Page 54 of His Gentle Omega
Taking a steadying breath, I stepped out onto my back patio, sliding the glass door closed behind me. The sun was shining brightly, the sky a gorgeous blue that did not remind me of Shay’s eyes. Not one bit.
“You’re not kicking anyone’s ass.” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Pftt. As if you would even know how.”
Seth in his shifted form was pretty fierce. Seth in his human form, not so much unless you counted his smart mouth. That thing could rip a person into shreds in two seconds flat, and I kinda adored it about him. “That alpha gonna fuck around and find out.”
“Wow, someone woke up and chose all the violence this morning. What gives?” I teased. Seth always had a way of making the sad go away. Plus, it was nice having someone always in my corner, ready to do battle for me.
He shook his dark hair of perfectly styled chaos. “Nope, we aren’t talking about me. This is about you. Talk.” He glanced atsomething I couldn’t see. “I’ve got ten minutes left on break, before Asher comes looking for me. Explain the ‘things got complicated’.”
“You mean besides the obvious with Shay?”
“Yup, besides that. What happ–?” He dropped his head down, chin hitting his chest. “Oh fuck! Y’all did the wild thing, didn’t you? Bennett!”
“Shh! Keep your voice down,” I shushed him, glancing towards the glass doors to keep an eye out for Lucas. Rolling my eyes, I hissed, “Why did you think I sent an eggplant emoji? But yes, we…Shay and me…we had sex. Lots of sex.”
Seth stared at me unblinking, and I stared right back. Finally, he cried, “And? How was it?”
Grinning, I fanned my face. “Soooo fucking good. Like the best sex of my entire life.”
“Hmmm…you don’t have that many people to compare it to, Benny. You sure it wasthatgood?”
“Fuck off,” I laughed, “and yes, it was that good.”
Seth shrugged, “So, what’s with the sad emo emoji?”
Sobering, I paced across the cement patio pavers. “Shay was super weird this morning. It was soooo awkward. I didn’t know what to say. I kept waiting for him to say…something. I don’t know exactly what. But it was like, you could feel the weirdness in the air, you know?”
He nodded, his face serious. “Vibes don’t lie.”
“Yeah.” Nodding my head, I paced a bit. “There was this distance between us that wasn’t there last night. Like this huge, invisible wall went up with him, complete with big, flashing warning signs.”
Seth’s face softened, and he quietly said, “Look, B, I know he’s your fated mate, and you want that fairy-tale,happily-ever-after, the shoe fits and all that.” He shook his head, “But the truth is, Shay has a fuck ton of shit he probably needs to deal with before any of that can happen. And let’s face it, nobody asked Cinderella what happened after she got those seriously gorgeous shoes. Like did anyone ask her if Prince Charming snored? Or was a complete dickhead? I mean, I’m a whore for a good pair of shoes, but sometimes the price ain’t worth it.”
Blinking hard at him, my mouth opened then closed, before I finally said, “That took a turn.”
Seth shrugged, completely unrepentant. “All I’m saying is sometimes there isn’t a happy ending. I just want you to be prepared for that. You’ve known him a week, Benny. A week. I take more time to decide on my nail polish color.”
Opening my mouth to protest, even though I had no good argument for the complete sense he was making, Seth held up a hand. “I get you’re fated mates and that can sometimes speed things along. But this whole thing reeks of bad vibes. Just from what I’ve heard from Asher–and it hasn’t been much, he’s being super tight-lipped, the fucker–this thing between Shay and his ex could get really ugly. And I don’t want you to get swept into the middle of it.”
Closing my eyes, all I could do was nod. I truly hated when Seth made sense. I really did. “Can’t I just be all in my feelings for a little bit, please?”
He snorted, flashing me his bright smile, “Yeah, you can have all the feels you want. When are they leaving? And, do I need to point out they are going to be literally right next door to you?”
“I’m aware,” running a hand through my hair, I scowled at him on my screen. “It’s just been really…nice having him and Lucas here, is all. And I didn’t expect us to jump into something afterlast night, I just wasn’t prepared for…whatever weirdness that was this morning.”
Seth was silent for a minute, and I watched all his internal thoughts play across his face. We knew each other so well we could have entire conversations with nothing but facial expressions. “How about I come over tomorrow and we just hang out. Have a movie day, eat all the popcorn we want, and just chill?”
“That would be great.” I told him, seeing Lucas standing at the door. Opening it for him, he joined me outside. He was dressed for the day, his bedhead tamed, and he bounced on his feet in excitement. “I need to go. We have a ton of errands to do today. Thanks for listening to my drama, Seth.”
“Always, B. You know I live for drama.”
Ending the call, I smiled down at Lucas. “Ready?”
He nodded, then his eyes turned back to the open area of my backyard that led directly into the woods that ran behind the houses. “How come your fence doesn’t go all the way around?”
Smiling, I pointed my thumb to the left. “Your Uncle Gabe used to live in that house, the one you’re moving into. And his best friend, Wade, who owns my house, lived here then. Uncle Gabe built both the fences and left the back open so they could shift in their yards and get into the woods easily. This door leads into this strip of grass between our yards.” Walking over to the wooden gate in the fence, I unlatched it and pulled it open. Lucas followed, curiosity evident on his face. Pointing at an identical gate on the opposite fence, I said, “And that gate leads into your new backyard.”
He was much too small to see over either privacy fence, as they were both at least eight feet tall. But he still tried to see into his new yard, pushing up on his tiptoes. “This is cool. So I can just go from my backyard to yours, anytime I want?”
