60. Resa

Chapter 60

Resa

G arrison throws his head back and laughs.

I forget about the flare of pain from stepping on the stupid sharp edge of a puzzle as Garrison pulls me into his arms. I have never seen him laugh like that before.

Vaughn said a beautiful woman with a knife in her hand was a weakness of his. Garrison laughing from his gut is a weakness of mine.

Then he buries his hand in my hair, slanting his mouth over mine in a lush kiss, and I discover a new weakness. Garrison Brewster knows how to kiss every brain cell out of my head.

Footsteps pound down the stairs as we come up for air.

"I thought I heard… Resa !"

I'm in Vaughn's arms as he lifts me, hugging me.

"You came back!" His grin isn't that of a spoiled kid on Christmas morning. It's waking up to the never imagined it would ever in a million years happen dream present.

"I might have missed you. Just a little," I say, hugging him back.

Then I spot Blaine in the doorway and my smile fades. I'd hug him too, but Blaine doesn't do hugs. "Maybe it was a little more than that. Hi, Blaine."

"Hi." He smiles. "We missed you too."

"Uh, what's going on with the painting?" I ask as I pull away from Vaughn.

Frost let me into the house when I'd told him I'd wanted to surprise Garrison, Vaughn, and Blaine. I'd walked into a mansion that smelled of paint fumes.

"We decided to work on a few projects," Garrison says.

"Like?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "Another time. Let's take this somewhere else. We've been painting a lot, and you shouldn't be inhaling all these fumes."

I raise my brow as Vaughn laces his fingers with mine. "And you shouldn't be falling asleep inhaling them."

A new expression softens Garrison's hard features. "You sound worried."

I look him in the eye. "Do I? Maybe that's because I am."

He dips his head, claiming a sweet kiss.

I pull away when I recall what I did. "I shouldn't have kissed you without permission. You thought you were asleep and?—"

"Resa," he gently interrupts. "You always have permission to kiss me."

The intensity in his gaze makes me look away. "I have some stuff I need to say."

Vaughn tugs. "Outside. It's a beautiful night in the garden and there are no fumes out there. Want me to carry you?"

I aim a reluctant smile his way. "You're always trying to carry me."

His kiss is a deeper one than Garrison's, but I lean into it just the same. "Hold you, bloodthirsty omega. The correct terminology is I always want to hold the woman I love in my arms."

Tears clog my throat, and I blink rapidly. If I don't gain control of myself—and of this moment—I won't say what I need to say.

"Resa?" Vaughn is concerned. They all look concerned.

I don't know why it took me so long to see what was right in front of me, and I nearly didn't see it at all. What if Henry hadn't met Emily? What if I'd walked away from Pack Lucas and I'd lost them forever?

"The garden." I lead the way outside, but two steps later, grind to a halt when I remember what happened out there. "Wait. Is it?—"

"It's safe." Vaughn assures me.

"We cut that tree down. No one is scaling it to point anything into our backyard again," Garrison says tightly.

I search his expression and shrug off my unease as we continue out to the garden.

Just as Vaughn said, it is a beautiful night, with the moon reflecting its glow over the pool where the pink flamingo float is hanging out. I still need to ask Garrison to tell me the story of that, and I will soon. Once I've worked myself up to say what I came here to say.

Beside the pool house, I slip my hand from Vaughn. I look at the three men who have come to mean so much to me, and I don't know how to tell them what I feel. "Um…"

Blaine walks over to the pool house, takes a seat on the grass near the sliding door and looks at me. "Resa?"

I walk over and sit beside him. Garrison remains standing as Vaughn drops beside me, taking my hand and squeezing it.

I return Vaughn's hand squeeze, but I don't take my eyes off Blaine when he says, "Not everyone has the courage you have."

I snort. "That's where you're wrong. I don't have courage."

Blaine shakes his head. "That's where you are wrong. From the first day you walked through our front door, you've faced down the things that scare you with more courage than I've ever seen before. I don't think there's anything you can't do."

A sudden gust of wind whips through the garden, blowing hair into my face.

"It sounds like you think pretty highly of me." I move to tuck a strand behind my ear.

His eyes are on my cheek, and I hold my breath as he stretches his hand toward me. His touch is brief. Too brief. "There's a lot I can't do. But I keep hoping you've infected me with some of that courage you have. Maybe I'll get a little closer to the man I was before one day." His eyes find mine. "And maybe I'll learn to change the things I can. Like you."

I wish I could take his pain and make it my own. "Something that I thought was impossible happened when I left you."

"What thing was that?" Blaine asks.

"I fell in love with an alpha. Not because he is my scent match. Because he means everything to me and life isn't the same without him."

"Does this alpha have a name?" Blaine's voice is soft.

"He might." I look at him then. I want to touch him, but I keep my hands to myself because touch for so long was something that hurt him and I would never want to hurt him. "It's you."

He smiles, sweetly, but relieved. Happy. And he lifts his hand again, his fingers grazing my jaw in a brief caress. "I love you too, Resa."

"And might there be any of that love left for me?" Vaughn's question is quiet. Unsure.

I turn to the man who has made it his mission to make me smile, damn near killing himself juggling deadly throwing stars in the attempt.

He must have worried for years that Garrison and Blaine would find their scent match and she wouldn't want him as much as she wanted them.

But that scent match is me and I want Vaughn just as much.

For him, touch isn't something that hurts. It's something he craves. So I kiss him. "There is more than a little love. I love you, Vaughn."

Garrison doesn't say a word, but I don't think he ever says what he needs.

After squeezing Vaughn's hand, I get to my feet and stand in front of Garrison. "I didn't think I knew how to love alphas. I thought I only knew how to hate them."

"Is it something you can do? Loving me? Loving us ?" Garrison asks.

I step closer, rise to my tiptoes and I kiss him. "It is. Because I do."

He winds his arms around me, holding me.

I'm breathing in his scent when Blaine cradles the back of my head with one hand. "I wish I could love you the way you need."

"You—"

"No," he gently interrupts me. "I can't." His eyes flick to Garrison's, then Vaughn's, before returning to me. "But maybe soon. I'll see you in the morning."

I don't want to ask him to stay if he's already at his limit of what he can take. I want to touch him, want him to touch me . But if he's not ready, I can wait. I will wait.

So I smile instead of asking him to stay.