Page 31 of Never Bet Against A Hockey Player

Lydia was standing in front of us before I could say a word. Not to save me, but with her order pad poised and an eyebrow cocked.

“It’s on the house today. What can I get you?” Her voice was hard, almost a challenge. She wasn’t letting me lie and say I ate already.

“I’m a sucker for some good french toast,” my delta said.

The familiarity of his order had tears burning my eyes. On the few times we earned a little extra money, we always snuck away to the diner together.

He ordered it every time, and I teased him about his sugar intake.

August turned to me, his smile soft, as if he could see what it did to me. The fact something so simple affected me just showed how fucked up I was.

“Let me guess. Pancakes with a side of bacon?”

I nodded weakly, unable to even form the words to tell him he was right. Lydia wrote our orders down and walked away to give us space.

I finally found the courage to look at my delta. His green eyes were spilling over with concern.

“I was worried about you last night.”

“I told you I was fine.” He raised his eyebrows at my tone. It was downright hostile, and I knew it.

He was the first person to truly know the depths of what I'd dealt with. The same thing that had been going on long before he’d ever been in the picture and the entire time he was gone.

“I’m sorry,” I said, scrubbing a hand over my face. “I don’t know how to do this. I told you that you would be better off walking away.”

“I don’t want to hear that again. I’m not fucking walking away,” he growled. The softness was gone from his eyes, replaced by frustration. “I’ve been trying to find you for years. I’m not going to simply disappear now.”

“Did you tell them?” I asked, my fingers fiddling with a straw wrapper in front of me.

“You know I had to. Our omega is continuously getting hurt. We’re not going to simply sit by and watch that happen.”

“You know better than most there’s nothing anyone can do. She’s been reported so many times and nothing ever happens. No one cares. I’m the only thing keeping him safe.”

“I’ll take you both and run if I have to,” August said vehemently.

“And what about the others?” I demanded. “You’ll all just give up the careers you fought for? Walk away and never look back?”

“You’re crazy if you don’t think they’d come, too. For now, I just need you to trust us, baby.”

“I’m terrified if I spend time around you, then it will trigger my heat. I can’t go into heat, August. She’d have full access to Gavin while I was gone.”

“I can promise you that no matter what, we’ll figure out how to make sure Gavin stays with you.”

I couldn’t stand how nice he was being to me. It wasn’t something I was used to and I didn’t know what to do with it.

“Why do you guys want an omega with baggage so bad?” I demanded, deflecting to anger again.

“We all have baggage,” he said easily, as if it were that simple.

He had no idea that it went beyond my mother.

“I can’t take suppressants anymore, August. I’m defective. They were starting to make me sick. I’ve been terrified of going into heat for years. Even if we figure this out, I might never have one.”

“We don’t want you because of heats and babies, Dhara. We want you as you are.”

“No, you don’t get it,” I said, my voice cracking as I buried my face in my hands, barely able to make the words come out. “I’ve never been with anyone, August. You were the only person I ever came close to trying anything with, and you were gone before we even got the chance to go on a real date like we talked about.”

“Never?”