Page 60 of Knotted their Beauty

“Nuh-uh. Don’t stop,” Lennox grunts. “We’re finishing our damn sentences today, baby.”

Ugh. I don’t like our weird sharing half circle.

“I’m not exactly a large person,” I sigh, wrapping my arms around my stomach.

“You’re putting a lot of terrible images in my head, Arlo,” Ves says softly. “I need you to clear some of that up before I have an aneurysm.”

“He’s getting kind of red,” Lennox admits. “There’s a vein jumping out of his forehead.”

“Leave my forehead veins alone,” he grumbles.

“I got my ass kicked a few times,” I sigh. “Hand groping, promises of violating me, but I got away each time. I learned the shelters weren’t safe for me, and found bus shelters and parks to stay instead. It took forever for me to find a job. I lost it and my apartment in the same fucking day. Your nanny listing saved me, Ves. I was so tired of never feeling safe.”

“I had a feeling you might have been homeless when you said everything you owned was in your backpack.”

“The fuck else would it mean?” Baron asks, shaking his head. “For such a smart guy, you don’t always connect the dots very well, Mr. FBI agent.”

“Yes, I am aware of how badly I suck.” Ves pulls me tightly against his chest, his arms banding around me. “Why wouldn’t you use my sheets, Arlo? Or eat my food?”

“If it’s not ours, we don’t touch it,” Lennox replies for me. “I may live in a nice van, but I understand transitional living. There are rules.”

“My roommates were assholes,” I groan. “If I didn’t lock my room, they’d mess with my stuff. They actually kicked me out. My shit was dumped in the living room, and they’d all jacked off onto my sheets then pissed on them. I’d spent a year carefully gathering things as I could afford them. There was no way I was touching anything in that room after that.”

I shudder in revulsion and gag. So fucking gross.

“Sorry. In my mind, I didn’t have any way to contribute to the household food items when I started working for you, so I didn’t get to eat. If there were leftovers, then I’d sneak food.”

“God, I wish I had understood that,” Ves says.

“You didn’t know,” I shrug. “It’s also why I slept on the mattress instead of on ‘your’ sheets.”

“Dude.” Lennox is glaring at Ves and I can feel my omega cringing.

“I’m so sorry, Arlo.” The words are growled out as Ves buries his face in my neck. “I wish I could crawl into your mind and experience how you think.”

“That’s dangerously close to wanting to wear him as a skin suit,” Lennox snorts. “I don’t know if that’s the kind of romance he wants.”

I can feel my face heating and the alpha’s head tilts to the side as he sees it. “Interesting.”

“Leave him alone,” Baron chuckles. “Do you like sleeping in a bed every night? Some people have a hard time getting used to it.”

“I still keep waiting for the bottom to fall out. It just doesn’t feel real. I mentioned my anxiety, and that plays a big role in things. Cali sometimes notices it and will tell me I’m doing great. I shouldn’t need a six year old’s praise.”

“I don’t think she means it like that,” Ves says. “Calista has always picked up on things. She hears conversations she shouldn’t…”

We quiet for a moment, but she’s singing to music at the top of her lungs.

“Should she be listening to that?” I whisper. It’s a song that feels a little adult for her.

“No, but I told her she could listen to whatever she wanted to. I’ll deal with the fallout later,” Ves grunts. “My point is that Calista is always going to see things you don’t want her to see, she’s too perceptive, and she’s been through too much for such a little girl. She’s a huge part of why this entire conversation needed to happen. We can’t hide from her, but we need to be aware of what she’s seeing. So, in the meantime, I want to make sure we’re taking care of you, too. Please talk to us. I know you’ve been lonely in Los Angeles.”

“I had nothing to do. My six year old friend goes to bed before eight, and I would catch myself coloring alone. For someone who’s been alone often, I hate it.”

“I have a feeling we’re all going to be up in each other’s business,” Lennox says. “I don’t have to be back to work until next week.”

“Anything else you need to tell us?” Ves asks.

“You know the guy who helped me? I’m pretty sure he murdered my entire family. I found a news article about it and the only survivors were my little sisters because they weren’t home. A part of me thinks he planned that,” I confess, starting to sweat. They’re going to think I’m a terrible person for this… “When I got to the end of the article, all I could think about was how glad I was that my family was dead. How fucked up is that?”