Page 42 of Knot Enough (Fruity Omegas #1)

L ydia

It was strange. I should be wanting to cry my eyes out with relief.

My scent match wants me back. They want to try again.

I should have felt happy that they realized they did something wrong, but I don’t.

I couldn’t care less. During Connor’s pathetic attempt at an apology, I found myself wanting to go back home to Gabriel and the others.

I even bit Graham in the end. I didn’t miss the Jameson pack like I did when they first rejected me.

In fact, his scent barely stirred anything in me.

It didn’t have the same effect on me when they courted me.

“You okay?” Graham asked from above me. I could feel his hand tracing circles around my back.

He wanted me to sleep in his bed without the others.

It helped that the trio was a bit preoccupied with each other when we got back.

I didn’t want to intrude on them, and I did want to spend more time with Graham while I could anyway.

“Yeah, just thinking about last night with Connor,” I admitted, rolling onto Graham’s chest to look at him. Both his hands went to my waist, where one of his sweaters covered the boxers he gave me. Graham’s eyes darkened slightly.

“Do you regret rejecting him?” He asked softly. He tried hiding how much he didn’t like the idea, but I could feel the faint rumble of a growl in his chest.

“No, I don’t regret it, but what do you think he meant when he said ‘we will discuss this later’?” I asked. Graham started to twirl one strand of my hair in his fingers.

“I have no idea. I don’t think it’s a good thing, but we can’t do anything about it now.

” He replied. I hummed at his words, agreeing with him.

“But we’ll get through it together.” He continued, pulling my chin up to look at him.

We stared into each other's eyes. Neither of us moved or said a thing.

“Why do you smile all the time?” I asked. I wondered what event caused him to turn out this way, or if he was always this man. He blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered.

“Well, it’s not a happy story. Do you still want to hear it?

” He asked, rubbing his thumb across my cheek.

I nodded. He sighed and pulled me closer, so we could hold each other.

“One of my dads was a happy-go-lucky guy. He constantly had a smile on his face and would always help out his neighbors or people at his job.” He started.

“He sounds like a good man,” I said, looking up from where my head lay on his chest. Graham nodded, hugging me with more strength.

“He was great. I wanted to be like him when I grew older, but I was awkward and shy as a kid. I had few friends and could barely talk to people outside my family. My siblings said it was because of my mean-looking face that people didn’t approach me,” He continued.

I found it hard to picture Graham as an awkward and mean-faced kid.

Graham saw the disbelief on my face and laughed.

“It’s true. When I got to high school, I became mad at the world and distanced myself from everybody.

One day, my dad collapsed while at work and ended up in the hospital. ”

“Oh no,” I said without thinking. I covered my mouth with my hand. “I’m so sorry, did he...?” Graham nodded to answer my question without needing me to finish my sentence.

“It turned out he had a serious type of cancer and didn’t have long to live.

He had kept that from all of us and continued to work till he eventually collapsed.

Because of my problems, I didn’t see him for the longest time.

A part of me was mad at him for not getting help until it was too late, and another part was scared for him.

When I did go to see him, it was right before he died.

I like to think he was waiting for me to come.

Dad gave me one of his trademark smiles when I entered the room and told me to sit down.

I was so ashamed I couldn’t even look him in the eye.

There was a long silence between us, and my dad finally broke it.

He told me to always have a smile on my face.

He said “The world seems less dark when you smile.” Graham said, pausing a bit to catch his breath.

I start to purr for him, to give him some sort of comfort.

“You don’t have to continue if it’s too hard,” I reassured him. Graham’s eyes softened at my words.

“I’m okay, the hardest part is over.” He said.

“I took his words to heart and started smiling. I think I took his words a bit too seriously because I started smiling all the time, even when it wasn’t appropriate.

Smiling became my armor. I learned that people would approach me more frequently, and when I started my company, I learned that a smile could be used to hide your intentions and fool others.

