Page 56 of Secret Heart
“Hudson Pierce, that was just gross,” she says, though there’s no real fire in her voice.
This time, Caleb laughs, too, and Olivia smacks his chest.
“Donotencourage your brother,” she scolds, though she’s laughing, too, now. “He’s bad enough without any kind of encouragement.”
That only has Caleb laughing even harder, the kind that just grows and grows until you can’t even remember why you were laughing in the first place. I can’t help but smile. It’s been such a stressful month, and I appreciate how thoroughly the worries have fallen off of all of us since getting out her to the shore of Jenny Lake earlier this morning.
“And on that note,” Olivia says, still smiling, “I’m going to go to sleep. I’ll see everyone in the morning. Hudson can sleep with one of his brothers.”
My brothers only laugh harder, doubling over in the low-lying camping chairs. The girls all wave to Olivia as she passesand then ducks into the small tent she’s sharing with Hudson and Jonas. She doesn’t even bother to turn on a flashlight, using the light of the dying fire. I suppose most of us with young kids are pretty adept at functioning with little light. The last thing I want at three in the morning is for Penny to fully wake up because I need to turn on the kitchen light to find the cup of water.
“Should we add another log?” Triston asks from his perch to my left.
We’re far enough back that the smoke isn’t blowing into our faces even with the light breeze that’s moving toward the lake. Even still, he has Penny angled in his arms to keep her face away from the fire, the flow of the flames highlighting the curls of her hair and the fleece footed pajamas we put her in before sitting down to roast marshmallows a couple hours ago.
I look around those of us who are still awake. None of the kids have made it this late, the youngest dropping off to sleep a while ago. Iris and Rose lasted longer than Camden, but they still faded off to the small quartet of backpacking tents the Bennetts use half an hour ago. Melissa and Faedra left about twenty minutes ago. The Bennett Alphas didn’t last much longer once Faedra was asleep, either.
One of the remaining logs pops in the fire, sending a burst of sparks into the air. Ethan’s quick to stomp out the few that make it to the ground still alight.
“I think we’re all right,” Brielle murmurs.
Emily leans forward and grabs one of the remaining foil-wrapped s’mores from the coals of the fire, unwrapping it and eating it straight out of the foil without bothering with a plate or fork. I palm her thigh, tracing small shapes along the seam of her jeans. Ethan leans over the small gap between him and Brielle, kissing her cheek. She smiles as he runs his thumb along her chin and jaw, tracing her phoenix tattoo.
“I’m going to turn in,” he murmurs.
Caleb pulls his attention away from Hudson, standing in almost the same timing as Ethan, responding to some unspoken emotion or desire in their bonds. Ethan eases Brielle to her feet.
“Come on, princess,” he whispers.
Hudson fades too after that, clapping my shoulder as he disappears into his tent.
“You’ve got the fire?” he asks.
I nod and wave him off to his family. “We’re good.”
Once everyone else is gone, Triston leans against me, resting his head on my shoulder. I breathe in the night air, soaking in the swirling of Emily’s vanilla as it mixes with the smoke of the fire and the sugar undertones of the s’mores. The fire crackles as it works through the last of the logs, the embers glowing a bright orange that doesn’t diminish the strength of the stars. There’s even more than our home, and I slowly trace a few that I recognize that aren’t blocked by the smattering of clouds. Triston presses his lips to my shoulder, letting his lips brush slowly over my flannel. I’m hard in an instant, ready to have him and Emily both out here. I don’t move, though, knowing Penny’s in his arms and accidentally waking her now will ruin the entire night’s chances and not just the next half hour.
“I, uh, wanted to… ask you something.”
Emily looks over at Triston, frowning. “What is it?”
He sits up and twists, his gaze flitting between the two us. His fingers twist through Penny’s curls and down her neck, the same we do with him late at night as we’re falling asleep. Affection fills me, and I lean over far enough to kiss him. His lips are soft and pliant, the faint sweetness of the chocolate he’d eaten a while ago still clinging to them.
His breath shudders out of him, and I smile against his lips before pulling away. His eyes are blown out, even wider than thelow light dictates, and my dick twitches again. Emily palms my knee, and I force myself away from him.
“I’d like to adopt her,” he says after a minute.
That affection roots deeper. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say yes, to agree without a care in the world. Ofcoursehe can adopt his own daughter.
Before I can, though, he continues, “I… I looked into it this week. The Council has really specific rules around pack adoptions.”
Emily frowns. “Beau and I aren’t registered.”
Someone else might be offended over that, but I’m not bothered. Not being an Omega, there wasn’t any reason to register our relationship with the Council. And we hadn’t felt the need to get married, either, despite some in the town grumbling. Now, with Triston back and wanting to be with us, I’m grateful we didn’t succumb to the outside pressure. Nothing says messy like having to get a divorce so you can become a trio.
“I know.” Triston’s throat ripples. “The thing is… in order for me to be able to adopt her, we’d have to submit the paperwork to register as a pack. Because I’m an Omega. They won’t process the paperwork if we declare we’re together without the designation.”
Silence falls between the three of us. I don’t dare break it, knowing there’s something in the sudden rush of Emily’s vanilla scent that’s communicating her thoughts more effectively than any words ever could. Triston swallows again and then looks down at Penny, his hands trembling.
