Page 13 of Into the Fire: Before

“Yep!” Taryn answered with a chipper little bounce as she held her skateboard.

Oh. That kind of board.

I let out a small laugh of my own. “Oh, yes. Tell Tony he should watch his back for you.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know,” Taryn said, “I have a personal best of, like, fifteen seconds without losing my balance.”

Lin met my eye, and we both gave an identical amused chuckle. “Of course, Teacup. My mistake.”

“Apology accepted,” Taryn said before turning back toward the men. “So, I guess I’mnota boarder right now, but I think it’d be cool.”

“Why’s that?” Lin asked.

She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I dunno. Just seems fun.”

“And a little bit dangerous?” Lin replied.

“Oh no, not you too,” Taryn groaned, wiping her hand down her face.

Lin sat up straighter. “No, no, no. I just mean that that’s part of the appeal, isn’t it?” He gestured with his bottle toward the board. “It isn’t the skateboard itself you care about. So, whatdoyou care about?”

No, those eyes missed nothing.

Taryn bit her lip, the corners creeping up in a deliciously mischievous smile. “Haven’t you ever done something just to feel your heart beating in your chest?”

“Oh, I certainly hope to,” Brooks cut in with a velvety smooth voice and a sinful smirk that had my omega melting through the bond.

“I like being things an omega isn’t supposed to be,” Taryn continued. “Loud and rough and dirty. Do things that my gran and her cohort never got to.”

Lin’s smile was kind. “You’re close with your grandmother?”

Taryn nodded, her smile sad. “I was.”

The ominous past tense threatened to weigh us all down, Lin shifting with tension and myself keeping a close watch on the bond, looking for any sign of mounting distress. Because the absolute second she—

“You mentionedloudandroughanddirty,” Brooks said, slicing right through the heavy silence. “Just how loud, rough, and dirty are we talking, sweetness?”

Brazen, but earnest. It was impossible to be affronted by this shameless, beautiful beta. They were clearly attracted to us, and we were clearly attracted to them. With Taryn’s heat due in the not-too-distant future, at least we had some potential heat partners to approach. And on-site, to boot.

That certainly wasn’t part of the complex’s listed amenities.

Taryn shrugged, not missing a beat. “It would take the fun out of things to justtellyou, wouldn’t it?”

Brooks’ eyes were on fire as he watched my omega. Maybe it should’ve bothered me, but there wasn’t a jealous or possessive inkling anywhere in my gut. Just a warm satisfaction that he clearly saw the bright star that was my omega.

“How’s this for fun,” he said. “Let’s try to beat that personal best on the board, shall we?”

Taryn jumped up in glee, the two of them already heading for the more open part of the patio. I glanced to Lin and found him watching me with that gaze that saw too much. Without a word,he stood with his drink in one hand. The other, he held out to me. “There’s fun in watching, too.”

Heat erupted in my belly, my breath going shallow as I took his hand and stood, our eyes locked the whole time. A shock jumped between us as our skin made contact, and he automatically slid his fingers between mine and squeezed my hand. His warm touch was soft but solid. It feltright. In a way only Taryn ever had before.

That was almost more terrifying than the notion of my omega breaking her damned neck.

I swallowed as we made our slow way toward the other two.

“Fine, fine,” I called out toward her. “But don’t expect me to kiss your boo-boos if you hurt yourself.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, sweetness,” Brooks said, glancing back at us. “The doc is in and ready to take good care of you.”

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