Page 88 of My Three Hometown Alphas

Avery’s in my arms, and I don’t give a damn about anything else.

“Come on, kid. It’s bedtime,” Will says, standing over where Lyla’s still sprawled out on the couch.

She makes a bunch of groaning and grumbling noises that don’t contain any actual words.

“We can read a couple chapters of our book,” he says.

This makes her perk up. “Fine,” she grumbles, even though we all know she’s eager to read more. She goes around giving all of us hugs before following Will upstairs.

The rest of us go about cleaning up the living room.

“I guess I should go,” Avery says, walking toward where her shoes are sitting by the front door.

She’s only ever spent the night here when Lyla was out of the house for the night. The rest of the time she’s gone back to the guesthouse, alone.

Owen walks over, meeting her in the entryway. He presses her against the frame, his hands wreathing the sides of her face.

When he kisses her, it’s with so much passion I almost feel like I should look away. If it weren’t for seeing them do things far more intimate than this, I probably would have.

Whispered words are shared between them. Then, with one final kiss, Owen slowly walks up the stairs. She stares after him with a level of longing that’s hard to even wrap my head around.

Eventually, she turns to look at me. She motions with her finger for me to come to her. I walk over, pulling her against me.

One arm is wrapped around her back. The other is palming the back of her head, holding her against my chest.

Her body goes completely lax in my hold as her arms wrap around my waist.

I don’t know where the words come from. I wasn’t planning on saying it, but they’re out before I can stop myself.

“Stay… please.” I can’t find it in me to regret saying it, either.

She tilts her head back to look me in the eye.

“I just want to hold you tonight,” I say, my heart pounding in my chest despite the gentleness of the moment.

“Okay,” she breathes out. I would have missed it if I wasn’t staring right at her.

I grab her hand, guiding her up the stairs. When we get to the top step, Will is closing Lyla’s door.

At first glance, he’s surprised to see Avery up here, but then he just nods. He walks over, kissing her lips and then her cheek.

“Sleep well,” he whispers in her ear. Stepping back, he looks at me. “Be careful because…” He tilts his head toward Lyla’s door. His implication is clear.

“I promise. I will,” I say.

With a single nod, he walks into his room. His door closes behind him.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Avery asks when we walk into the bathroom.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I tell her. “We can get you back to your place before she wakes up in the morning.”

I give her an extra toothbrush, and we go about brushing our teeth side by side. We smirk at one another when our eyes meet in the mirror. The domesticity of the moment hits me straight in the chest.

Before we leave the bathroom, I peek in the hallway to make sure the coast is clear. It’s like I’m a naughty teenager again, sneaking in after a night of partying.

Not that I ever did that…

We’re both already in comfortable clothes, so we crawl into bed as soon as we get to my room. We scootch toward the middle of the bed, laying on our sides, facing one another.