Blizzards and Brews (Holiday Hollow Omegaverse)

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Lindsay

W ork had dragged on longer than I expected. I had fumbled more glasses tonight than I had in years. My mind was all over the place and knowing this talk tonight with the triplets was coming, I couldn’t seem to get it together.

“Ride home with me,” Dustin demanded, toying with his lip ring. “I drove separately today.”

“Okay,” I agreed easily. He had always been a calming space for me and I was glad to be able to take a breath before everything.

We’d already planned to chat, but Spencer showing up changed everything.

“Adam might need a few minutes to breathe before this anyway,” I muttered. “Let me say goodbye to Spencer.”

Dropping the bar rag I walked around the counter to seek the alpha who was packing up his work. He’d occupied the back table the whole night and I felt his gaze lingering on me more than once.

“I’m heading out. The guys and I have plans at their place tonight,” I said as I walked up.

“Ollie told me. Keep an open mind, angel. They’re practically begging for you to see them,” he said gently as he pulled me close and breathed me in. For some strange reason I couldn’t find it in me to push him away. Ever since he sat at my bar he’d done nothing but draw me in.

I swear this man made me feel precious. It was strange but nice.

“I do see them,” I grumbled. We both knew he wasn’t talking about something simple but he didn’t argue.

“Text me when you get there and if you need to talk after,” he said, kissing my head. “Go. Have fun.”

Oh, yeah, I’m sure this was just going to be loads of fun.

Having a conversation I’d put off in one way or another for the better part of a decade? Piece of cake.

Adam and Ollie piled into their truck while Dustin and I got into his car, setting out for the house they had on the edge of town.

They had built it five years ago, when we’d managed to make Holiday Brews not just a brewery, but an event space as well. That had really been the turning point for us. Parties, live music, it gave us a lot of options.

I watched Adam make the right-hand turn down their road. Dustin blew past it, going straight towards the long stretch of road that led out of Holiday Hollow.

“What are you doing?” I questioned, looking at my best friend like he was crazy. “If we don’t show up right after them, Adam is going to lose his shit.”

“Adam can wait,” Dustin said. “I’m calling a Holloway.”

Surprise coursed through me. “None of us have called a Holloway in years.”

“Well, I’m calling one now, for you. Since you’re obviously not going to do it yourself. You want the truth that you don’t want to hear?”

I nodded my head even as I felt my stomach clench. “Yes.”

“If we go to the house right now, things won’t get better, they’ll get worse. You’re feeling so many things right now that you’re on the verge of shutting down. You need to get some of them out so that you can have a clear mind for tonight. Actually enjoy those extra crab rangoons instead of being filled with existential dread. Plus, Adam needs to realize that he doesn’t always call the shots. It’s a win win.”

A Holloway was something we’d come up with when I was sixteen after my parents died. Sometimes, the world was just too much. Well, either that or my emotions were. Sometimes, I just needed peace or a pivot.

It was an idea that Ollie had come up with actually, and they’d used it a few times during that time too, when we were all going through changes. The last time I recalled one of us using it was Adam around the time that they’d built their house.

It was also right after I told them I wasn’t moving in.

“So, what are we doing then?” I asked, taking a deep breath and bracing myself for whatever Dustin had in mind.

“We’re going with an oldie but a goodie. Taking us back to one of the things we bonded over in school,” he said, shooting me a grin.

Gods, he was gorgeous. His deep-blue eyes shot through me in a way that spoke of untold depths, and when he queued up a song that we’d both loved in high school, I knew it was exactly what we needed.

“Nothing helps you let go better than a pop punk favorite,” I said, with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry I can’t bring back that fringe of yours for this moment, but I know we can both channel our former emo kid days,” he said, toying with his lip piercing. “I’ll crank the heat, but it’s freezing outside, I can only let them down a smidge.”

Excitement filled me as the play button sat temptingly on the dash. “Let’s do this.”

The heavy rapid rhythm of drums filled the car as Dustin cranked the volume, both of us singing at the top of our lungs with nothing before us but road. The cool air bit into our skin as our feet stayed toasty warm and my heart lightened.

With each screamed lyric, another bit of worry lifted. When it got to the chorus, Dustin and I did the syncopated hand motions we knew like the back of our hearts. We sang and sang, going through the song on repeat more than once until my body was relaxed and a big smile sat on my face.

“For Hollow’s sake, I needed that,” I said, between a laugh. “Thanks, Dustin.”

“Always, babe. No matter what, I have your back. Now are you ready to stuff our faces and talk to my brothers and I?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, knowing it was inevitable.

Dustin turned the car around, switching the song to a playlist that had similar songs from our youth. It was one of the things Dustin and I bonded over, and why we convinced the others that we needed to make room for live music at the bar.

Sometimes, when all your words ran out, a song could help you say what you couldn’t.

Adam was sitting on the patio steps, bundled up in his coat, waiting for us when we arrived.

I half expected him to go off, but he simply pulled the two of us in for a hug.

“You two alright?”

“Better now,” I told him, letting myself indulge in his caramel-latte scent. The sweet-coffee scent always perked me up a bit.

“Let’s get you fed,” Adam said, ushering us into the house. “Ollie went all out, we might even have leftovers this time.”

I shook my head. “There’s a first time for everything.”

Music was playing in the kitchen, though a lot less intense than the tracks we listened to in the car.

Ollie had covered the kitchen island in takeout containers. I shot a quick text off to Spencer letting him know I’d made it so he didn’t worry.

