Page 42 of Coco and the Misfits (The Candyverse #4)

COCO

W hen Zach appears next at my door, I almost laugh out loud.

“Hey, Coco.” He smiles, looking very debonair as he leans against the wall, his golden hair tousled, cheeks flushed. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, come in. Come and tell me your tragic backstory.”

He frowns, stepping into my apartment. “Beg your pardon?”

“The reason why you pushed me away. Did you abandon your pack and have been carrying the guilt ever since, like Atticus? Or is it the guilt of causing your parents’ death like Ryder?”

“What?” His eyes go round. “You’re not serious.”

“You three,” I mutter, unaccountably angry, “banded together to pretend you were courting me for some reason but didn’t sit to talk to each other? Didn’t try to get to know each other? Why doesn’t it surprise me? Such a male, macho thing to do.”

“Damn…” He’s rubbing the back of his neck. “You are serious.”

I throw my purse into a corner and stomp into the living room. “You wanted to talk. All of you want to talk now. When I wanted to talk, you shut me out!”

“You’re right.”

Turning around, I confront him. He steps close to me, too close, and putting my hands on that washboard stomach, I give him a shove. “I know I’m right!”

“Good,” he says softly, “shove me, hit me. Hit me like I showed you to hit, girl. I deserve it.”

“No.” I shake my head and step away. “Sit. Tell me your story. I want to know.”

“My story… I don’t have one.”

I lift my brows. “No excuses then? For running away from me twice and then ignoring me?”

“I’m so fucking sorry for that.” He hangs his head, looking like a punished puppy. Okay, a tall, muscular, golden puppy. “I don’t have a story, but I have my reasons.”

“Oh, great.”

“And I’ll tell you what they were. It’s just… embarrassing.”

Dammit, I’m intrigued again. I sit down on the sofa. “Embarrassing?”

His cheeks flush red. “It makes me look… immature.”

Now I want to laugh. He looks genuinely distressed about it and at the same time, he looks damn cute. “Tell me.”

“But—”

“You came here to tell me about it, right?”

“Fuck, it’s true.” He huffs a breath of a laugh. “I came to debase myself to you, tell you my little story and crawl on my knees to you.”

I blink. “You did?”

“So here I am.” Gracefully, he goes down on his knees and actually… crawls toward me. Like a tiger. A golden lion. He crawls until he reaches me, then sits back on his heels. “Coco… I’m so fucking sorry.”

Damn, it’s not fair. He’s so handsome. All I can do is stare at his face, so close I could just lean forward and kiss his mouth.

“You still haven’t given me any excuses,” I whisper and swallow hard, trying to break the spell he has on me, the warmth from his body so close to mine, practically between my legs, and the warmth his apology is bringing. “I’m waiting.”

He puffs out a breath. “Come down.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Come on.” He grabs my hand, tugs on it. “Get down.”

Frowning at him, I let him pull me down to the rug beside him. “What are we doing down here?”

He moves my hand to his crotch. “Can you feel this?”

“Zach!” My face is burning, and my core is clenching. I can’t believe my hand is on his cock. “It’s… hard?” I offer.

He snorts. “Most definitely.”

“And…” I slide my hand down toward the base. “Your knot is swollen.”

He winces and I snatch my hand away. “Yeah.”

“Sorry,” I breathe.

“Don’t be.”

“Does it hurt?” I ask.

“Yeah, because every time I meet you, I pop a knot. Like clockwork.” His eyes crinkle at the corners with his smile.

“You see, I’ve always known that I want you.

That I like you. More than like you. But my body decided to prove to me I actually need you.

That it agrees with my mind and decided to shove my face into it.

Stop waffling about, it says. She is the one.

This is the time. Stop being a coward. You’re an adult.

Stop being fucking afraid of commitment. ”

Aw, my heart. “Zach…”

“Look,” Zach says, eyes blue like the sky and just as wide, “I never had a real relationship, never thought I needed one, but when I met you… that changed.”

