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“No, thanks. I do havesomedignity.” I sit back straight and take a sip of my water.
“Maybe next time.” He weaves his fingers through mine and kisses my knuckles as he keeps my gaze, making my pheromones flare at the desire in them. “We should probably go home soon, before you fall asleep.”
“Possibly.” Going home sounds like a good idea. Not so much to sleep, but more because it’s quiet there and we won’t have to worry about what other people see or do.
Next to me, Riley stands up. “On that note, I have a very early meeting tomorrow morning. So, I’ve got to be going. It was very nice to meet all of you today, and I hope you’ll have a great rest of your evening.”
She meets my gaze, softly smiling. “Sleep tight. I’m sure we’ll see each other again later this week.”
“What about tomorrow evening, dinner at my place? Jorge will send you the address.” Mathew’s voice sounds calm, but his hand in mine is tight. He’s finally got an opening to ask her, and it’s making him nervous.
Cute!
Riley glances at Jorge and then at Caleb before she looks at Mathew. She’s not as tense as before around him and they’ve actually had some nice conversations. Which I guess is good progress from how they were a couple of hours ago.
Then her gaze lands on me, and she smiles softly before she answers him. “Sounds good. What time?”
“Around seven?”
“I’ll be there.” She nods and softly puts her hand on my shoulder, managing to touch both me and Mathew at the same time, sending electricity through my body. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” I manage to say as I tingle all over. I want to get up and hug her, insist that she comes home with us tonight, but that’s not the plan. I’ll only have to wait until tomorrow to see her again, that’s not too long, that’s doable.
On the other side of the table, Jorge also stands up. “I’ll walk you to your car.” He glances at Mathew, who gives him a slight nod before Jorge makes his way to the door.
“Thanks.” Riley leaves the room and, as the door closes behind them, a whine starts in my chest.
Surprised, I put my hands over my mouth, my body going cold in embarrassment.
Fuck.
That’s never happened before. But then, I’ve never been apart from a scent matched Alpha after meeting them but before bonding with them.
The first couple of weeks that I was with Caleb, before bonding with him, we were never apart for more than a few minutes at a time. With Jorge, I bonded with him within hours of meeting him.
And with Mathew —even though he’s an Omega and our bond is different— we were never far apart, he was only a few rooms away from me at most. Never more than that.
But we won’t see Riley again until tomorrow evening. She’ll be out there, in the world, and I won’t have a clue what might happen to her until I see her again.
Another whine starts up, more intense this time.
Mathew pulls me into his lap, tucking my head under his chin, against his chest. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” His voice isn’t a whine, but the way it vibrates in his chest is very close to one.
I don’t know if it’s because of my reaction or because he can’t be apart from Riley either, but it makes the pain in my chest worse.
“It’s all going to be okay.” Caleb rubs his hand over my back, releasing calming pheromones.
I feel strange. I don’t like this at all. I don’t want to let her go.
How did Mathew do this for years? How could he let Jorge leave in the morning? How did he manage without breaking down?
I want to run after Riley, catch up with her, insist that she comes home with us right now. But I know that I can’t.
Not tonight.
I’ll only have to wait a day.
I’m strong enough for that, right?