Page 28 of Blizzards and Brews
A shiver racked my body at his words and he pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight as he rubbed his head against mine, no doubt scent-marking me.
I let myself close my eyes, taking a moment to enjoy his warmth without the normal guilt that plagued me. If we were going to survive then I had to believe that we’d always have this. We weren’t going to throw away almost thirty years of friendship.
The sound of the door unlocking brought me back to the moment.
“Ready to get out of here, firefly?”
I shook my head. “I think I need another minute to myself. Can you bring a bottle of water to the evil genius who locked us in here?”
“As long as you don’t overthink about this too much,” he said, placing one more kiss on my forehead. “If you’re not out in five, I’m coming back in.”
When the door closed behind him, I leaned my head back against the wall taking a deep drink of my water.
It was then that I realized I could overhear Spencer and Adam talking in low voices just outside the room.
“Look,” Spencer was saying. “I’m not going anywhere and I know you aren’t, either. It’s clear as day that she loves you and your pack. I’m not a threat to that, alpha.”
Adam grunted, a sound I’d heard so many times, I could almost imagine him crossing his arms and staring down Spencer. The fact that he’d finally have to look up at someone was hilarious.
Although, I got the sense that Spencer didn’t mind giving and taking.
“Fine,” Adam finally said. “But if you so much as harm one hair on Ollie or Lindsay’s head, I’ll make sure you’ll regret the day you ever took this consultation.”
“Harming them would be harming myself. I don’t expect you to take my word for it, as long as you give me a fair chance.”
Their words drifted away as they no doubt walked further into the brewery, but Spencer’s words echoed in my head.
A fair chance.
Afairchance.
Adam’s confession had shocked me, but it also made me realize that there were different sides to my best friends, ones that I wanted to know.
As scared as I was of getting my heart broken I owed it to myself and them. To give them an opportunity to prove everything they were telling me and to give myself a chance to embrace all the feelings I had shoved down deep inside of me.
Chapter Eleven
Ollie
Deep down, I was thrilled to have all this unfettered time with everyone, even without the creature comforts I enjoyed.
With the freezer out and the food needing to be ate or tossed, I’d literally gotten to sit on Spencer’s lap while he spoon fed me ice cream and told me all about his big city upbringing.
With how good he seemed to be about sharing, I wasn’t surprised to find out he had siblings. The prospect of a bigger family had my chest warming.
The crick in my neck was worth being able to snuggle with him and Lindsay. It had been far too long since I’d gotten to cuddle with her. Even if I could barely sleep and was drinking my weight in coffee it was totally worth it.
Spencer and Adam thought that I hadn’t noticed when they’d switch the coffee beans to decaf in the second batch, but thankfully, Dustin had my back. My brother knew that while their alpha tendencies were well meaning, I would probably turn into more of a terror without it.
I didn’t like feeling like a burden when I got in a mood. Most of the time I was content on my own, working the bar, figuring out new brews, hanging with my brothers, and pining after my best friend. But sometimes, it got to be too much.
Sometimes, it felt like if I couldn’t be near her I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. Even now, it almost wasn’t enough.
I’d been going to clinics in the city ever since my first heat hit, but they’d been getting worse and worse, leaving me with no real satisfaction. Add in the fact that I managed to be the triplet sensitive to medication and it made for one hell of a time.
“What’s wrong, sweets?” Spencer asked, looping his arms around me.
I buried my nose into his chest, taking greedy inhales of his balsam and tonka scent.