Book Smart

Fifty Three

Casper had indeed taken my warning to heart, his hands clasped in his lap as he looks up at me when I barrel into the room. My eyes to my angel and then to him sitting in the same place he was when he was napping, and then back to my angel. Adrian's excitement had nothing to do with him at all, but it doesn't stop the happy giggles spilling from his mouth as he tries to wrestle his way free from a comfy spot on the couch, his face turned towards the afternoon sun letting it light him up like the vibrant angel he is. Following my Sweetheart's line of sight to one of the windows that look out over our backyard I'm surprised to find an Omega in our window, flowers in hand, waving and smiling at my bean with entirely too much familiarity.

My sweetheart does his best to untangle his feet from the blanket he's so carefully wrapped up in as quickly as he can, book and comfort items getting discarded as my sweet boy scrambles off the couch to the backdoor, throwing it open with abandon before hugging the tiny shifter that had made his presence known with a shriek of, "Quinn!"

...
Adrian
....

"Oprah told me to follow my heart today and it led me straight to you, Cutie!" Quinn squeals as he hugs me back just as tightly as I'm hugging him, the bouquet in his hand digging into my back, the crinkly paper drowning out almost every other noise.

It had been entirely too long since his odd spicy cinnamon and clove smell had filled my nose having been banned from visiting me by Grammy over a month ago for an ill-planned attempt at sneaking out to go to a midnight book signing by an author Grammy would never approve of. Before that, he had met me every Friday for coffee at the halfway point between his pack...which is Silas's pack and now mine and the North Pine Pack commune. We had been paired up right after my parents died for playdates, Collin assuming that the company of another Omega would soothe Grammy's grief and draw me out of the shell I had hidden away in after their funeral. We had been nearly inseparable until Grammy slowly started to consider him more of a bad influence than a positive one with what she considered forward-thinking and something we both share- a love of romance novels.

"I'm so glad she gave you such good advice!" I croon into his shoulder as we stay latched onto one another rocking back and forth as we both try and filter through the nearly overwhelming feeling of happiness over being reunited. Before Silas, he was the only one to ever actually succeed jn getting me to leave the house or go against Grammy even slightly.

I had done my best not to distract the others while they unloaded all of my earthly belongings and the extremely sweet gift of several new shelves, afraid they might drop a box and hurt any of the more fragile books in my collection, or worse- themselves. But having Casper point out Quinn starting in at us in the window waiting for me to notice him had thrown caution right out of said very same window much like it does every time he's around. He's the one who made me break my first rule, the reason behind the first time I got grounded, and the person to introduce me to the wonderful genre that I had been forced to keep from view... Not the more innocent ones where boy meets girl and they have missionary for a total of 10 minutes near one of the chapters near the end but only after they've been married... But the ones where the high lander kidnaps the princess and steals her away and the Prince bends the beautiful advisor over his longing cushions and ravages him within an inch of his very life before running away together and starting a new kingdom.

He had started a whole new chapter in my life and had stuck around to make it as interesting as he could before he got banned from making personal visits to me specifically and I can't believe-, " I can't believe you're here! I texted you about everything but you didn't answer!" I had expected him to and was hurt when he didn't respond yesterday after I texted him before my quick shower. Unlike me he rarely spends any time at home, normally volunteering for one charity or another and always super busy... Just normally not busy enough that he didn't text me back at some point during the day. While he had been banned from the house he hadn't been banned from keeping in contact through other means.

"Because I was on the phone all night in between functions with someone's Grandmother trying to convince her that I would keep an eye on you and that she doesn't need to rent a house in town to make sure that you're completely safe."

A warning growl is all it takes for me to finally pull away from my best friend, several very curious eyes peering at us as the other gather in a cluster in the living room. We give each other one final squeeze and then pull ourselves apart, Quinn let me pull him into the living room, my friend showing no hesitation as he lets himself drop onto the couch and cuddles up to Casper, not even thinking about his instinctual urge to comfort those around him that are feeling anything other than content and happy.

...
Silas
...

"Agatha asked you to watch over him?"

"Of course she did", It isn't Quinn that answers my question, but Adrian, with a fond smile on his face as he gets as close as he ever does to looking me in the eye as he walks over and tucks himself into my side, snuggling in before he finishes, " As grumpy as she is, she does care."

"We all know she does, Addy. She's just stubborn... Kinda like your new mate."