Page 56 of Small Town Shy Omega
Josh waggled his paintbrush.
“These walls are bubblegum, baby.”
Blake nodded in agreement. “This paint is the color of the gum I used to chew as a kid. Remember how there’s always one kid with a pack of gum in class? Well, that was me.”
“Awwwwww,” I said, unable to believe Blake’s sweetness. “Would you have shared with me?”
“I would’ve given you my last piece.” Blake’s eyebrows did a caterpillar wiggle.
Josh whistled as he swiped pink paint across my walls.
“Damn, it’s been a while since these puppies have been painted. You should’ve called for help earlier, Layla. I doubt we’re the only pack in Applewood Falls who’d help you.”
“You have no idea how wrong you are. Have you seen me, man?” I shook out my purple hair. “My glasses are thick enough to be soda bottles. I’m not exactly outgoing and parties aren’t my thing. Most Alpha packs want an Omega they can take out on the town. They want an Omega that other Alphas will desire.”
“And you don’t think other Alphas would desireyou?Goddamn, Layla—second they see you walking around with us, they’re going to try to jump us, to get to you. You’restunning…You’re a radiant, sexy goddess. As for us?” Blake asked.
Josh took the conversational ball from Blake. “We’re men, Layla.Men—not immature boys. We want the Omega who’s smart. Talented. Beautiful. Not just a scent or slick match—we want an Omega who has a brain, opinions of her own, and damnit, those curves you’ve got drive an Alpha to growl. You’re just the right amount of curvy, and your mind is highly refined.”
“I do read a lot.” My eyes skimmed over to my bookshelf, and I blushed as part of my nearly three-thousand book collection balanced precariously on the white shelves. The other two-thousand books were in my nook. “I like reading because it expands my mind. It has nothing to do with what ‘other Omegas’ enjoy doing. For instance, I tried tennis and volleyball, and neither sport was really for me. I’m not into jogging, but I like going to baseball games with my Alpha friends. And I blow glass, of course.”
Josh frowned, a low growl slipping from this throat. “Do you have many Alpha friends, Layla?”
“No, but you three are my friends, right? You’re my closest friends and I hope that’s not wrong or weird to say.”
“Why would it be weird?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I don’t wanna be the type of Omega who’s mainly friends with other Alphas?”
Blake smiled, rubbing my hand.
“You’re not like other Omegas, Layla—and that’s agoodthing. You have a beautiful mind, and when it’s time for your heat you’ll be beautiful, too. We love your fucking glass. We don’t want you to remove them,ever. Why? Damn, baby—they let us see your mind. Your mind is so fucking beautiful, and it’s an honor that you share it with us. Every single day.”
Blake’s words were so kind, and I sniffled as I rubbed my eyes. “Blake…” I muttered, hardly able to speak.
“Hey,” Josh whispered, sitting on the floor in front of me. He didn't sit on the couch, presumably because he and Blake were both covered in paint. “I can’t hop up on that couch to hug you, but I’ll hold your hand. You can talk about your stepsister all you want, Layla. Talk about your stepparents. Your ex-pack, your former mother-in-law. It’s okay. Blake and I will listen.”
“I expected as much,” I said, stifling a giggle. “You two don’t have to kneel in front of me. Really.” This was a bit overkill.
Josh frowned, rubbing my hand. And Blake growled out, poetically rubbing my left wrist.
“You deserve better than what you’ve had, Layla,” Blake said.
“You have a good heart, sweetie,” Josh’s earnest voice rang out. “Better than most Omegas—hell, many Omegas I’ve met have been closed-minded. Judgmental. You have a pure heart, and I can tell you’re not like those two awful Omegas I saw walking in the Public Gardens earlier today. The way they were talking about this poor girl was horrible.”
“Harmony and Eucalyptus?” I guessed, groaning.
“Maybe,” Josh gritted out, a vein pulsing in his forehead. “They were so much less perfect and special than you, baby. I could tell right away they thought they were hot shit. Well, beautiful Omegas don’t talk crap behind other Omegas’ back—they support other Omegas, they’re an Omega’s Omega. Not whatever the hell those two Omegas were doing.”
“They claim to support other Omegas,” I sniffled, feeling so silly for talking about this in front of two strapping Alphas, and I was grateful they understood. “But they really don’t. Back in high school, they bullied me ruthlessly.”
My soda-bottle glasses tumbled down my face, and the Alphas now could see my tears.
Blake smiled softly, swiping my tears with his educated thumb. I wondered what classical tomes that thumb had flipped through. What wonderful novels.
I pictured Blake, hunched over in front of a window, rain trickling down the glass. He was trying to finish his reading assignment before midnight. The moon shone outside.
“Babe,” Blake growled, his voice deadly serious, “you look so fucking beautiful when you cry.”
