Page 58 of Omega's Forbidden Heat
“You should go back in if you’re cold. Back to the dance. I’m sure Tod has given up by now.”
She shakes her head. “No, I like it out here … with you.”
He stares at her as if he’s trying to understand the meaning behind her words. His eyes are midnight blue in the darkness, but just as intense, just as magic. He lifts his arm and motions with his fingers. “Come here then. I’ll warm you up.”
She scoots along the step, her heart flitting in her chest and snuggles up against his hard, warm body. She’s noticed how good he smells and up close that smell is even better, and the feel of his arm tucked around her will be something she knows she’ll dream about for years to come.
He holds her close, brushing his hand over her arm, and her skin goosebumps from his touch.
She’d like him to kiss her and she senses he’d like to do it, but there’s an unwritten rule hanging in the air that says he can’t. She’s only just turned 15 and he is 18. And then there’s her brother and what he’d say. Her parents too.
This she understands is as much as she can have for now.
But maybe, maybe in the future, she can have more.
* * *
Present
“Have you spoken to him yet?” She swivels in her car seat to examine Finn.
The fan works overtime in the car, spewing out warm air as they weave their way home through the barren Downs.
“Who?”
She crosses her arms and flops back a little in the seat. She’s pushed it all the way back so that she can keep her leg straight in the footwell.
“You know who. Jack.”
“No,” Finn says, yanking on the gear stick.
“Why not?”
“What is it you exactly want me to talk to him about, Amy?”
“You tell me. The air between you still feels wrong. I don’t want to be the cause of that.”
He mutters something under his breath.
“You know this is happening,” she continues.
“I know,” he answers, “but I still don’t like it.”
“Even after all that’s happened?”
He yanks the gear stick a second time and she’s forced to grab for the handrail as he swerves the car too violently around a bend.
“It’s going to end in disaster.”
“Why? What do you think will happen?”
“You’ll give him your heart, Amy. You can’t help it. You always love so hard. It won’t last , it will break you in two and you’ll be left all alone.” He swings his head to meet her gaze and then she sees it, then she understands. She’d been so messed up in her own grief when they’d sent Jack away, she’d never really considered the impact on her brother. She’d been blind to it, but now she sees it clear as day. The heartbreak, the loneliness at losing his best friend.
“You won’t lose him again,” she promises. “Whatever happens, you’ll always be friends. I’m not going to steal him away from you.”
He’s quiet for a long time staring at the road ahead and she reaches down and squeezes his hand on the gear stick.
“You’re not the only one I’m worried about, Amy,” he whispers. “He’s been through a lot. You can’t go in all guns blazing like you do, and then walk out on him when you’re bored and tired of it all. You’ll devastate him. If you’re doing this, it has to be for the long run.”