” He finished. I took a moment to absorb everything he had told me.

It was a tragic story about his father, but I was glad he got to see him in his final moments.

I wasn’t sure if I would or would want to see mine if I had the chance, but I was relieved Graham had.

“So I owe all the annoying smirks and teasing smiles to your dad, then.” I joked.

“That’s one way to see that.” He said. I nodded thoughtfully.

“Then I’ll have to visit his grave one day to air my grievances to him.

Let’s bring everyone so I can tell him about my complaints with all of them.

” I declared. I didn’t plan on bad-mouthing Graham to his dad, but I’m sure I’ll have some fun stories to tell him when we visit him. A purr rippled through Graham.

“That would be great. I’m looking forward to it.

” Graham agreed. “Now then, time to reward this omega for confronting her former mates and speaking her mind.” I yipped in surprise as Graham lifted me from his bed.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life.

He turned and walked towards the door to the bathroom.

“What kind of reward is in a bathroom?” Instead of answering me, Graham pushed open the door to reveal his bathroom covered in different kinds of bath balls, lotions, candles, and flowers.

The bathtub looked like a sauna with rounded edges, size, and depth.

“What the hell is all this?” I asked as Graham set me down on the toilet seat.

“Your reward.” He said, simply. He moved to the bathroom and turned the water on. Checking the temperature with his hand, he turned the knobs a few times before he got it right. “Now, do you want me to go get a bathing suit, or do you want to go in nude?” he asked.

“Bathing suit,” I answered without much thought, still trying to get my head around what was happening.

Graham nodded before leaving the room. I remained on the toilet seat and watched the water run into the tub.

Graham returned a few seconds later with a two-piece that covered me just enough not to feel revealing.

“Thank you,” I said before grabbing the bathing suit. Graham moved it out of my reach.

“Do you want to get dressed yourself or do you want me to help?” He asked. I thought for a moment before answering.

“I want to do it myself,” I tol him. I don’t think I would mind Graham being in the same room as me when I changed like Gabriel does, but I wasn’t ready for him to start dressing and undressing me.

Graham nodded, giving me the swimsuit and turning his head to look at the bath bombs.

I watched Graham pick up and smell a few before putting them back down while I changed.

I had just put on my bottoms when Graham found a bath bomb he liked.

He dropped it in the bathtub before turning back to me.

He looked me up and down in approval before he held his hand to me.

I took it and stepped into the tub. I nearly moaned at the warmth of the water touching my skin.

As I got comfortable in the tub, Graham took a lighter and lit the small candles around the tub.

The room smelled like a flower garden between the candles and the bubble bath. I could smell the floral undertones of roses, lilies, and jasmine, while lavender, eucalyptus, and pine were much stronger. I was in a little bit of heaven at that moment.

“I’m going to turn your head towards me,” Graham announced. I felt his hands gather my hair and slowly guide me to the edge of the tub, where a towel and pillow rested to lay my neck on. When I leaned back against the cushioning, Graham took a warm, moist towel and laid it on my eyes.

“Relax.” He commanded in a soft whisper. I could feel warm water lick against my scalp as Graham wet my hair with a different water source. Once my hair was drenched in water, I heard a bottle opening from above me. Within seconds, I felt Graham's fingers massage into my hair.

“How long have you been planning on doing this?” I asked, relaxing my tense limbs. Graham’s fingers were doing a great job of chasing away any tension in my head, while the water was taking care of my body. Graham laughed at my question.

“Since I woke up this morning to your sleeping face.” He answered.

“You watched me sleep?” I asked, mortified at the thought. He chuckled again.

“It’s not as bad as you think. You're cute when you're asleep, " he said.

I groaned, sliding down in the tub a bit.

I could feel my cheeks getting hotter at the thought.

“You're overthinking it. Now sit up. I’m done with your hair.” Pushing the embarrassment down, I sat back in the tub.

I took the towel off my eyes before it could fall into the water.