Page 94 of Our Deceptive Heat

She simply leans up, kissing me softly. “I need to go and meet with Tara.”

“Fuck Tara,” I snap immediately, but I let her up. She disappears into the bathroom, and a moment later, the shower turns on. Washing away our scent. Hiding the truth beneath floral perfumes that erase natural scents.

I hate it.

I wander in and sit on the bathroom cabinet while she’s in the shower.

“What are you meeting up with Tara over?”

“The song choice and the branding for the band. It’s clashing.” Ryn continues her shower but flashes me a smile that doesn’t reassure me like it should.

“That’s because her song sucks.”

Ryn laughs. “It is appalling.”

I grunt and slip into the shower with her. “Let me wash your back.”

She presses up against me, all slippery and wet, kisses me, and then slips back, escaping my hold.

“Aura,” I whine.

She waves at me and leaves the bathroom.

I huff and wash myself quickly, but by the time I get out of there, she’s gone.

I stand there, staring at the bed. I’m smiling the way I did when we first found our omega. When we were all happy.

Are we happy again?

Yes.

Why isn’t she?

Panic twists at me. I remember the last time I saw her on the street after she’d ghosted us. The feeling when her phone went to voicemail. I remember the silence. The days stretching into more days without her. Worrying, fretting, mourning.

Why does it feel like that again?

What if she disappears? What if she’s gone? That panic, that absolute surety that I won’t survive, it has me yanking my phone off the counter and dialing her number.

“Please, please, please. Just answer. Please,” I whisper. I knuckle my eyes, getting rid of the tears that are blindly me, but I can’t stop the cold chill that takes over me and this certainty that she just said goodbye.

“Digs? What’s wrong?” she says in a rush.

“Hi,” I say softly. I swallow the tears that are choking me. “I just missed your voice.”

She laughs. “Did you miss me already? It’s only been a minute.”

“Always.” I clear my throat, trying to force the words out calmly, but they explode out in a rush. “Ryn, just don’t leave, okay? When you disappeared last time, I felt like I was going to die. We all did. I don’t think you know how much we needed you. So just, don’t go. All right?”

She’s silent.

“Just please, don’t go. I can’t survive it again.”

“Dillon-”

I press the heel on my hand to my forehead, trying to stop the tears.

“I love you, Dillon. I’m not going anywhere. Digs, please, you’re breaking my heart. Stop crying. It’s going to be fine. I’m not leaving. I was just going to see Tara, but she can wait.”

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