Page 108 of Broken Omega

I probably would have been steered toward a Family Science degree if I’d brought it up, anyway.

The head of administration has to approve any applications to study outside of the academy’s nonsense curriculum, and Geraldine didn’t greenlight anything that didn’t fit with Goldcrest’s image.

I’m still lost in my thoughts when Kellan comes back. His knocks are so light, almost as if he doesn’t want to intrude. It takes me a second to snap out of my thoughts and realize the soft sounds mean he’s at the door. As soon as I do, I get up from the couch, leaving my heels by the side of it.

“It’s Kellan,” he calls out, just loud enough to hear.

“I know,” I call back as I unlock the door and tug it open. “Sorry, I was kind of in a daze, so it took a second to answer.”

I move back, and he comes inside, his hands loaded up with bags.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his dark eyes full of concern.

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “I can hardly believe I’m finally out of the academy. It feels like a dream or something. I keep waiting to wake up.”

I close the door and lock it again.

“I know the feeling. This whole night has been kind of surreal,” he says. “I definitely didn’t picture this outcome when I set out to meet you tonight.”

“I’m not surprised. I could barely picture the outcome, and I knew what I was trying to do tonight,” I tell him. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this whole thing …”

“I’m not,” he says quickly. “I’m glad I’m here with you, Brooke. The escape I stumbled into was kind of unexpected, but I’d much rather be out here with you than pretty much anywhere else.”

If he was anyone else, that might sound desperate and obsessively creepy. On my boy-next-door it’s nothing but sweet. Well, maybe it’s a little obsessive, too. I can’t say I mind the thought of Kellan being obsessed with me. I think he should be obsessed with me if I’m his true mate.

I was obsessively dreaming about him for years, and I didn’t even know who he was.

“I’m really glad you’re with me, too,” I tell him. “I wouldn’t want you to be anywhere else, either.”

It would have hurt to leave him behind, and there’s no way I could have risked looking for him after I got out if he hadn’t come with us. Fate really had my back tonight. I’m one lucky Omega.

It’s too dark to really tell, but I think I made him blush again.

He clears his throat as he moves to set the bags down on the kitchen counter.

“It’s darker than I remembered in here.”

“I think my eyes have kind of adjusted to it. Did you get candles?”

“I didn’t find any in the store. I got some other stuff I thought we might need. Probably should have checked what was actually in the house first, but dinner is sandwiches, so at least we don’t need silverware for those.”

“Ooh, I know what we can do!” I dart over to the under-counter fridge and open the door.

There’s no light, and it’s empty.

Duh, Brooke. Of course the refrigerator isn’t running. The electricity runs on quarters.

How could I forget that? I shut the door and spot the plug sitting by the side of the appliance. It’s not even plugged into a socket. Why would it be? This is Frost’s old place. He’s just letting the lease run out.

“Okay, scratch that idea. I don’t know what we can do.”

“Yeah, this is kind of weird,” Kellan says. “It’s definitely not the picture I was painting of our first date.”

I can’t help but laugh. “What? You were planning something grander than eating sandwiches in an apartment with no power?”

“It would be nice to at least see each other.”

“Hmm,” I murmur. “Maybe this is what all the cool kids are doing. It’s like those weird, trendy restaurants where the waiters lead you to your table in the dark and you eat random food without ever seeing it.”

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