Page 68 of Her Knotty Alphas

"I look forward to future successes. Now, I have to go take a shower before I go to work. I'd invite you to come with me, but I have a feeling that would just make me late." He presses one more kiss to my forehead before rolling out of the nest, leaving me staring dreamily after him.

"Austin, that was the best cinnamon roll I've ever had. I'm going to gain so much weight if I keep eating like this." I lean back, my hand on my full stomach. Austin just grins at me from his spot across the island and shakes his head.

"That'll just be more to love, darlin'." He winks at me, before going back to the cake he's mixing. "Mama always said the best way to show someone you care is to feed 'em. Noah was about ready to murder me about a week after he came to live with us." He chuckles, shaking his head at the memory.

"How old were you guys again?" I ask, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Fourteen," he says, his arms flexing as he whisks. He's not wearing a shirt under his apron and it's distracting as hell.Freckles cover almost every inch of available skin on his chest and arms, and I want to trace a path between them.

With my tongue.

"Eighth grade. Noah was a skinny little thing at the time, and while I'm not at liberty to say exactly what kinda demons he has goin' on, he was picked on a lot when he first moved in. I didn't know it was happenin' until I couldn't find him for the bus after school one day, and found a few kids taking shots at him in an empty classroom."

"Please tell me you kicked their asses," I gasp, my heart clenching at the thought of multiple teenagers ganging up on young Noah.

"Oh, I did," he sighs, putting his bowl down and leveling me with a look. "He wasn't happy about it either, said he 'had it handled'," he does air quotes and rolls his eyes, "so, I proposed a trade-off. My intelligence is always somethin' I've been self-conscious about, and my grades reflected that. I would help him ward off bullies, and he'd help me get my grades up. We've had each other's backs since."

"What happened when he presented?" I tap my nails on the island counter. "Surely, he didn't get picked on anymore."

"Oh, no, he did. If there's one thing country kids believe, it's once a 'weakling', always a 'weakling'. They just got more people involved and then it was me and him against the world. It's why I didn't mind so much, leaving Georgia Falls to come to California. Love my Ma and Pa, but the town is full of assholes. Pardon my language."

Before I tell him that I'm not going to faint if he says "assholes" in front of me, he looks up to meet my eyes. "Taste this for me." He gives me a small spoon of batter, and I take it, moaning as hints of lemon and vanilla hit my tongue.

"That's amazing. Who's that for?"

"One of Charlie's teammates has an omega who just gave birth and he asked me to whip them up something." My heart warms at the thought of Charlie asking Austin something like that. It's like they're a packoutsideof me as well, and while I might have imagined that would make me feel…sad, or threatened, I just feel glad that my alphas are forging their own brotherhood of sorts. I mean, these guys are going to be the fathers of my children. We should be a family outside of all of them fucking me.

"Do you like it when we ask you for stuff like that?" I ask, watching the way his honey brown eyes crinkle when he smiles.

"Of course I do. It's…well, I love doing it, and it's what I'm good at."

"You're good at a lot of things, Austin." I frown at him.

He snorts, shaking his head. "Yeah, like looking scary at bars so patrons behave themselves."

There's a smile in my voice. "You didn't look so scary when I first saw you." He glances up at me, amusement twinkling in his gaze.

"That's because you looked at me with those gorgeous eyes, darlin'." He winks at me. "I saw you from across the bar, dancing with that sinful body, and knew right then I was a goner." My cheeks flush with pleasure, it does something to me to hear my normally gentlemanly alpha talk about my body like that. "Speaking of," he says, pouring his batter into a cake pan. "I have a security shift at Club Voltz tonight."

Another shift at a club. I don't mind it, but I wonder if he's doing it because it makes him happy or because it pays the bills. "Austin?" His back is to me as he slides the pan in the oven, and when he turns to face me, his brow arched in question, it sends little butterflies into my belly. "If you could do anything you wanted for a job…and I meananything, what would it be?"

Austin's brow furrows in thought as he pulls off his oven mitts and unties his apron, laying it on the counter. "I think…" hewalks around the island until he's standing in front of me. "I think I'd open up my own bakery. Make cakes, breads, all sorts of things. Be a business owneranddo what I love."

"There's no reason you can't do that," I smile, standing on my tiptoes and wrapping my arms around his neck. He smiles into the kiss as his arms come around my waist, and he lifts me so I'm sitting on the island, him standing between my legs.

Then, he pulls back. "What would you do?" He leans forward so his hands are braced on the counter on either side of me, and his eyes are level with mine. "Would you still do hair if you could do anything you wanted?"

"Hmmm…" I tap my chin. "Maybe I could help you in your bakery. Though I would institute a 'no shirts in the kitchen' policy for you only." He lets out a little playful growl, making me giggle. "I actually think…if I could do anything, I'd stay at home with our kids…keep the house and all that."

Austin's brows shoot up, and I mentally curse myself.

I just mentioned kids.

I've only been living with them for aweek. I mean, yeah, things move ridiculously quick when there's a true scent match involved, but that's not off-hand, casual conversation.

"Forget I said that," I say quickly as I internally panic. "It's way too soon to be thinking about kids—"

"Don't you dare," Austin rumbles, leaning in close and kissing me. "Don't apologize for thinking of our future. I'd love to see you pregnant someday, stomach round with our babies."

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