Page 21 of Small-Town Secrets
Gregory only stared at me, though, not moving at all. He hadn't expected me to take a stance, had he? Well, he'd beenwrong. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and returned his stare. Eventually, he lowered his fist.
I exhaled, all of the tension draining from my body. I'd done it. I hadn't shied away from an enraged alpha. And I hadn't gotten hurt. Not this time.
"I'll take the tablet in for repairs," Gregory muttered. "I'll let you know what they say. You better hope they can fix this!"
I only nodded as I watched my cousin go, feeling as if I'd just survived a natural disaster—and the next one followed right on its heels. My children rolled into the kitchen like a tsunami, Chris chasing Tyler around the kitchen island, both of them shouting at each other.
"Boys!" I tried to make myself heard over their argument—something about who owned the firetruck Chris was holding in his hands. They didn't even look at me. I sighed. I definitely had to find a way to become more assertive. Witheveryonein my life.
That thought stuck with me even as I finally unloaded my children at the gym.
"Be good," I told them, and they looked at me with wide eyes when I didn’t start driving away.
"You're not leaving, Daddy?"
"No, I'm watching you today. So make sure to bereallygood."
My boys looked at each other and then they raced off into the building.
When I entered the gym a minute later, I found myself alone with Aaron, since the children were all still changing. I felt a little bit awkward, but Aaron turned to me with a smile. "You came!"
The warm tone of his voice eased some of my tension. Was he actually pleased to see me? "The kids really wanted to come," I explained.
Aaron's smile grew brighter. "I really loved karate too when I was their age."
I nodded, because I remembered that, and because my throat suddenly got tight. Was he seeing some similarities between himself and the twins already? "I signed them up so they could burn off some excess energy, and so they could learn to defend themselves." The way their daddy couldn't. My mind flashed back to myconversationwith Gregory in the kitchen. What would have happened if hehadn'tlowered his fist?
"Something wrong?" Aaron asked and I noticed that I'd wrapped my arms around myself.
Shit.
The incident earlier had shaken me, but I hadn't wanted to come across like a scared omega. "Everything's fine," I said.
Aaron's gaze went to my arms even as I lowered my hands. I was glad that I had gotten into the habit of always wearing long sleeves now. My arms were not pretty when bare. Most of the scars I carried had been caused by Howard during the last years of our marriage, but not all of them. Some of them had been put there by my parents.
For the first time, I wondered if Aaron had seen them that one night.
He couldn't have. I'd turned off the lights for a reason.
"Maybeyoushould learn karate."
Aaron's suggestion caught me off guard.
I wanted to respond, but then the first children came strolling into the gym and I didn't really know what to say anyway. The way Aaron had said that almost sounded likehewanted to teach me.
If my throat had felt tight before it was on freaking lockdown now.
I couldn't let Aaron teach me. That would mean way too much time spent with each other. The plan here was to watch Aaron and figure out if and how I could tell him about the twins. How was I supposed to do that if I couldn't keep a clear head? And I knew myself well enough to know that I couldn't keep a clear head if I spent too much time in too close proximity to Aaron.
I didn't want to rely on an alpha ever again—it was bad enough that I had to live with my cousin—but watching Aaron now as he talked to the children... I remembered why I'd had the biggest crush on him, growing up.
For one, there was his smile. He didn't show it often, but when he did, his hotness always tripled—not an easy feat, considering he was already gorgeous, with his strong arms and his square jaw and his deep dark eyes. But the best thing about his smile was how confident it made him look. I'd always admired that about him. He looked like nothing could faze him.
In his presence, I often felt like I could be more confident as well.
That wasn't the only thing I liked about Aaron, though. I liked how despite his strength and his alpha genes, he was still kind. He could have been like the alphas in my family. He could have used his height and muscles to push weaklings like me around, but he never did.
One time, some bullies tore my pencil case apart when I was on the way home from school. When Aaron saw it and came to help me, they fled, even though it was three against one, not counting me. Everyone knew Aaron had a black belt—and big dogs at home. I was still miserable because I knew I was getting in trouble if I came home without my pencil case. Aaron bought me a new one.
