“I’m not going anywhere brother,” Boone assured, taking a sip of his drink. “I don’t think Autumn is either.” The confidence in his voice gave me pause.
“She’s invested in the town and the orchard. You’ve seen how hard she’s been working on everything and whatever secret meetings she’s been up to with mom. Hopefully she’s just as invested in us too,” Jack said. “She hasn’t said as much, but I feel it every single day. You could have that too, Hunter. You were honest that you needed some time, but even I have to admit, I thought you would have made your move by now. She’s going to think you don’t want her if you don’t give her any more to go off of.”
“I don’t think she takes it like that,” I said, shaking my head. “You see our banter, how we talk…I’ve been open and honest with her about everything and we spend time together everyday.”
“I know you’re trying, Hunter,” my brother said without any animosity in his voice.
“Her heat is coming soon,” Boone said, confirming what I’d expected when I caught her scent tonight. “She hasn’t said whether she wants us here during or not yet, but I’m missing a shirt or two.”
“She stole my blanket,” Jack said with a laugh. “What about you, brother? Anything missing?”
“One of my pillows,” I mumbled. “I didn’t realize that’s where it went.”
Another moment of silence passed, but I didn’t miss the look they exchanged between them.
“What’s holding you back?” Boone asked, blunt as ever.
I swallowed my pride, running a hand through my hair before answering.
“Me.”
“How so?” Jack questioned, his lips turning down. We were definitely a pack again, refusing to let each other hide from important conversations.
“I’m not built for a relationship. What if I do let myself fall for Autumn and then I end up messing it up for both of you? I’d never forgive myself. How could I take the chance?”
“The same way we’re taking the chance that she might still decide to leave after the Fall Festival. Tomorrow isn’t a guarantee, I know that better than anyone, “ Boone said. “But you better believe I’m not going to waste a single second with her, regardless of the eventual outcome. I love her Hunter. The kind of love that doesn’t have limits. Even if she leaves I’ll still be hers.”
“You’re not a bad guy, Hunter,” Jack said. “You never have been. I’ve never seen you treat a partner with anything but respect regardless of how fleeting the encounter might have been. You’d never treat Autumn poorly, especially not when it counts so much.”
The amount of faith he had in me took me aback.
Could I really take the chance? Would Autumn even want me after I’d been lingering on the edge for weeks, flirting but never taking that next step.
“Wait,” I said, my stomach turning suddenly. “Autumn’s about to go into heat.”
“Well, yeah,” Jack said, looking at me questioningly. “She’s been nesting for the past week. What’s your point?”
“My point is that our omega is about to go into heat and she just skipped out of here to go out! What if it hits her when she’s in the middle of the dance floor for Hollows sake?”
“The Becketts would give us a call,” Boone said slowly, the words sounding painful, the realization setting in with him too.
“Do you really want to take that chance?” I asked. “I trust the triplets, sure, but how many extra tourists do we have in town right now for the season?”
Boone growled.
“I don’t think she’d take it kindly if we asked her to come home the first time she actually made time to go out with friends,” Jack said wearily.
“Agreed. It’s not that I don’t trust her,” Boone said.
“It’s just everyone else we don’t trust,” I finished.
Boone nodded. “I don’t want to break her trust either though. As much as I want to shelter her, I can’t let her designation be a reason we treat her so differently.”
“So we don’t engage with her,” I said quickly, a plan forming. “By now they’re probably at dinner and will be heading over to Holiday Brews soon. We’ll just go there and snag a booth in the back, have a few brews, and keep an eye on things from afar. She’ll get to have her night out, just a bit safer. We won’t step in unless something happens.”
“Either way, we’ll tell her,” Boone said seriously. “Even if she doesn’t know we’re there all night with the mixed scents and dim lights, we tell her first thing tomorrow morning. No secrets.”
“No secrets,” Jack agreed.