Page 22 of Run Wild Omega

Margaret sets the coffee pot down on the table with a decisive thunk.

“Just be careful, Wyatt.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you do.” She gives me a look that could peel paint off a car. It’s a mother’s look—fierce love mixed with a warning that she will bury me if I hurt her daughter again. “She’s built a good life here. Don’t go stirring up mud at the bottom of the river just because you’re bored.”

“I’m not bored,” I say quietly.

She holds my gaze for another beat, then turns and walks back to the counter.

I drink my coffee. I watch the door. Every time the bell chimes, my heart gives a stupid little jump.

Ten minutes pass. Then twenty.

My mind starts to race again. What am I going to say when she walks in? Hey, sorry I broke your heart years ago, but Dylan thinks I’m moping, so can we be friends?

It sounds ridiculous. It sounds cruel.

I’m about to get up, to abandon this stupid plan and go back to the safety of the station, when the bell chimes again. Two women walk in, stamping snow off their boots.

My breath catches in my throat.

It’s Tess.

She’s with Mara. They’re laughing at something, their heads bent close together. The sound of Tess’s bright, unreserved laugh cuts through the noise of the café. It hits me in the chest like a physical blow, knocking the air out of my lungs.

She’s wearing her uniform again, the charcoal pants and thermal top, but she has a bright yellow beanie pulled down over her ears. Her cheeks are pink from the cold.

Heat coils in my belly, low and dangerous. It’s not just attraction; it’s possessiveness. It’s a primal, instinctive roar of mine that I have to choke back with a mouthful of hot coffee.

I watch her laugh. I watch her throw her head back, exposing the long line of her neck.

All her laughs used to belong to me.

I remember the sound of them in the cab of my truck, in her bedroom with the door locked. I remember the way she used to look at me, like I was the only person in the world who mattered. I remember the way she used to touch me, hesitant and eager all at once.

She was mine. I gave that up. I threw it away.

She walks to the counter, wrapping Mara in a hug before they part ways. Mara heads toward the back, and Tess turns toward the main seating area.

She stops. Her eyes scan the room, casually at first, and then they lock onto mine.

The smile slides off her face.

For a second, she freezes. I see the shock register, followed quickly by a flash of something else—anger? Pain? I can’t tell. She puts up the walls I can see physically sliding into place, locking me out.

Then, she turns and says something to her mom. Margaret glances over her shoulder at me, her jaw set tight.

Tess nods once, squares her shoulders, and starts walking toward my table.

I feel cold. The heat in my belly turns to ice. Every nerve ending in my body stands on end as I watch my ex-girlfriend walk toward me, her gaze unreadable, her posture stiff.

She stops at the edge of the booth.

“Mom said you were waiting for me.” Her voice is even, devoid of emotion. She doesn’t sit down. She stands there, guarding her space, daring me to cross the line.

I look up at her. I see the stranger she’s become, and the girl I loved hiding somewhere inside her.