Page 83 of Knot Baked Out For This
"Obviously."
Brothers first, we promised. But as I sit here planning how to protect a woman we all want, I realize maybe that's exactly what we're being. Brothers united in purpose, even if that purpose is courting the same omega.
"May the best Alpha win?" Levi raises his beer.
"May she win," Rowan corrects.
"May we all win," I amend.
We clink bottles, and somewhere across town, Hazel Holloway is probably asleep, surrounded by the scent of anxiety candles and cinnamon rolls, dreaming of things I hope include us.
Three Alphas. One omega. Zero idea what we're doing.
But we're doing it anyway.
Because she's worth it.
We’re already too far gone to stop.
And deep down I’m hoping this impossible thing might actually work.
CHAPTER 14
Coffee And Confessions
~ROWAN~
Five AM is when the world belongs to insomniacs and idiots who think suffering builds character.
My alarm doesn't need to go off—haven't slept past 4:45 in years, not since the structure became more important than the sleep. The station gym is empty at this hour, just me and the ghosts of yesterday's failures. Weights don't judge. Treadmills don't ask about feelings. The burn in my muscles is simpler than the burn in my chest every time I think about?—
Stop. Focus. Lift.
But the video plays on repeat in my head as I push through my routine. Levi feeding Hazel cookies. Her laugh bright enough to power the town. The way they looked at each other like the rest of the world had dissolved.
You have no right to be jealous. No claim. No promises.
Doesn't stop the feeling from eating at me like acid.
By 5:45, I'm showered, dressed, and standing outside Ember's stall at the Maddox ranch. My horse—technically their horse, but she only tolerates me—snorts her greeting, probably wondering why I'm here instead of the twins.
"Couldn't sleep," I tell her, running my hand along her neck. "Needed to think."
She bumps my shoulder with her massive head, nearly sending me into the wall. Horses: nature's therapists with attempted murder tendencies.
"Saw a video," I continue, because talking to a horse is marginally less pathetic than talking to myself. "Levi and Hazel. They looked... good together. Happy."
Ember snorts again, stamps her foot.
"I know. I'm being an idiot. We agreed no competition." I grab a brush, start working through her coat. "But seeing them together, seeing how easy it was for him to just... be with her. Fed her cookies like it was nothing. Made her laugh without trying."
Meanwhile, you almost kissed her and then abandoned her for a fire call. Smooth, Cambridge. Really showing that romantic prowess.
"I'm better at emergencies than emotions," I tell Ember. "Always have been. Save people from burning buildings? Sure. Tell a woman I've been in love with her since high school without sounding like a stalker? Apparently impossible."
The horse whinnies, probably laughing at me. Fair.
By 6:30, I'm reviewing training schedules at the station, trying to focus on work instead of the way Hazel's lips had parted when we almost kissed, the way her scent had gone sweet and wanting?—
