Page 21 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 1

eleven

“Hereatthetop of the stairs is Nixon’s room. He and I share a Jack and Jill bathroom so I’m the next door over if you ever need anything,” Spencer informed me, pointing to each door as we passed. “Next we have one of the spare rooms I wanted to show you. It puts you next to me and Rafael is on the other side.”

He turned the handle to the door, pushed it open, and flicked on the light. “I think the room is nice but for an Omega I feel like it’s a little small.”

The room was bigger than any I’d had before, along with the size of the bed. The walls were painted a warm yellow with everything else in creams and tan. It was a lovely room but I wrinkled my nose at it and already turned to leave the room before I spotted Nixon hiding a smile behind his hand.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, confused at the reaction.

“Not at all Sweetheart. If it’s not the right fit, then it’s not the right fit,” he answered. “Come on, there’s one more on this floor, then we can look at one on the second floor. I think that one’s going to be the winner but one never knows.”

We left the yellow room and headed down the hall that ran widthwise of the house. As we passed the next door I caught Rafael’s scent remembering Spencer had mentioned that. This time Nixon opened the following door to reveal a soft seafoam green room. It had white lace curtains and felt like something out of a fantasy book. While it was much prettier than the last room it still didn’t feel right. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something that urged me to move on.

“Really? I thought for sure this would be a winner,” Spencer mused as we walked out. “Seems Nixon has picked up on your taste faster than I have, and that’s saying something.”

The smell of melted cheese caught my nose, and my stomach growled loudly in excitement. Turning I found Bodhi with a tray of food walking up to us.

“Looks like I got here just in time. No go for these rooms?” he asked.

Spencer said something but my whole focus was on the golden brown sandwich with cheese oozing out of it.

“Earth to Cambrie,” Spencer called, waving his hand in front of my face.

On instinct I jerked back and dropped to the floor covering my head as I curled into a ball.

“What the fuck, man!” Bodhi snapped. “Take this.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t think. She’d been doing so well… I just didn’t think,” Spencer rambled as someone moved closer.

My brain finally caught up to my body as I realized what happened. I tried to calm my breathing as my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest while adrenaline coursed through my veins.

“Cambrie, it’s Bodhi. I’m not going to touch you just sit next to you, alright?” Bodhi shared, his voice low and soothing. “Take your time, catch your breath. There is no rush.”

My stomach grumbled as if it mourned the loss of being able to have the grilled cheese sandwich. How could these men want to keep me around when I reacted like this? This wasn’t normal for anyone, let alone an Omega. They were supposed to be cuddly and loving toward their pack, craving touch, but I freaked the second someone made a wrong move.

“Nix, hand me a plate with a sandwich,” Bodhi instructed.

When the aroma of the food registered in my brain, pushing past my fear, I slowly lowered one arm. Bodhi indeed was sitting close by but where I could easily see him. He took half a sandwich and bit into it. The crunch of the bread and the strings of melted cheese that stretched as he set it down again got me moving. Carefully, I watched the other two who stood against the wall on the other side of the hallway. Spencer was now holding the tray of food looking thoroughly upset.

“Here,” Bodhi said as he slid the plate closer. “It’s obvious you’re hungry. No sense in wasting food that’s been made.”

Keeping my back to the wall I pushed myself up and pulled my knees close to my chest. I noticed the trench coat I still wore had fallen open to reveal the ugly yellow dress. Would they let me change before I was asked to leave?

“Come on, you don’t want it to get cold, or it ruins the taste,” Bodhi urged. “I’m sure you’ll feel more settled with some food in you. From what it sounds like, you haven’t been too active in the past few years. Jumping out of a car and running for it, that would wear me out.”

Bodhi continued to talk his tone neutral and slightly bored as if what happened hadn’t been that big of a deal. I started to reach for the plate but paused, double checking to make sure it was alright. He just glanced at me and gestured with his hand to help myself to the food. Gingerly, I lifted the portion he’d taken a bite from leaving him the whole half.

“Cambrie,” Bodhi said, stopping me with a warning tone in his voice. “Take the other one, I already claimed that half.”

Biting my lip I snatched up the whole half and brought it to my mouth. The smell of the creamy butter and melty cheese was as decadent as a steak dinner to me. I love cheese, all kinds, and it was something Father withheld any time he was upset. He’d say it was too expensive or I ate it too fast, wasting money. This would be the first taste of cheese in almost three years. I slid a corner of the sandwich into my mouth and bit off a small chunk savoring it. My eyes fell shut when the sharp tang of the cheddar mixed with the gooey goodness of the mozzarella. Bodhi knew how to make an excellent grilled cheese, and he put plenty of cheese on.

“Taste good?” Bodhi asked, causing me to snap my eyes open to look at him. “Sorry didn’t mean to take you out of the moment.”

“This is amazing,” I praised, giving him a shy smile before I took another bite and sighed. “I love cheese.”

Bodhi flashed me a wide grin showing off his teeth. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind. I’m making breakfast for everyone tomorrow so it sounds like cheesy eggs need to be a thing. Unless you don’t like eggs.”

“I like pretty much all food,” I answered, my mouth full of food. Cringing, I covered my mouth and looked over at the others to make sure I didn’t offend them by talking with my mouth full. Mom would have been so upset with me.

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