I look down at the mess in the living room and see all of her drawings. I already knew about this secret she hides from Smith. She really is talented. Cameron sits next to me, admiring all the pictures she draws of people fucking.
“She’s very beautiful,” Cameron says next to me, and sometimes he’s so fucking hard to read.
“Are you mad?”
“No, but maybe you should be clearer with her. You come in here all demanding Alpha ‘you can’t take care of yourself.’ She probably thinks you’re not interested.”
“Would you be interested in her?” I ask him.
“I don’t know her, but she’s attractive.” I nod my head as Kelsey comes out of the room, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.
“Can we talk, Kels?”
“Who are you?” she asks Cameron.
“Cameron, Dom’s Omega.” She nods her head and honestly looks a little deflated. “I’ll give you guys a moment. Can I go out back?”
Kelsey nods her head again, and he goes out to the pool. “I didn’t mean what I said, Kelsey. I would never use what happened to you against you.”
“I’m fine, clearly. I just lost my phone. I can take care of myself despite what you and my brother think.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t take care of yourself.”
“You basically implied it,” she says back. Her hands are on her hips and she looks pissed.
“I worry about you, Kelsey. Getting a call like that had me fuming. What was I supposed to think? Did you tell anyone where you were going? Was there anyone looking out for you? Do you know how many Alphas would take advantage of a beautiful Omega out on her own?”
“That’s why I went to Sweet Nectar in the first place!” Her voice is loud and she’s frustrated.
“Just because they have security protocol in place doesn’t make it safe and you fucking know it. You can’t be reckless like this, Kelsey!”
“Reckless, you think I’m reckless! I’m just trying to have a life. Trying to work past everything that happened to me. You saw my darkest moment, Dom. How can you see me besides anything but pathetic?” She looks like she’s about to cry, and I want to die on the spot. I would never think about her in that way, and I would never want her to feel like I think she is pathetic or not a grown woman. How do I tell her it’s because I want to be the Alpha who takes her home? I want to be the one who protects her.
“Baby, no.” It slips out, and she looks at me like I have five heads. “I would never think of you as pathetic. Never, Kelsey. You were in a bad spot.” I scratch the back of my neck. “I don’t like you going to places like that by yourself. If you really want to go again, at least let me take you.”
“As what? Your best friend’s little sister?”
I gulp. I can’t do it. “As a friend, as someone who worries about you.”
She nods her head and looks out at the patio. “He seems nice,” she says.
“He is.”
“I’ll get my phone back from Emmett and call Sweet Nectar and let them know I’m okay.”
“Thank you. I’ll be checking in on you. You’re important to me, you’re important to Smith.”
“You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“Not yet.”
“Please don’t tell him. He’ll just quit his job and come home. That’s not what either of us needs right now.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Cameron comes back into the room. “Cameron?” Kelsey says.
“Yeah?”