Page 19 of Broken Ice
Some of the jitters that had been rattling Beau since Emilio left calmed down. “Tell me how your day was. I don’t want to talk anymore.”
Cleo wasn’t as much of a chatterbox as him, but she was a great storyteller. She meandered through her day, telling him about the dog she’d pet when she’d run through the park that morning, about the afternoon class she was almost late for because a bunch of people were juggling in the middle of campus and she stopped to watch them.
“One of them had these fucking swords, right, and she—”
Beau’s attention snapped away as the hotel room door opened. He tensed, pulse skyrocketing—who the fuck was coming into his space after a heat?
The scent hit him first, followed promptly by the sight of Emilio, arms ladened with plastic bags.
“What the hell?” Beau stuttered.
Cleo’s voice rang through the speaker. “What? What is it.”
“The, uhm…the guy’s back.”
“The asshole?”
Emilio froze, eyebrows rising.
“Yeah. He has food.”
There was a pause. “Beau, you idiot.”
“Yeah. Call you later.”
“I don’t want the details,” Cleo said, and the line went dead.
Beau sat up. “I thought you left. I mean, youdidleave. Without saying anything, I might add.”
“You were sleeping.”
“I was dozing. Big difference.”
Emilio took a tentative step forwards. “You need food. And electrolytes.”
Beau glared at him because, sure, that was a perfectly reasonable explanation, but he still wanted to be mad.
“Sorry?” Emilio said softly.
“Yeah, you sound really sorry. I feel like if I fucked an Alpha through their rut, I wouldn’t just disappear right after. Seems like kind of a fucked-up thing to do to someone. But hey, that’s just me.”
Emilio winced. He set the bags on the floor slowly. “I didn’t think…I seriously thought you were sleeping. You needed food, and the kitchen was closed downstairs, and I just—I’m sorry. Seriously.”
Beau huffed. “What did you bring me, then?”
Emilio unpacked eagerly. “I went to a convenience store. I got you some savoury stuff—nothing too unhealthy. These roasted beans—this one is siracha flavoured—chickpea chips, dried edamame. I have trail mix…there are some chocolate granola bars that have protein in them. These are peanut butter ones. Oh, popcorn, some Twizzlers. I know those aren’t healthy. Gatorade.”
“You know we’re sponsored by Biosteel now, right?” Beau teased, but he was smiling.
“I searched. They didn’t have any.”
Beau felt something inside him give. “All right, get over here.”
He sorted through the snacks, heading straight for the sweet stuff. He took a bite out of the chocolate granola bar, then opened the peanut butter one, then gulped down some Gatorade—it was still cool, thank God. Tepid Gatorade was the worst.
“M and M’s!” Beau cheered as he spotted them, opening the bag with such force that they went everywhere. “Oh, shit.”
Emilio chuckled. Beau was startled by the noise—he’d half forgotten the Alpha was there.
