Page 26 of Swipe My Alpha
I read it twice. The apartment is completely silent behind me. I can feel four pairs of eyes on my back.
"You sent this last night," I say.
"Before I left the parking lot."
"You emailed your department head. At midnight. Telling her everything."
"Yes."
"You could lose your position."
"Maybe. Probably not, with the transfer already filed. But maybe."
"And you sent it anyway."
"I sat in my car and I thought about what you said. About being someone's secret. And I thought about what I was actually protecting by hiding, and it wasn't us. It was just me being scared." He swallows. "You're not my secret, Jude. You're my mate. And if Albright has a problem with that, then Albright has a problem with me, and I'll deal with it. But I'm not asking you to be invisible. Not for six weeks. Not for one day. Never again."
My throat is tight. The phone screen is blurring and I blink and hand it back to him before I do something embarrassing in front of my entire friend group.
Behind me, Milo sniffles. Benji says, very quietly, "Okay, he can keep his car."
I look at Rhys. He's standing there, exhausted and rumpled and completely exposed, and he's not reaching for me. He's waiting. Letting me decide. The same way he waited at the edge of the nest that first time, not pushing in until I pulled him.
"You look terrible," I say.
"I drove from my parents' house. I didn't stop."
"You drove to your parents' house?"
"I didn't deserve to sleep in the nest."
I cross the space between us and his arms come around me and I press my face into his neck and breathe him in and the bond goes quiet for the first time since last night.
"I'm still mad at you," I say against his throat.
"I know."
"You don't get to make decisions about us without me. Ever. That's the rule now."
"That's the rule."
"And you're buying me breakfast because I slept on Benji's hardwood floor and my back is killing me."
His arms tighten around me. His face is in my hair and he's breathing in deep, shaky pulls, his whole body pressed against mine like he's trying to memorize the shape of me. "I'll buy you breakfast every day for the rest of your life."
"Don't be dramatic."
"I'm being completely serious."
"You sound like a Hallmark card."
"I don't care."
Shay clears his throat. "This is very touching but you're in our living room and some of us haven't had coffee yet."
I pull back. Look at Rhys. His eyes are wet, which is going to make me lose it if I stare too long, so I grab his hand and pull him toward the door.
"We're going home," I tell the room.
