Page 24 of Alphas Never Hide

“You’retrying to lull me to sleep so you can sneak out again.”Hefrowned.

“IpromiseIwon’t go tonight,”Isaid.

Henarrowed his pretty hazel eyes as he studied me.Whateverhe saw on my face convinced him of my sincerity. “Fine.I’llbelieve you.Butcan you keep doing whatever it is you’re doing for a little longer?Rightnow, your touch has become one of my favorite things.Ithas even slipped ahead of my grandmother’s black bean and chickpea salad, and that’s saying something.Youshould see how much garlic she uses.It’sone of the few thingsImiss about living with the herd.”

Mymouth twitched, andIwas surprised thatIwanted to smile.Thisman was doing strange things to me.Thatshould concern me, but instead of picking him up and putting him back on the bedI’dmade on the dining room table,Inodded at my bed.Heneeded sleep, and if my alpha power could do some good, he could have it. “Crawlup a little more.Getcomfortable.I’llbe right back.”

I’dstay with him until he fell asleep, thenI’dmove over to the sleeping bags on the table.

First, though,Ineeded to know whatVandiscovered out there.Ichecked my phone and didn’t see a damn thing.IwishedIcould trust him to call me, butIcouldn’t.Heliked to text, even when he knewInever checked my damn messages.DocRobertswould have told him to let me rest, andVanwouldn’t want to disobey the doctor, but he’d made a promise to me, too.So, yeah, he’d totally text and expect me to miss his message.Thatway, he could let himself believe he was listening to both of us.

ButIwouldn’t let him get away with that tonight.

Ihated all the rings and beeps these irritating phones made, soI’daskedBuddyto turn them all to silent afterIpurchased this one.Itwas time to change that.Temporarily.JustsoIdidn’t missVan’stext.

Afteran agonizing ten minutes, whereIcontemplated wakingRyleyto help me,Ifinally found the volume settings for text notifications.Inretrospect,Ishould have figured it out faster, but maybe it was time to admit, just to myself, thatIwas dead tired.

Ryleywas curled on his side in the middle of my bed.Hisface was pressed into my pillow.Iwould say it was my favorite pillow, but that suggestedIhad more than one.Myheart did a weird hiccup seeing this man in my bed for the second time in one night.Hewas cute, not handsome in aHollywoodway, or striking like those underwear modelsIused to admire whenIwas a teenager, but he was decidedly cute, with or without his glasses.Although, for some unknown reason, his spectacles made him even more appealing.Rightnow, though, he wasn’t wearing them, and he was still… cute.Yes,Iwas overusing that word.

Ijust couldn’t remember the last timeI’dfound someone attractive, and my brain wasn’t used to thinkingabout shit like that.Alot of unusual things were happening tonight.Likeme creeping on him while he was sleeping.

Sincehe was in the middle of the bed, it was tempting to crawl up next to him and wrap myself around him.

But, yeah…

Spooninga guy without his express consent was a terrible idea.Ididn’t want him to wake up and thinkI’dtaken the opportunity to maul him while he’d been unaware and unable to stop me.Ishook his foot to get his attention.

“Moveover,”Isaid.

Hedidn’t move.Washe already sleeping again?Iheaved out a sigh and eyed the makeshift bed on the converted dining room table.Thiswas going to be a long night.

“Whereare you going?”Ryleyasked.

Iturned back to find him sitting up.Thehair on the side of his head was sticking up, and he was blinking sleepily at me.

“Yousaid you’d work your alpha mojo some more.Oris it too much?Doesit take a lot of magic?”

Ithought about refusing him.Ireally did.It’dbe easy to lie about the effort it took.Buthe looked so damn vulnerable.Heplucked at every alpha instinct in me.

“Slideover,”Iwhispered.

Whenhe did,Iturned out the light and joined him on the bed.Hehummed happily and rolled toward me as soon asIstretched out beside him.Myalpha power responded immediately, acting without me giving it any conscious thought.Itwrapped aroundRyley, who sighed and tucked himself tighter into my side.Itried my best to stay still.Ididn’t reach for him.Ididn’t hold him, although some strange wayward impulse inside me wanted to.Instead,Ilet my magic do all the touching it wanted.Ijust refused to let my arms get in on the action.

Hewas vulnerable right now.Itwould be too much like taking advantage of him.Iwouldn’t do that.Ever.

Istared at the seam in the ceiling above the bed soIwouldn’t give in to temptation and stare at him some more.Instead,Ilistened to the steady hush of his breathing.Ianalyzed the nuances of his scent, identifying each distinct note and aroma.Butwhat really captured my attention was counting how many places his body was touching mine.

EvenwhenIsensed he’d finally fallen asleep,Ididn’t move.Istayed whereIwas, drawing his scent in, feeling the heat of his body against my side, listening to his breathing slow more and more as he sank deeper into his sleep.

EversinceI’dbecome an adult,I’dslept alone.Inever stayed over at anyone’s place.Inever invited anyone to mine.Thisplace was a dump, but it was my dump.Myden.Butit was unexpectedly calming to have a warm body pressed to my side.Ididn’t understand it, but the desire to protect and soothe this man was almost a physical thing.

Itmust have been becauseIwas tired.Iwas letting my guard down.ButIwas done.Justfor tonight,I’dtake the comfortIfound in holding him and let it wash over me.Throughme.Letit sink into me.Justfor tonight,Iwouldn’t have to be alone.

Myeyelids drifted down, and sleep pulled me under.

Astrange noise woke me.Ijolted upright, sendingRyley, who’d been using my chest as a pillow, rollingaway.Ryley’sfeet kicked out as he dropped over the edge of the mattress and whacked my knee.

Weboth cursed.