Page 53 of Patiently Yours
My eyes widen as I hop up and scurry to the door and swing it open. On the other side is Ciro, looking as punk and disheveled as ever, his hands full of stuff.
“What are you doing here?” I ask in sincere shock as a grin appears and betrays me.
“Well, I know the guys are out of town for a game but that doesn’t mean we can completely abandon our courting duties.”
I raise an eyebrow. He raises his own in response before he gives me a cheeky smile. “You don’t know what day it is. Lucky me. Now, may I enter your room, Omega?”
I preen at the respect he has for my space before I move to the side and invite him in. It’s only now that he’s walking by me that I realize he has a whole cake pan in his palm and bags hanging from his wrist.
“Is it some important holiday or something?” I ask.
Ciro chuckles under his breath. “Damn, Stacia. You’re the romance author, how can you forget about Valentine’s Day?”
What?
It can’t be Valentine’s Day already… that means my birthday is only a few weeks away.
I check my calendar on my phone and funnily enough, it is the fourteenth.
“Wow.” I look back at my beta and see all of his gifts and trinkets with new eyes. “Please don’t tell me all of that is for me. I didn’t get you guys anything, I feel fucking awful.”
“Oh, shush.” Ciro places everything down on my bed before he presents the cake pan to me. “It’s store bought, much to Kendall’s dismay, but it’ll have to do. Expect a better one on your birthday.”
I pull my lips into a line. Do they know it’s soon?
“This is really too much, you guys didn’t have to?—”
Ciro put up a finger to me. “Let us spoil you, doe. You know those alphas, it’s their love language to spoil their omega. As for me, I just love to see you happy. Now, will you please open mine first?”
He presents a neatly wrapped gift, the blue paper covered in little white hearts. I smile at it, unwrapping it slowly. Too slowly if Ciro’s impatient watching is anything to go off of. When I finally get the paper peeled off and open up the box, I gasp at the prizes waiting for me.
It’s a new writing organization kit, with a journal, plot agenda, and all the pens and tabs I could want. I open up the agenda, noticing the detail that helps one outline their story. I hug it to my chest and look at the beautiful beta beside me. “This is beautiful, Ciro.”
He returns my affection. “I’m glad, Stacia. Happy Valentine’s Day. We’re very lucky to have you in our lives.” I feel a blush starting to spread from his words before he thrust another gift in my hands. “I’ll have to document each reaction mentally for the boys, so let’s go through them.”
The others got me wonderful gifts as well. A Special Edition of a book I finished and loved last week, an amazing self-care kit, a new fluffy white blanket with a mix of their scents purposely placed on it. That one made me flush with a little bit of shame, but then I found a paper with a QR code that took me to a personalized playlist just for me, courtesy of a particular grumpy alpha.
One after the other, I can’t believe the way in which these guys just…understandme. It makes me feel so lucky. And also really guilty.
“I have to go get you guys something, I can’t believe I forgot.” I turn to put the gifts neatly on my dresser.
“Instead of that, how about you let us take you out for your birthday in a few weeks?”
I halt abruptly, my back to him.Damnit, I knew it was wishful thinking.
“I should have known you were hinting at it, not just fishing for information.” I heave a small sigh before turning to him. “How did you know?”
He gives me a kind look. “You have a best friend that loves you, and she obviously approves of us because she actually told the guys when she ran into them on campus.”
FreakingRory.
“Look,” I start, “I’m not very good with birthdays. I wouldn’t say I’ve had shitty ones, but I’m just a bit uncomfortable with the…expectationof it all.”
My explanation doesn’t seem to deter the beta across from me. He stands and walks towards me, softly caressing my shoulders and arms after he comes to a stop in front of me.
“Do you trust us?” His eyes pour into mine, and I find myself lost in the topaz of his pupils.
The truth?Yes. I trust them completely and without any doubt.That’sthe real scary part of this. Finding my scent matches, leaving behind a toxic cycle, that’s nothing… butI’mstill the same. The problem isn’t how perfect and attentive these men are, the problem lies solely withme, who I am, and who I willalways be.
