Page 44 of Knot That Serious

Eli let her head fall into her hands, pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes, and groaned.

After taking a few deep breaths, the front door lock jangled before it opened.

“Eli?” Jack called out. “I’m here!”

Her shoulders slumped just at the sound of his voice, and despite knowing it was far too early for him to be here, she couldn’t overlook her relief enough to care.

She flew to her bedroom door and pulled it open, managing to stop herself from breaking into a run. Calmly and coolly, she padded past the kitchen and into the living room, where Jack was setting his helmet on the bench by the front door.

“Hey,” he said, expression softening at the sight of her.

Eli cleared her throat. “Hey.”

His gaze was heavy as he stared at her, trailed nose to toes and back again. “Are you… ready?”

Eli crossed her arms, just stopped from hugging herself, and nodded toward her room. “Yeah, my bag’s ready, it’s just in my room.”

“D’you get one of my shirts?” he asked. There was something pointed in his tone, but she couldn’t latch onto why. Her cheeks flushed, but she nodded. “Two,” she confessed.

His lips twitched into a grin, and something in her unfurled that she could only describe as overwhelming fondness.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked, taking a step forward.

Her breath caught in her throat at the serious note in his tone.

“I’ll only ask once, because I trust you enough to be honest with me, okay?”

Eli nodded again, concern welling up in her.

“And I’m only gonna ask once because I don’t want to pressure you into making a decision either way. This is all you. I just want you to be comfortable, and safe, and happy, okay?”

Eli could’ve choked with the anticipation. “Just ask me already!”

Jack sucked in a deep breath, seemed to gather, what—courage?—before leveling his gaze on her. “Are you sure you want to go to the Omega Center?”

Eli’s lips parted, her instinctive response already loaded on her tongue, but she paused.

I’m only gonna ask once.

All the hesitation she’d been trying to smother bubbled up and over, and suddenly she couldn’t breath around it.

Jack must have seen it in her expression, because he took another step forward.

“I just—I want you to trust me enough to be honest with me. Even about—no, especially about something like this. You don’t have to go.”

Eli released a shaky breath, stared down at her bare feet. “I think I’m scared.”

Movement, and when she glanced up, Jack was a lot closer, within reach. She went to him first, though, when he hesitated. “I guess I don’t… I’m gonna be alone there. I don’t want to be alone.” She cringed as she said it, hid her face in Jack’s chest, breathed in his scent.

It didn’t send her into a horny panic, so she let herself relax as he wrapped his arms around her.

“You don’t have to go. Let me help.”

Eli’s eyes drifted closed, and she scrunched them shut. She knew what he was asking. “What if it’s weird afterward?”

“Eli, we’re already weird,” he pointed out. She blew out a breath, rolling her eyes, but he continued. “It can’t be any weirder than that time you popped a zit on my ass.”

She huffed out a laugh, which evolved into a chuckle at the memory. “You wouldn’t stop whining about it.”

---