Page 148 of Speechless
She made sure I didn’t step away when I set her on her feet. “I want to say it back,” she whispered. “I’m not sure I know how.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
Her stomach growled, interrupting the moment. She flushed red, and I burst out laughing. “Well, your stomach seems to be ready to speak, that’s for sure.”
“I’m fine.”
The others hovered a couple feet away, giving us space. We put our clothes back on. The day was so hot and bright we were already halfway dry. “Logan,” I called. “You hungry?”
“Fucking starving.”
I gave Trinity a pointed look. My Omega needed to realize that having needs was okay. Voicing them was okay. Continually sacrificing herself and her comfort for others wasn’t necessary. Not in life and not with us. Even for something as small as being hungry.
Her cheeks were still pink, and it wasn’t sunburn. She looked toward the ground as we walked. I didn’t want her to feel shame when we gently corrected her either.
“Trinity.”
“Mm?”
“You know how much we want you, right?”
She looked up at me with a frown, squinting in the sun. “Why?”
Pulling her to a stop behind the others, I blocked the sun so she could see me properly. “Because I think you’re afraid it’s not real.”
Her lips parted in shock. She cleared her throat while her eyes dropped to my chest. “I’m not sure what you mean?”
“I don’t have to know what happened to you to see the effects. It will take time to pull apart the little things you’re used to. But when I say I’m not going anywhere, I meanwearen’t going anywhere. There isn’t anything you can do or say that’s going to make us change our minds. You’re allowed to want things, and basic needs like food are not optional.”
Slowly, I saw the puzzle pieces click together. “Oh.”
I tangled my fingers in her wet hair, massaging her scalp. “I’m going to keep redirecting you in those moments, like I did just now with Logan. But I’m not doing that to shame you or make you feel bad. Is that how you felt?”
We slowly started walking again as she thought about it. “Not shame, no. More… frustration.”
“Oh?”
“I didn’t even realize I’d done it until you drew attention to it. I don’t like that it’s my default. Can’t seem to stop it.”
“Like I said, it will take time, and we’ll help.”
“Thank you.”
Brooks jogged back toward us. “What do you want to eat, baby?”
“Nothing heavy. Maybe a salad?” She placed a hand on her stomach. “A salad with chicken sounds great.”
“Perfect. We’ll find something. We want to stay down here on the beach until after dark.”
It was late afternoon now.
Brooks jogged back to the others, leaving Rin staring after him. “What’s happening after dark?”
“While you and Logan wereoccupiedyesterday, we checked what’s around here.” I pointed down the beach in the distance, where things were being set up on the sand and in the water. “Every year they have a festival toward the end of summer, and it’s happening right now.”
Trinity laced our fingers together. That single movement made my heart skip a beat. Simple. Natural. Commonplace. That was what I wanted. For Trinity to believe that this was forever as much as we already did. “What kind of festival?”
“Not sure,” I said honestly. “This year it’s called ‘sinking stars.’ Seems like it has something to do with light.”
