Page 5 of Tinsel Time Treasure
I shook my head. It seemed that every time I was alone my thoughts went back to the breakup, and to all the little things I’d never noticed were wrong between us—beating myself up over the fact that I’d never noticed all the signs.
I was about halfway home when the self-sabotaging part of me shut up for long enough for me to remember that there was nothing but an empty apartment waiting. No warm embrace, no food cooking.
Nothing.
“Maybe I should get a pet,” I muttered, before remembering that the apartment complex charged an arm and a leg for a pet deposit.
Finally I decided to head to a nearby park where I could stroll and enjoy the fall foliage. It wasn’t something I would normally do, and that was what made it the perfect plan. I’d stagnated for three years, and I had to learn to reshape myself.
The park was nearly empty, being the middle of a weekday, and I found myself taking a leisurely walk down the tree-lined paths, only coming across the occasional young parent or elderly person feeding the pigeons.
It was peaceful, and I allowed my mind to wander. I thought about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and how I’d have to face my family and more thoroughly explain how my relationship had dissolved. But maybe there would be a bit of catharsis in that as well. Being able to talk about it with people who cared about me unconditionally.
Not to mention that I could spend some quality time with the niblings. I had so many nieces and nephews from my brother and sisters that I could spend days just chasing them around and playing.
One day I would have my own kids. I just had to find the right omega: one who would want me as much as I wanted him.
I found an empty bench as the trail looped around and I took a seat, breathing in the crisp air.
Maybe I could convince the gym to let me do an outside bike class during the summer, a tour or something.
I sighed. There was no way that it would happen. Insurance alone would be a nightmare, especially if somebody was injured. Then there would always be the people who would show up thinking that bikes would be provided.
Perhaps a weekend riding group though. Just post online for people to join me, maybe check out various parts of the city.
It could be fun, and would get me out of my head.
That was for future me, however. Winter was definitely the wrong time of year to be starting such a group.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds around me: traffic, kids squealing from the playground, the rustle of leaves, birds… the world was a place full of sound, when we took a chance to fully experience it.
I jumped when my phone went off, then scowled at the screen. It was a text from Linden, informing me that he’d forgotten a few things at my apartment and wanted to set up a time to retrieve them.
I sighed and replied that I would be home shortly, and that he could drop in at his leisure. It was better to get rid of his things than to draw it out.
It was time for a clean start.
Chapter 3 - Justin
Istared at myself in the mirror, amazement curling through me at how good I looked.
Kaleb was an artist, but his skill was in painting. Despite that, the dress he’d altered for my Halloween costume was incredible. It was the kind of disaster that took serious work and skill to make look so bad, and I loved it. Even the bright triangles of hot pink and yellow over my eyes in an eighties style just worked.
What had started life as a prom dress, and picked up for cheap at a thrift store, had been utterly transformed. Streaks of the original color mingled with bleached areas, then he’d painted it, shredded the hem, cut out areas of the bodice and replaced it with mesh. The final touch had been criss-crossed nylon straps adorned with patches and pins.
It was an absolute dumpster fire of a fashion disaster, and I looked fantastic. It was eye-catching and sexy.
I would definitely be knotted that night—if I found an alpha for whom I was willing to spread my legs.
Oh I needed a knot. While my dating life was normally a mess, I’d had a particularly long string of bad matches that had left me unsated for nearly a year. It had made me almost constantly horny, and even my favorite knotting dildo could only provide the barest relief.
I yelped in surprise as Kaleb pushed me out of his bedroom so that he could change into his own costume—a cat burglar—but ducked into the hall bathroom to spend another moment admiring myself.
My hair was too clean for the rest of the look, so I plunged my fingers into the dark strands and mussed it, then grinned.
“Perfect.”
Ecstatic with my appearance, I headed out to the living room to wait for Kaleb. He emerged a few minutes later, then we were off.
