunch with family and friends, so Linus wasn’t surprised to see someone else manning the counter. He was surprised, though, that the person was a stranger, alpha, and in his twenties-ish? He was tall with copper skin and black hair that reminded Linus a bit of Ronin Cross.

“Did your parents hire someone new?” Linus asked Miko.

“They did mention they’d hired two new people right after the accident, because they were away so much,” Miko replied. “I never did ask their names though.” He grinned at Linus. “Maybe we can be, like, secret shoppers and see how he does?”

“Miko, Linus, hey!” Symon Lee’s voice carried to them at the front door and foiled Miko’s reconnaissance plan. Head baker at Perks, Symon carried a tray of fresh scones to the display case. Linus’s mouth nearly watered when Symon slid the tray into the slot for cranberry scones.

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