Page 25 of Omega's Forbidden Heat
The woman throws a knowing look Finn’s way, and Amy wishes she hadn’t asked.
“Long story,” Finn says, and the woman giggles. Jack taps Finn on the shoulder and hands him a pint. Finn raises it straight to his lips. Then, keeping his head turned from Amy, Jack hands her a drink, careful it seems not to let his fingers touch hers. Finn lowers his glass and holds it out to Jack. “Cheers, mate.”
Jack taps his own glass against Finn’s. “Cheers.”
“This is Rebecca, Jack,” Finn says, “Rebecca, this is Jack.”
“Hi,” Jack says, one hand still buried in his jean pocket, the other clutching his beer.
“Ahh.” Rebecca smiles. “The famous Jack. I’ve heard about you.”
Jack nods. “I think I’ve heard about you too.”
Amy looks between them. She’s certainly never heard of Rebecca before. Perhaps Jack is just being polite. Rebecca says something to Finn that she can’t hear and gradually the two of them drift away, leaving her with the Alpha.
Jack won’t look at her. He stares away into space, every now and then taking a long gulp of his beer.
“You and Finn used to come here, didn’t you, back in the old days? I remember you talking about it. I remember you coming home wasted from this place.”
“That feels like a lifetime ago.” Jack takes another gulp. “This place is a dive.”
She laughs. “Jack, it’s always been a dive. But the music is good.”
“It makes me feel ancient. It’s full of kids.”
“You’re hardly an old man.”
“Yeah, but half this lot look like they aren’t old enough to be in here, like they’ve nicked their older brother’s ID to get in.”
“Probably — you and Finn used to come when you were 16, 17.”
“That was all your brother’s idea. He was forever persuading me to do shit, making it sound like a wonderful idea.” His mouth hovers above the rim of his glass. “Then afterwards, I’d think ‘what the fuck did I let him convince me for’.”
“Looks like you’re still a sucker for that.”
His eyes flick to hers. “What do you mean?”
“He’s dragged you along here tonight, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah, and it looks like he only wanted to come for that girl.”
“Anyway, you’re not the only one who falls for his charm. He used to talk me into loads of shit too.” She tilts her head to one side and draws her hair over one shoulder and his eyes follow the movement from under his brow. “He once convinced me to jump off the roof of the shed and onto the trampoline. He said he would do it straight after me, but that I needed to go first because he was heavier. I was scared out of my mind, but somehow he made me believe if I jumped from that height I’d bounce so high I’d touch the clouds. I nearly broke my leg. Mum saw me do it from the kitchen window and he got grounded for like a week.” She giggles. “It was worth it though. I remember being so frightened my knees were knocking but Finn counted me down and the jump was such a rush.” She can still feel the wind sweeping through her hair and her stomach firing up into her chest. And the expression of deep admiration on her big brother’s face.
Jack shakes his head and the corners of his mouth creep upwards. She’s going to make him smile if it kills her. He’d smiled at her through the mottled window of the utility room, his grin wide as he laughed. It had seemed like some strange warping of time, peering backwards through the years and into the face of the old Jack. He is truly beautiful when he smiles, his entire face lighting up and the blue of his eyes shining, and she wants to see it again and again.
“What did he talk you into? I remember that time your mum called our house in the middle of the night because you were missing and then we found Finn was missing too.”
His eyes flick up and to the side and she can tell he’s searching for the memory. “Oh yeah. We were going ghost hunting in the woods. Your brother decided we should sneak out at midnight. We got up onto the Down and then we literally shit our own pants. Freaked ourselves right out. What with the owls hooting and the foxes yapping.”
She laughs again. “Finn looked like he’d seen a ghost when dad dragged him home. I thought it was because he knew he was in deep trouble. I never realised he just got scared.”
“You ever been out in the woods on your own? It’s creepy.”
She holds his eye, grinning. “It is not.”
“Oh, you’re brave, are you?”
“We grew up in the country, you can’t be scared of that stuff.”
