Page 41 of Puck Around and Find Out
“Who?”
“My Mormor. She was staying at a hotel. My dad went to check in on her now that you’re back from your away games. She had a stroke,” she says almost robotically.
“What do you need?”
“My last words to her were ‘It’s hard to have you here,’” she says as her eyes fill with tears as she tries to tug away.
I grip her face with both hands, not being delicate with her at all.
“You are a good person, Sloane. I’m so sorry this happened. But you are not to blame. This is not your fault. Tell me what you need, and I will take care of it all. We can leave now, I can take you home, we can go to my house. Whatever you need, let me take care of you.”
She takes a deep breath, not crying but on the cusp.
“Can we go to your house? I’ll tell my dad I’m staying with Piper,” she says, and I nod my head.
I look over at Ethan. “Did you drive here?”
“We got a ride share,” he says, looking at Sloane like he’s trying to figure out what he can do.
I tug out my keys and hand them to Ethan.
“You drive. I’ll sit with Sloane in the back. I live in East Rock,” I tell him as he grabs the keys.
I take out forty dollars and leave it on the table for the server’s time as I wrap my arm around Sloane and shield her through the restaurant before sliding into the backseat of my SUV.
I buckle her in and rub her thigh as she leans against my shoulder. She doesn’t cry, but she doesn’t speak either. Ethan doesn’t turn on music, and we make the drive back to New Haven in relative silence.
I kiss the top of Sloane’s head, and she melts a little more into me.
“Are you hungry?” I ask her, and she nods. “Grilled cheese back at my place okay?” And she nods again.
I give Ethan directions to my place, and he pulls into the driveway. I unbuckle Sloane and open my door, getting out and grabbing her hand to bring her inside.
She almost seems like she’s completely disassociated as I set her up on my couch and wrap her up in a blanket. She sniffs the material and melts into the sectional as I head into the kitchen with Ethan.
I’m busy getting the frying pan, bread, cheese, and mayo out.
“You’re good with her,” he says, resting his hip against the counter. “Have you been around other Omegas before?” he asks.
“No. I don’t know how to explain it. Everything with her is so instinctual.”
“You know what, Nilsen? I think this might just work after all,” the Beta says, slapping my ass where I stand at the oven, shocking me before walking back to the couch to look after Sloane.
Tonight is one hundred percent not how I expected things to go.
CHAPTER 13
Iwake up on a bed that is somehow softer than my own and also smells like Bram.
I turn my head on the soft pillow that smells just like his rich bergamot scent and blink my eyes to see Bram sleeping right next to me. I’m not sure when I ended up in his bed or when I even fell asleep.
But everything from last night floods back to me.
It’s weird because I don’t feel sad, which only makes me feel even more guilty, which was my original feeling.
Bram sleeps on his back. One hand under the covers, likely in his boxers, and the other tossed over his head. He looks soft, almost gentle when he sleeps. But then again, that’s the Bram I know.
He took charge last night and didn’t even have to think twice to know what I needed.
