46. Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Six

Jack

T he mirror is not my friend today. One black eye covered by my hair, I can deal with, but waking up to find the bruising has spread a little more and is making me look like death, well that sucks ass. Especially since I'm the one who had the stellar idea to offer Beth a job and invite her over for lunch.

"You look fine," Arrow tells me, when he catches me frowning at my reflection in the full-length that covers one of our closet doors.

I turn the death stare on him. "Don't lie to me."

He leans against the wall and stares right back. "You look like the Delta who fought an asshole to protect our future mate. That isn't off-putting in the slightest. In fact, if we weren't getting ready to have Beth over for lunch, I would be suggesting you lay down and let me help you forget about those bruises for a while."

I can help the smile that twitches my lips at Arrow's sweet words said in earnest.

"Feel better?" he asks, smiling back.

"You always know what to say to make me feel good," I admit, moving toward him.

"Gio should be back by now," he warns me, though I know he wouldn't protest too much if I decided we should have a little fun, even if it would make us late for lunch.

"He'll get here." I lean in and kiss his soft lips, taking the time to at least show my appreciation in the smallest physical way that I can.

Arrow tastes as good as his natural perfume smells.

It always hits hard and makes me ravenous for more.

I break the embrace after a few sweet minutes, knowing any longer would make it impossible to stop. He's already starting to perfume for me, his gaze darkening and his expression becoming needy with the first flushes of arousal.

"We need to act like brothers now," I remind him.

"That would make what I'm thinking about pretty scandalous," he murmurs.

I move back before I can be tempted into something more than a kiss.

"Save those scandalous thoughts for tonight."

He lets out a sigh. "I don't get why we're not just telling her the truth."

I smooth down my shirt and bite my tongue while I try to find the response that'll keep our Alphas' plans on track.

Having the same doubt as Arrow doesn't mean anything.

He's an impatient, impulsive Omega.

Of course he wants to tell Beth she belongs with us.

But Gio's spent the most time with her, and he doesn't think she can handle that information right now.

I respect that decision, even if it feels wrong to me.

"You don't get it, either," Arrow tells me, giving me a wry smile. "Don't tell me you do."

Right. He's also got that Omega intuition going for him.

I don't know why I thought I could hide my feelings.

He always senses them and calls me out.

"You were ready for mates when you met Gio and Enzo," I start. "That's why it happened so quickly."

"We were fated. Nothing could have stopped us from getting together."

"And I was beyond ready when I met you," I go on.

His smile broadens. "You could hardly believe your luck. Especially once you realized your connection wasn't just with me."

"Right, but I was ready like you were. I was open to it."

"You think Beth isn't?" he asks.

"I think she has an ex who's an asshole and I'd be surprised if that hasn't made her kind of wary about men in general."

He slumps against the wall.

It's a good point, we both know that.

I'm still not sure we shouldn't be telling her we're fated, but it isn't up to me how we handle this.

"Come on, we should be downstairs waiting when they get here."

I hold out a hand, and he nods as he pushes away from the wall.

"I don't think brothers hold hands," he tells me. "And they definitely don't check each other's butts out when they leave a room. Keep that in mind, before you decide where to look."

I'm speechless as he sashays out of the room, making sure his ass is exactly where my gaze is drawn. He knows how to make a point, that's for sure.

I can't help thinking today's charade is looking ropier than ever.

There's no way in hell Beth is going to believe Enzo's the only one who's mated to our Omega.

I let out a sigh as I follow Arrow across the apartment toward the door that leads down to the restaurant.