Page 43 of His Pretty Omega
Alex saved me from trying to explain what was waiting behind the closed door, reaching past me to turn the knob and flip the light on.
Staying behind him, nail of my pointer finger firmly in my mouth where I could gnaw on it, I waited for the explosion. That never came.
Instead, there was a deafening silence, as Alex took the tiniest step into the room. Not like he could take a big step, since there was literally no room to walk.
An explosion might have been better than the silence that went on for a full minute, then another.
Alex didn’t move, just took his time looking from one end of the room to the other.
I didn’t move. Fuck, I wasn’t sure I was even breathing.
Finally, he turned around, his hand rubbing over his beard.
“Say something!”
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I know, it’s bad! It’s so bad. I don’t even… I don’t…” I waved a hand at the mess behind him. “I…I’m sorry! I’m sorry my brain is all haywire and doesn’t work like most people’s. I’m a mess, okay! I tried to tell you! I just…don’t know where to start with it, and then I get so overwhelmed, that I dip out and play a video game, or watch a movie I’ve seen a million times, or read, or anything but dealing with this. It’s how I am. It’s how I’ve always been. Ask my parents, they’ll tell you. And it’s not just this. I’m like this witheverything. I forget to pay my bills half the time. I mean I do pay them, but only after reminders and late fees, which is stupid. Adulting is just so…much some days. I just can’t. And you’re so put together–you’re a lawyer for fucks sake–I bet you never forget a bill. Or get anxiety over some packages. Or just life. I know I’m not what you wanted in a mate, let alone a fated one that you’re stuck with. You can still take the out clause,” I reminded him, my hand coming to rest on my protruding belly, where the baby gave my palm a swift kick.
Alex cupped both of his hands around my cheeks, stopping my word vomit. My chest was heaving because I’d forgotten to take a breath through it all.
“Listen to me,” his voice was soft but firm. “You are exactly who I want as my mate. If I have to spend the rest of my life telling you that, showing you that, I will. I knewfrom the very first when you helped yourself to my drink that you were going to be trouble.”
I snorted, sniffling at the same time.
“You are the best kind of trouble, and I don’t want to use that stupid out clause, so please stop bringing it up. I’m still here. I’m exactly where I want to be. You are beautiful, and smart, and competent. I don’t care if I have to pick up the trail of destruction you leave through the house. I will do it with a smile until we’re eighty. Do you trust me?”
“What?” My voice wobbled at his question.
“Do you trust me?” he repeated, one thumb caressing my cheekbone.
“Yes.”
I didn’t even have to put any thought into the question.
The truth was I did trust Alex and had since the beginning. He had always made me feel safe with him, which didn’t always happen with some alphas I had been with in the past, if I was honest with myself. The trust I felt for him was a major part of the reason I had agreed to move in with him, when we barely knew each other.
He made me feel all kinds of things I had never felt before, but had always secretly dreamed about. An alpha who I felt safe with, safe to be myself with, my true self, all of the parts of me, good and bad. Alex did that.
“This isn’t the end of the world.” He kissed me again, and I leaned into him, letting him hold me up. Becausenow that all of this stress I had been keeping inside was out in the open, my knees felt a little wobbly with relief.
“It’s not?”
“Nope,” he rubbed his hands together. “This is doable.”
“What exactly does that mean?” I gave him a dubious look. “Are we renting a dumpster and going to toss it all in the trash?”
That seemed like the easiest way to me.
Alex laughed at my suggestion, but I was one hundred percent serious.
“No. I’m going to spend tomorrow going through all this and sorting it. After work, together, we’ll decide what you want to keep, donate, or toss. Same with furniture and other household things. Saturday, we’ll move everything. We already have the truck rented, plus with all our friends helping, we can get this done pretty fast.”
He made it sound so flipping easy.
“Why are you so calm about this?” I asked suspiciously.
Maybe this whole thing was a dream, and I was going to wake up on my couch, covered in drool, still needing to confess to Alex that moving day was about to be a nightmare.
