Page 81 of Knot in Bloom
“The viewing is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon,” Caleb continues. “Just the three of us—she’s too stressed with festival prep to think about houses right now.”
“Plus there are other buyers interested,” Levi adds. “We need to move fast if we want it.”
My chest tightens with something that might be relief. After weeks of careful maneuvering and polite territorial dancing, we’re finally talking about this directly.
“I want in,” I say without hesitation. “I can cover the full purchase price if needed. Money isn’t an issue.”
“Good,” Caleb says with satisfaction. “We’re all in agreement then.”
“The house has good bones,” Levi adds. “Room to grow. Space for everyone to have what they need.”
“Including a proper nesting room for Sadie,” Caleb adds, and his expression grows soft with memory. “You should have seen how her eyes lit up when she saw it. She could picture our whole future there.”
The way he describes it makes something warm bloom in my chest. Sadie looking at a house and seeing all of us there together, building something permanent and real.
“So we’re doing this,” I say. “All of us, together.”
“We’re doing this,” Caleb confirms. “But we’re keeping it quiet until after the festival. She’s got enough stress right now without us adding house-buying pressure to the mix.”
“Agreed.” Though the thought of waiting to see her reaction when we tell her makes me impatient. “When do we tell her?”
“When the festival’s over and she can actually process what we’re offering,” Levi says. Then he holds up the wilted flower, studying it with the same attention he gives rare books. “Speaking of being honest about what we’re offering... Reid, what exactly is all this?”
He gestures around the room, and I realize there’s no avoiding this conversation anymore.
Heat floods my face. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”
Levi sets down the dead flower carefully. “These are all from Sadie’s shop. Every week for the past few weeks.”
“The business meetings,” Caleb says slowly, understanding dawning in his expression. “There are no business meetings, are there?”
“No.” The admission comes out like a confession. “There are no business meetings.”
The room falls silent. I brace myself for judgment, mockery, the kind of territorial posturing that happens when alphas discover deception in pack dynamics.
Instead, Levi leans back in his chair with something that looks almost like admiration. “You’ve been buying flowers you don’t need just to see her.”
“And keeping them because I couldn’t figure out how to transition from fake business to real feelings without sounding like a complete stalker.” I gesture helplessly at the evidence surrounding us. “I know how this looks.”
“It looks like someone who’s completely gone for our omega,” Caleb says simply. “And doesn’t know how to handle it.”
“You’re not angry?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
“Why would we be angry?” Levi asks. “You found a way to spend time with her that made her happy and supported her business. The method might be unconventional, but the feelings are real.”
“Except now I’m lying to her face every week,” I point out.
Caleb’s expression grows more serious. “That part needs to stop. She deserves honesty from all of us.”
“I know.” The shame sits heavy in my chest. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell her without sounding pathetic.”
“You tell her the truth,” Levi says gently. “That you fell in love and didn’t know how to ask for what you wanted. That the flowers were real even if the meetings weren’t.”
“She might understand better than you think,” Caleb adds. “Sadie’s not exactly conventional herself when it comes to expressing feelings.”
After they leave, promising to call about finalizing the house purchase, I sit among my dying flowers and think about truth and lies and the weight of secrets. Tomorrow I’ll tell her everything. No more fake meetings, no more elaborate deceptions.
Just the truth about a man who fell in love and didn’t know how to say so.
