novelxo Her Knotty List: Chapter 32
I wake up with Gunnar’s feet in my face.
I mean, it could be worse.
They could be Knox’s.
But still.
Grousing, I haul myself up and realize we must have slept in, by Mountain Man standards. Micah is long gone and so is Knox. The plaid blanket wadded up between my spot on the couch and Micah’s makeshift cot smells just like Emma, too.
Was she here? Did I miss her?
Shit.
I hop from foot to foot, cursing the freezing floor while I hobble to the one armchair shoved into the corner of the room, where we all left our shit last night.
I don’t remember which pair of Knox’s Costco-couture black sweats were mine, and I’m in too much of a rush to care. Plucking up the first pair I see, I spit more insults at the floorboards while I shimmy them on. Patting the pockets, hoping to find my phone around here, somewhere—
Hmm. What’s this?
It’s a piece of purple notebook paper. I unfold it, smiling at the tiny hearts inked along the margins.
Emma.
I don’t need to sniff it or read the name at the top to know it’s hers. The bubbly handwriting looks like Emma. The words she’s written out, however…
I blink at them, shock unhinging my jaw. Holy motherfucking—
My girl is a freak.
Double penetration, voyeurism, spit-roasting—
HELL. YES.
Until I read all the dirty, filthy ideas on her list, I didn’t notice there’s been a part of me, deep inside, bracing. The sex we had yesterday was incredible, but I still wondered how she would feel once she realizes just how sexual I am.
But look at this beautiful collection of kinky ideas my little mate wrote down. In fine detail.
Hot damn, gorgeous, say less.
I need to find her.
Like now.
A groggy growl interrupts my train of thought. Gunnar’s nutty smell burns, warning me that he’s awake the same second I hear his heavy footsteps behind me.
I whirl, baring my teeth in reply. Not because I really want to fight the guy—more because he needs to cool his shit all the way down.
Our omega wants us to get along. She wants us to try, anyway. So, instead of shoving him away, I hide the note behind my back and bounce my brows at him. “You got a problem, Hockey Boy? Or are you just not a morning person?”
With a roar, he reaches around me and snatches the list out of my hand. His eyes flare—and, I swear, the guy practically foams at the mouth as he spits, “The fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
I scoff, crossing my arms. “Other than falling even more madly in love with our dirty girl? Knox has no sense of style, and all his fucking pants look the same. I grabbed yours by mistake.”
Gunnar glares, his blondish brows folded over bleary gray eyes. He holds the charming expression for a long moment before sloughing out a breath, his wide shoulders falling forward. “Fuck. She’s going to be embarrassed.”
“About being my literal wet dream?” I smirk, but the feeling drains away as I imagine her sweet face covered in shame. My voice drops into a more solemn tone. “I’ll make sure she’s not embarrassed. Did she tell you what the list is? Her favorite things or…?”
For a long second, he debates not telling me. In the end, he blows out another sigh. “They’re things she wants to try. She wrote it for the honeymoon she never got to go on.”
Ah fuck. My heart catches, aching at the thought of how sad their lies must’ve been for her. I hope we’ve helped her feel better, at least a little bit. I don’t ever want her to be upset.
Gunnar looks as contemplative as I feel, frowning at the crinkled purple paper in his grasp. “It surprised me, too,” he allows. “She wasn’t sure if she should show you guys. She thought you might judge her.”
Fuck, I hate how much I get that. How familiar that fear is for me.
I shrug. “Not judging at all”—drooling like a damn dog, maybe—“Where the heck is our sweet little omega anyway? Did the mountain men carry her off into the hills? I need to make her pancakes and tell her how gorgeous she is.”
Gunnar looks mildly mollified by that. He crosses his arms and shrugs. “I thought I heard people go upstairs a while ago.”
I look down at the list hanging from the hand tucked under his left elbow, scanning the first set of words I see.
Watch two alphas jack each other off.
I swear to God, I’m going to marry this woman.
“So, wait,” I say slowly, snapping my eyes to his. “You’re telling me those two knot-heads are upstairs with her right now?”
Gunnar nods.
I throw my arms out to the side. “And you and I are standing around down here?!”
There’s a long pause, both of us turning our heads toward the stairs and back to one another.
And then we’re running.