Page 2 of Omega's Refuge

He went back to eating sunflower seeds, rolling down the window so he could spit out the shells. “The important thing is we’re getting away for a bit. We need this time together, right?”

“Yes, but why’d you choose a dude ranch, of all places?” I tried not to sound accusing, but I was definitely disappointed. I’d hinted about going to Hawaii atleasta hundred times, but he’d decidedthiswas the right choice?

He shrugged. “You said you spent a summer on your grandfather’s ranch before high school.”

I frowned. “Yes, that’s true. But I also told you my grandfather was a homophobic jerk who almost ruined my summer vacation.”

He squinted at me. “Did you say that?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Steve. God, he was awful to me. How did you miss that part of the story?”

He wrinkled his brow. “I’d swear you sounded like you had fun that summer.”

I sighed. “I had fun riding horses. But overall, my grandfather made that summer torture. Hewas really hard on me. He thought I was too soft and that my parents had spoiled me. That summer certainly didn’t leave me with a good feeling about anything cowboy related. I told you all of that.”

“Did you?” Steve rubbed his jaw.

The fact that he hadn’t picked up on how unhappy that summer had been for me was typical of Steve. Not counting the cheating, his inability to listen to me was one of our biggest issues.

When I didn’t speak, he glanced over. “Are you mad?”

“I’m disappointed,” I said softly. “I feel like you don’t listen to anything I tell you. That makes me feel like you don’t really care about me.”

“Of course I do.” He reached out and squeezed my thigh. “I mean, I planned this whole trip for you—I mean, for us—so that we could have some fun. We need some fun, don’t you think? Things have been tough for us lately. I thought getting away from the city together would be just the thing we needed to start fresh.”

I met his gaze, and my heart squeezed because he looked so sincere. But I knew from experience, Steve was adept at putting on an act when needed. I hated that I suspected he had ulterior motives for taking me on this trip, but that was how much damage had been done to our relationship because of his lying and cheating.

“Come on, babe,” he said softly. “Don’t be a poor sport. It’ll be fun.”

“Fun?” I murmured softly. When was the last time Steve and I had fun? I couldn’t even remember. When we’d merely been friends, we’d had good times, but once we were in a relationship, things had changed.

“I know things have been strained between us,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s why I suggested we go to counseling.”

He sighed. “Therapy doesn’t work. Everybody knows that.”

I scrunched my face. “I don’t think everybody knows anything of the kind. Therapy definitely can help people work through issues.”

“Well, I have no interest in telling some stranger our personal business. Besides, a vacation is way cheaper and more fun than relationship counseling, right?”

“Counseling isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to help fix what’s wrong.”

He exhaled. “Yeah, yeah. I know. But, we’ve known each other forever, Tanner. We don’t need a fucking therapist to psychoanalyze us. I think if we can relax, and have a really good time together, we’ll be just fine.”

“Maybe.” I had my doubts. Yes, relaxing and having fun together was a great thing, but it wouldn’t necessarily fix my trust issues. I stilldidn’t understand why Steve had cheated to begin with. I’d thought things had been going fine between us, but then I’d discovered the text messages from other omegas, and used condoms in his car.

He squeezed my thigh. “You’re so tense, babe.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I’m definitely tense. I have many reasons for that.”

“You mean because you lost your job?”

“I didn’t lose my job, the contract just ended.”

He nodded. “Sure, but that still means you need to find another job. I’m sure the strain of that is huge.”

“It’s on my mind, yeah.” I glanced at him. “But most of my strain comes from what happened with those other omegas.”

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