Page 71 of Omega's Heart

Cale waved his hand grandly. “Julius is out getting coached by Laine on how to behave during the trial, I’m just gonna have a sandwich, then get this last paper done.”

“Did your acceptance come?” I asked, curious. He’d been in daily anticipation of that letter, nearly driving the rest of us to distraction with his mood swings.

He nodded. “They wouldn’t give me credit for everything, but I can make it up over next summer with other stuff. They took all the required things, so it’s just the sciences and a couple of electives I need to do. I’m happy with it.”

“That’s good. You’ve worked hard.”

He shrugged. “No harder than medical school would be.”

“I’m going to go cook at Kaden’s then, if you’re going to be writing,” I said casually, ignoring the second butterfly flutter of happiness that thought gave me.

“Don’t rush home,” he told me, wearing a leer that made me laugh at the silliness of it all. I made a face at him and made my escape.

I liked being in Kaden’s apartment—always had, but now I could admit that it wasn’t just the coziness of it, but the scent of him that drifted lazily through the air. I wondered if he’d be sore tonight after working all day in among the humans. Maybe a backrub after he’d eaten? He’d probably need one anyway.

And I had to admit, I liked doing that for him. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I was using Kaden shamelessly to fulfill my long-denied hunger to perform these actions for a mate. All the silly, caring, romantic gestures I’d ever dreamed of, getting pulled out in order and my betrothed made subject to them.

Betrothed. What a wonderful word.

The tomatoes were producing wildly in the garden and I’d stocked up both apartments earlier. If I picked the meatiest of them, I could make a nice tomato sauce and use up the last of the sausages that Julius and I had made over the weekend. I gathered a dozen of the heaviest, most solid-feeling of the tomatoes and put them in a bowl along with a half-dozen of the sausages, then examined our refrigerator for anything else I could throw into the mix.

Our refrigerator. Getting a little proprietary, aren’t you, boy?

He’s mine.

I sliced the tomatoes thin and threw them in a pot with herbs and a bit of water, then covered them and left them to simmer while I made sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything this morning when I dropped by to tidy up.

There was a glass I’d missed in the bathroom, and a t-shirt that could go into the laundry when I took mine down tomorrow, but not much else. The dress shirt I’d embroidered for him—navy blue, this time—hung already pressed on the back of the door, waiting for tomorrow. It smelled of laundry soap and fake fresh air. The suit itself smelled of real fresh air because I’d taken it down to Ori’s first thing this morning to hang out on his clothesline to freshen.

Without thinking, I brought the t-shirt to my nose and sniffed. Much nicer. And then I blushed. But I did like the way Kaden smelled.

An hour later, I heard the rattle of the doorknob and rushed to dish out the pasta.

“Felix?” Kaden’s voice filled the room.

“In the kitchen,” I called back as I scooped sauce out of the pot. I made sure Kaden got a couple of extra slices of sausage and was just about ready to take everything to the table when he rolled around the wall that divided the kitchen from the living room and held out a big bunch of flowers.

“I thought you might like them,” he said. “I don’t know. Do I have anything we can put them in?” He peered down into the mass of petals. “I don’t want them to die on you.”

“I can find something,” I stammered and rooted through the cupboards until I found a jug that was meant for juice or water. “We can put them in this.”

He nodded and pushed himself up out of the chair to lean against the cupboard while I doctored the water with sugar and trimmed the ends of the stems.

“I didn’t realize they were so much work,” he said, peering over my shoulder. His hands slid around my waist in effortless familiarity and I couldn’t hold back the shiver that raced over me at the feeling.

“Not so much.” I twisted my head back over my shoulder and he kissed me, which was exactly what I’d been hoping for. “If you want them to last, you have to do it right. Like anything else.”

He laughed and kissed the side of my neck. “I don’t normally think of myself as a smart alpha, but when it comes to picking mates, I’m a damn genius.”

I got the flowers arranged and set them proudly in the middle of the table. “Thank you,” I said, and came back to get a real kiss from him. “You didn’t have to bring me anything.”

He shrugged and maneuvered himself back down into the chair. “I’m coming at this a bit tail first, but I think you’ll just have to get used to being courted for a while. Until we’re mated anyway.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, not entirely certain whether to take him seriously or not. “Go sit and I’ll bring dinner over.”

“Now that’s what a soldier likes to hear,” he said and laughed at my expression. “You really are good to me, you know that? And I do appreciate it.” He rolled over to the table and sighed. “I see what Quin was talking about. I’m going to get fat.”

“I’ll fix that,” I said, then blushed as he froze and the corners of his lips twitched. “I didn’t mean it like that!” But now that his mind had leaped into that stream, mine followed along, gleefully splashing about in the possibilities. “How was your day?” I asked as I slid his dinner in front of him and took my own seat.