Page 58 of Traded

I’m still smiling when I spot Lauren.

She hovers awkwardly in the corner of the kitchen, hugging an empty bottle of beer as she watches everyone gather around Ria. There’s a longing in her expression that I recognize all too well. I take a step to offer her a refill, to invite her over here, I don’t know—but instead I turn around.

Liam has Ria. She looks so small against his bulk, but he’s cradling her with hands bigger than her entire, tiny body. And he’s looking back at Lauren with a soft, secret smile.

It’s a smile that saysthis could be us.He’s never looked at me that way.

It feels like… a loss. Like I’ve lost something I didn’t know was missing until now. Something vital, torn away and handedto somebody else. My lips part on a sharp inhale, a phantom knife sliding between my lungs, piercing and sudden and sharp enough that I fold over at the waist.

“Shit—” I jerk forward, trying to catch the tamales that slip out of the tilted bowl in my hands. They spatter across my feet as my head connects with the marble counter in athudthat could probably be heard in the furthest quarters of Blackwater.

My ass hits the ground a moment later, coated in pork and cheese and pico de gallo. “Fuckingow.”

I shove my hand against the blooming agony in my skull as a dozen arms reach for me. I shake my head, trying to hide the tears I can’t stop. “Give me a minute.”

“I’ve got you.” Liam lifts me easily, his hands cradling my skull. “That’s going to hurt tomorrow.”

“We need to get that checked out.” Carter probes it carefully, wincing at my flinched hiss of pain. “Could be a concussion.”

Jonas runs his hand over my hair. “Need some water?”

I wobble on my feet, and Carter’s expression morphs into something deeper. He takes a breath, his eyes flying to my face. “Ro?”

I can’t look at Liam. Lauren is here somewhere too, asking in the background if there’s anything she can do. The perfect, helpful omega who’s sliding into spaces I always thought were mine.

Spaces that should bemine.But… how can they be, now that she’s here?

How did I think this might work?

There are other voices too, fighting with the growing buzzing in my head. I try to push the hands away that press cold cloths against my head. I don’t want them to touch me.

“Rosie.” Liam says my name. It doesn’t sound like the first time he’d said it, a hint of exasperation threading through. “You need to keep this on the bump, okay?”

“I—I need—”

It doesn’t sound like my voice. It’s too quiet, too shaky. “I need some quiet. Please.”

I push the hands away again. “I’m fine. Give me a minute.”

“I’ll take her.” Jonas slides his arms around me, lifting me up. “Bedroom, Ro?”

“I’m calling a doctor.” Carter looks unnerved. He leans in and inhales again, our eyes meeting. “Everyone back off. Give her some space.”

“What is that? Her scent?” Jonas presses his nose into my hair, the words only between us. He looks up at Liam as I watch him woozily. “Injury?”

“Maybe. Doctor will check her out.” I watch him turn to check on hisotheromega, and I almost vomit.

“I want to lay down for a minute,” I say. The ache in my head is vicious, but it’s nothing to the shredding currently underway in my chest. “Please. I don’t want to ruin the night.”

“I can serve the food.” The quiet offer makes me press my cheek into Jonas’s shirt. “You worked hard on it.”

“Thanks,” Carter says roughly. “If you can, Lauren, that’d be great.”

I bite down the words I really want to say as Jonas carries me out, a few worried calls fading away as he carts me down the hall.

“Nest. Please.”

“Got it.” He shoulders the door open. As soon as my back meets the blankets, I twist away from him and crawl underneath, tugging and pulling until I’m barely visible. Until there’s a barrier between me and whatever they’re doing out there.