Page 24 of Coco and the Misfits

“I’m good, thanks.” Then sudden panic grips me and I jump to my feet, rushing to throw on the bolt. “Where is the key? Do you still have it? I need to lock the door.”

“Here,” he says, showing me the key. “Relax. I’ll lock up properly.”

I nod, but don’t move, watching as he inserts the key and locks in a few sparse motions. “Thanks.”

“I should have started with this,” he says with an apologetic little shrug. “But first I wanted to settle you on your bed.”

“Thank you for… for everything.”

His faint smile is warm. “My pleasure.” He leads the way back into the bedroom, checks my window. “Why don’t you get ready for bed? I’ll take the sofa.”

That would mean he’d be in another room. Not close enough.

The panic returns. “No. Please, stay here.” I reach for him. “Lie down with me.”

His handsome face is earnest. “You’re feeling vulnerable tonight. I don’t want you to think I’d take advantage of that.”

“I know.” Don’t ask me how I know, but I believe him. He’d never take advantage of someone in a weak spot.

After another long look, he nods. “Whatever you need.”

With him so close, I’d normally be thinking sexy thoughts, but tonight I’m not. Only his arms around me, his heartbeat near me, like when he carried me inside the bar. There’s never any question of taking off our clothes.

Simply kicking off his shoes and shrugging off his jacket, he settles beside me on the bed, his back to the headboard, and opens his arms for me again.

My eyes burn. He’s kind. He should be at his bar, running his business, and instead he’s here, making sure I’m comfortable.

I settle my head against his chest, his hand stroking my hair, and I close my eyes.

It almost feels perfect. Almost smells like the future.

But nothing is ever that easy.

9

ATTICUS

Never in a hundred years would I have imagined my night heading in this particular direction.

Never would I have expected to find myself seated on a pink bed, in a pink bedroom filled with paintings of grinning cats and flowers, holding a pink-haired, soft omega girl in my arms.

While she softly snores away.

She fell asleep quickly once I put my arms around her, and her warmth seeped into me. Soft and curvy, she smells of cotton candy and roses.

Her apartment is like a trip to fairyland, a dive into a fairytale. Not my thing. I’m a steel and leather kind of guy. I have my mancave. I like elegance and style, minimalist lines and monochromatic designs.

I’m a lone wolf. I live alone and won’t ever get a pack. That’s been my decision since I was a young alpha, and it’s not likely to ever change. Lone alphas are not common, but I’m a misfit. Rich? Yeah. Successful? Sure.

But also determined to live alone for the rest of my life.

This place, though. It’s so… her, it makes me smile. She has piles of books with bare-chested men on the covers, or flowers, which is confusing. They don’t look like gardening books. The lamp hanging from the ceiling is in the shape of an upside-down rose, the curtains are white and airy, and the carpet is in various shades of purple and red.

A dollhouse. A candy house.

So fitting for this sweet, dolled-up omega.

I doze on and off during the night, my ears perking with every little noise. No idea why I am so much on edge. People are assholes, often going after omegas. What happened shouldn’t have surprised me, although it’s the first time it has happened at the Alpha Bet in all these years.

---