Page 108 of All Packed Up

The only ones they hid it from were themselves.

He snorted.

What dorks.

How long would it take them to stop avoiding each other? Would it be a violent collision or a passionate one?

Hell, who was Arlo to decide it couldn’t be both violent and passionate?

Arlo wanted to plug all the puzzle pieces in together. What caused them to break up? They’d known each other the same amount of time that Arlo had known Tate, but their paths had veered drastically apart.

For a split second, Arlo was grateful he’d found Tate, and he let the random thought light up their bond, and Tate answered it with a little brush of affection.

Arlo elbowed Grif and caught the alpha’s attention. “Are you scared of her or what?”

Griffith’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the way you’re avoiding Wendy like she’s gonna give you the plague.” She was just bored because her beta was working.

“I am not,” Grif argued.

“Are too.”

Griffith parted his lips to answer but hung there like a fish for more than a few seconds. “She’s Nic’s.”

It was Arlo’s turn to arch a brow. “Don’t let her hear you say that. I get the feeling that omega belongs to no one.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right. Still, she came with Nic, and I think that says something. Something best left alone.”

Arlo knew it was none of his business, yet he couldn’t help but ask, “Would you want Nic back? You know, if the stars aligned correctly?”

Griffith studied him for a moment before his gaze drifted far away. “Like you said, I have about as much of a chance as if the stars aligned.”

“Why do you say that?”

He huffed and turned away from his soup to eye Arlo. “There’s just a lot of history.”

Arlo leveled him with a stare that said you’ve got to be kidding me.

“If Nic cared about that at all, I don’t think he would come here. And that’s coming from someone who knows nothing about your history.”

“So what are you saying?”

Arlo patted him on the arm and used the excuse to judge exactly how large those pecs were.

Very, if you were interested in the answer.

“I don’t think you need me to spell it out that much. You can do it.”

He chuckled as Griffith’s face fell into something of a pout, but it smoothed out just as quickly as it’d bunched up when Wendy returned to the living room. “What’s so funny?”

Griffith’s cheeks flushed, and he grabbed his partner in crime to shove him in Wendy’s direction. “It was him!”

Arlo couldn’t help but burst into chuckles, all the while Wendy looked seriously confused.

“I’m… gonna go check on… Daisy! Yep!” The alpha left the living room like he was being chased, and Arlo rolled his eyes.

“What’s his problem?” Wendy asked.