Page 16 of The Omega's Secret Baby
No, because he wasEli.With his bright eyes and his kind smile and all his fierce ambitions that defied everything I'd been taught about omegas.
And I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him after we'd parted. How had he turned into a source of gossip?
I exhaled and watched the air puff out of my mouth like smoke. It was ten past nine.
Was he really coming?
Well, if he was, I would be here waiting.
I stuck my hands into my pockets to keep them warm.
It took a couple more minutes until I saw someone approach under the park lights in the distance. Someone with a dog.
I smiled, and walked toward Eli.
“I'm sorry,” he said in greeting. “I got held up by a boy who wanted to show me every page of his new comic book.”
“It's fine,” I said while Fiona happily sniffed my leg. “I'm just happy you could make it at all. I was beginning to worry.”
“It was a pretty thick comic book.”
I had to chuckle. “The woes of a parent, I assume. Should we walk a bit?”
“Yeah, let's. We'll get cold if we don't.”
I licked my lips to keep from speaking, because part of me wanted to offer him some helpwarming up.
“What is it that you wanted to talk about?” He asked, cutting right to the chase once we'd walked a few feet.
“Well,” I started. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”
He gave a short laugh that sounded anything but amused. “You could say that.”
“I was wondering how you’ve been doing.”
“I’m a single parent and I work at the shelter. I live with my brother. There’s really not much more to say.” And by his tone of voice, he didn’t seeminclinedto say more either.
“Forgive me for saying this, but you don’t seem happy.” He couldn’t be. Not if I knew him at all. And I liked to think that I’d gotten to know him pretty well in the time we’d spent together. We’d only had a few months, but they’d been the most intense months of my life.
He gave me a wry smile. “I’m a parent.Myhappiness is not what concerns me the most. But you don’t have to worry about me. I mean, it’s kind of sweet that you do, but I’m fine.”
“I guess I have no choice but to believe you.” I took a deep breath, inhaling the night air, the smell of snow, and Eli’s scent—which took me right back to a younger, bolder version of myself. “What would you do if I kissed you right now?”
Eli stopped and looked at me wide-eyed. “Are you serious? You show up here after eight years and suddenly you want to kiss me?”
The way he said it made it sound like I had done something wrong. Like I’d hurt him, by my absence or by ending things. “We had an agreement eight years ago. You were on board with it,” I reminded him. I had never lied to him about the direction our non-relationship was going. Not once.
“I know that!” But the way he looked at me let me know that he didn’t care what our agreement had been. He’d still ended up hating it in the end.
The same way I had.
We’d been so stupid.
I could see that now, but maybe now was too late. I left Eli to marry a woman I didn’t care for all that much, and even though that marriage was over, the damage had been done.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
Eli started walking again, and the dog looked at me in confusion until I followed. “It’s fine,” Eli said, and that word convinced me about as much as the last time he’d used it a few minutes ago.
