“Here,” Len said, passing me some wipes that had materialised from god knows where, cleaning the fingers that had been in Tris, and letting me peer into my compact mirror as I tried to resurrect my makeup. When he was done, he tossed the wipes in a bag in the car and then opened his arms.
“What—?” Tris started to say.
“Come here, omegas.”
Whoa, where the hell had that come from? He was all Daddy Len right now, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Tris frowned slightly, then looked at me, hauling me up to my feet and then pushing me into Len’s arms. One locked around me, holding me tight until my body collapsed in on him, but he wasn’t done.
“Come here, Tristan.”
He wavered, my love, his jaw flexing, a war obviously waging in his head as his eyes darted around.
“You need aftercare. Everyone needs aftercare after something intense.”
“C’mere, Tris,” I mumbled, holding out my own wobbly arm.
He blinked for a second and then moved forward, nestling into the side of me, kissing the top of my head. Then Len, he closed his arms, holding the two of us close, and we listened to the thud of his heart.
“You OK?” Tris asked me.
“Are you?” I nodded my head. “Because I always am when I’m with you.”
“Good.” That was all he’d say, a mulish expression on his face that quickly softened. Len’s hand moved slowly, stroking through his hair and mine. “I’m good, Kit.”
“And you need food and something sugary to drink,” Len insisted, pulling away, all too soon, I thought, both of us looking up at him in confusion. “C’mon, I know the owner. He’s the one who kept everyone out of the carpark until we were done.”
“What the fuck…?” Tris whispered, but we followed his long-legged lope into the elevator.
Chapte
r 13
“Len!”
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had long tawny coloured hair that hovered between blond and brown and a full beard. When he looked up from the beer tap where he was pouring drinks, the smile he had for Len faded somewhat when he saw us, but he quickly fixed that.
“And friends,” he said finally. “So these are your omegas?”
“Not mine,” Len said, then looked over his shoulder at us. “I’m working on it, but not yet.”
Then I saw it in the bartender’s eyes, so brief a flash of emotion, only an omega would see it. A tiny moment of what, need? That didn’t make too much sense, because this guy, he was a beta.
“Anyway, this is one of my best friends, Jackson. We grew up together, used to run in the same circles.”
“Used to work for the fucking gangs is what you mean,” Jackson replied with a smirk, picking up a glass and giving it a polish with a tea towel. “We did the illegal booze runs, bringing in expensive imported shit and sneaking it past the officials to avoid paying tariffs.”
“Learnt enough about the biz for Jackson to buy this place and me to set up a legit alcohol importation business,” Len said. “But you’re not here for our backstory. I need a couple of burgers, some chips, whatever sides you think are good. Lots of fat, carbs, and salt. And a jug of Coke.”
“Aftercare?” Jackson smirked, then nodded. “Fuck, it’s been a long time since we’ve done that. I’ll put the order in. There’s a booth right up the back—nice, quiet, secluded. Should be perfect for what you need.”
And it was. Len steered the two of us over, and I was dimly aware that people were staring as we passed by, but I couldn’t care. My skin was still hot and feverish, but I felt empty as a drum right now. That was the problem with frenzy—the highs were higher, but so were the lows. So when Len pushed Tristan, then me, into the booth, blocking off our exit by sitting beside us, everyone pressed against the other, that was good. I laid my head back on the seat back and just sighed.
“That’s it.” Len’s voice was distant but soothing, so very soothing. “Just let yourself come down easy.”
And I did, turning to Tristan and wrapping my arms around him. He returned the gesture, tucking my head up under his chin. I felt his hand trail through my hair, something that always soothed me, and so we sat, the dim noises of the pub filtering in just a little before Jackson came back.
“Here you go.”
My eyes cracked open to see Len’s friend standing there, arms laden, a cute barmaid behind him carrying a tray of drinks. Everything was deposited on the table before the beta slid onto the bench seat across from us.