Here is the speech, I think, similar to the speech the other two gave me, but looking into Zach’s pretty eyes, I feel again that tug, that note of sincerity, that hope.

But can I trust it?

* * *

“All three of them, coming to beg forgiveness?” Brinlee’s eyes are wide. “Wow.”

“One after the other, too,” Gigi mutters. “In a matter of days.”

“This is sus,” Ruby says. “ Girl .”

Sophie, Sawyer’s alpha friend, takes a delicate sip of her black coffee. “And what did you decide? I mean, in my humble opinion, one out of three crawling on their knees isn’t enough. You need them all crawling.”

“True, that,” Gigi agrees. “That wasn’t enough crawling and begging, in my opinion.”

“Let them grovel,” Brinlee says. “Let them weep.”

She and Gigi clink coffee mugs and giggle.

I haven’t told them about Ryder’s tragic story or Atticus’ sad one, of course. Not even Zach’s embarrassing one. That one… I hide a smile. An alpha in a rut for me. I never thought it possible.

A vestigial body function, which, however, means he wants to knot me.

My frilly, pink omega heart is bursting at the seams.

“What should I do?” I ask the girls. “Make them grovel—and? Can I believe them? Can I trust them? And how can I choose?”

“Spend time with them, separately, of course,” Gigi says. “Get to know them. Then you decide. Unless you don’t really want them.”

“I do want them. And they fought for me,” I whispered. “Saved me from those…” I shiver. “Those men.”

“Those weren’t men, they were animals,” Gigi all but growls.

“Cookie points for your alphas,” Brinlee agrees. “They are good guys. But that’s not the question.”

“They were there for her. Saved her. Fought for her.” Gigi frowns. “That’s more than cookie points. That’s some serious interest. And if she wants them…”

“So what is your vision?” Brinlee asks. “That she has three separate relationships? That can exhaust a person. And that’s if they agreed to it.”

“Hey. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I shake my head. “I’ve always wanted a pack. I don’t think I could be with three men separately.”

This sucks…

Gigi looks ready to say something more, but Sawyer appears at our table. “Hey, girls. You all look way too serious.”

A nervous snicker escapes me. “Hey, friend. How is the pack?”

“The pack is good.” He smiles, then nods at me. “Remember when you asked me to verify Ryder’s story?”

“Ryder’s story?” Brinlee’s brows arch. “Is this code for something?”

“It’s nothing,” I rush to say.

“Hey, he’s in on this?” Gigi glares. “He knows more than us? I call foul.”

“Why wouldn’t I know more than you?” Sawyer sticks his tongue out at her. “Are you discriminating against males now?”

“Come here, Sawyer, baby.” Sophie opens her arms. “Haven’t seen you lately. Your pack is keeping you busy.”

“Which is a good thing, right?” Brinlee hums. “Us keeping him busy.”

“Definitely.” Ruby gives Sawyer a long hug, while I’m trying to contain myself, waiting for Sawyer to tell me what he has found out. “You look good.”

“Thanks, hon, so do you.” He turns to me, deciding to put me out of my misery. “His story checks out, unfortunately. Or fortunately, as that means he told you the truth.”

Oh God. That’s terrible. I had hoped it wasn’t true, though knowing he actually bared his soul to me warms me to my toes. “Thanks for checking.”

“Any time.” He winks. “Any other real-life tales you want me to research?”

“No, I’m… I’m good.” I look up to find the girls watching me. “Really. It’s like you guys said. If I like those alphas and find the excuses for their bad behavior convincing, then I should spend time with them. Get to know them better.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Gigi lifts her mug. “Cheers.”

“You can do that,” Sawyer says and grins, “but I know that look in your eyes, Coco. You’re hooked already. Gone.”

Great. He’s right. So what now?

The girls are right. The alphas want me now? They want me back? Then they’d better drop to their knees and I might think about it.

Emphasis on ‘might’ because see rule number two: find mates who love you, and indeed love you the way you are. Don’t settle for less.

And they had better show me.