Page 78 of Knot Baked Out For This
Araminta Vale's shop is only two towns over. Sells handmade, omega-specific products that don't trigger sensitivities. I've driven past it a hundred times, never having a reason to go in.
Until now.
I grab my keys, then pause. Levi's still in my office, now lying dramatically across my couch like he's posing for a Renaissance painting about suffering.
"I'm going out," I tell him.
"Where?"
"Errands."
"Bullshit. You're going to see her."
"I'm going to Araminta Vale's, then maybe to see her."
He sits up, interested. "The fancy omega shop? Why?"
"Candles."
"Since when do you buy candles?"
"Since now."
"Luca." His voice goes serious, the playful mask dropping. "We need to talk about this. About her. About us."
"Tonight. After."
"I mean it. We can't just all pursue her without?—"
"Without what? Rules? Agreements? A documented understanding of acceptable parameters?"
"Without hurting each other," he says quietly.
The words settle between us, heavy with years of shared everything. We're twins, but more than that. Best friends, business partners, the only family each other has since our parents died. We've shared everything—toys, cars, clothes, secrets.
But never a woman. Never like this.
"I won't compete with you," I say carefully.
"I won't compete with you either." He stands, crosses to me. "But I'm not stepping aside. I can't. She's?—"
"I know."
"Do you? Because I've never felt anything like this. Like my chest is too small and too big at the same time. Like I could run for miles or sleep for days as long as she's there when I stop. Is that insane?"
"Yes. But I understand it."
Because I do. Because I feel it too, just quieter, deeper, less sunshine and more moonlight but just as consuming.
"Her choice," Levi says firmly. "Whatever happens, whoever she picks, if she picks any of us—her choice."
"Agreed."
"And we don't fuck up our friendship over it."
"We won't."
"Promise me, Luca. Promise me that no matter what, we're brothers first."