“Ladies first,” he offered as he handed me a plate. I didn’t argue, the smell alone had my stomach rumbling in anticipation. I loaded up my plate with spicy chicken, fried rice, and a heaping stack of crab rangoons.

“Where’s the veggies?” Adam teased as he gave me a playful side eye. He was still tense but I appreciated his attempts at lightening the mood.

It was such an alpha thing to say, but he was clearly still offering an olive branch with his tone.

“Waiting for you,” I shot back as I took a bite of crunchy, fried goodness. Ollie had even ordered from my favorite restaurant so they were extra delicious, a hint of spice mixed with the sweet.

My groans were met by silence and I cracked open my eyes and shrugged. “They’re good, don’t judge me.”

I tried my best to ignore the heated looks.

“No, please, continue,” Dustin teased as he dropped down on the couch next to me and dug into his own plate.

Ollie turned on our favorite reality show. It was a hot mess of trash TV perfection. Two packs competed for ten thousand dollars. The competition varied. Sometimes it was running a pop-up cafe and advertising, other times it was obstacle course or gladiator style. Whoever won the most got the prize.

“What’s this one about?” I questioned before taking another bite.

“They’re doing an elaborate escape room. They converted an entire warehouse,” Ollie said with a grin. “I saw the commercial weeks ago and saved it for us.”

We watched the dramatics as we emptied our plates. Adam, however, was on top of it. The moment Ollie sat his empty plate on the table he was moving, clearing the trash and putting away leftovers. Usually, I’d help, but this time I stayed where I was and tried to cling to the calm Dustin had brought me earlier.

Adam finished and walked back to us, sitting on the coffee table so his knees were touching mine, boxing me in.

I could feel the heat from his touch, the tension between us growing each second. Time was up, there was no way I could run now.

“Firefly,” he said softly. “We can’t avoid this conversation any longer. Things are changing.”

“I know,” I said as I finally met his eyes.

He was already being far more patient than I deserved.

“We’re going to say our piece. Just… let us get this out first, okay?” he asked. The way he was begging me to hear them out had me nodding along.

“We’ve tried really hard not to push you,” Ollie admitted. I turned to him and he was giving me a hopeful smile, his hand seeking mine out and twining our fingers together.

Before I could open my mouth to reassure him, Adam was forging ahead.

“I’m done waiting, Lindsay. We’re making our intentions known. We want you. Hell, I’ve wanted you from the moment I met you and nothing has changed other than how much I wish you were mine.”

“We made a room for you here, and it’s still yours. It isn’t just a passing phase, Linds,” Dustin added. “We’ve known you all of our lives and we know what we want, that isn’t going to change.”

My chest ached. They had expected me to move in once the house was finished and when I declined, it had hurt them. Though, they never made me feel guilty about it, which proved what good men they were. They just wanted me to be happy.

They also wanted me to be theirs.

I had my own reservations and they were logical… but they didn’t seem to care. I couldn’t tie them to me when I knew I wasn’t going to be able to share my mates with an omega.

Ollie withstanding. He was different, we had our own connection. That didn’t mean I could give them what they needed, though.

Adam needed an omega still, Spencer being here didn’t change that.

The idea of giving in was tempting. Far too tempting. But I couldn’t do that to them, and I wouldn’t do that to me.

I couldn’t stand to finally give into the love I held in my heart only for it to be ripped away when reality set in. When Adam went into a rut and I couldn’t give him relief, or he smelled someone else on the sidewalk and found an omega. When Dustin would grow to resent me for seeing what I was putting his brothers through.

Spencer gave me a chance with Ollie, but it would be an insult to us both if that’s what finally made me give in. He mattered, for sure he mattered, but I needed to make this choice based on my relationship with the triplets. Not a new person that made me consider the possibility.

“I can see you fighting this in your head,” Dustin said gently as he scooted closer, his arm lining up with mine. “It won’t change how we feel.”

“It won’t,” Adam agreed firmly. “And I’m not holding myself back anymore, firefly. I’m going to show you how good we can be together. We’re pack. We got off track over the years, let you push us away, and we’re not going to keep doing that. Not now.”

“What about Spencer?” I finally asked, not able to stay quiet anymore. If they wanted to talk about pack, he needed to be included in the conversation. Especially since Ollie was his scent-matched mate.

“He messaged me,” Ollie said, showing us the phone in his hand. “I want to get to know him. We’re strangers, but he makes me feel things I only feel with you, Lindsay.”

“I’m happy for you Ollie,” I told him. “Truly. You deserve an alpha of your own that can give you the love you deserve.”

“He’s part of this, I can’t change that,” Adam said, almost reluctantly. “I’m not sure what that looks like but I’ll always put you first, firefly.”

“Don’t say anything tonight,” Dustin said. “We’ve hit you with a lot to think about and I know you need to process it.”

“Just know, we’re here and our plan is to win you over,” Ollie finished as he pulled me closer and turned the TV back on. I melted into his arms and focused on the TV, sucking in greedy breaths of his caramel-marshmallow scent. Though, I didn’t really catch any of the show.

My head was in other places.

Part of me could see myself spending my life here with them and Spencer. Morning breakfast and late-night movies. Cuddles on the couch and quiet coffee with Adam. Dustin and I taking drives to get away. I wasn’t sure what Spencer’s quirks were, but I couldn’t picture any of this without him in it as well.

In my heart, I knew they were mine, but I still couldn’t fix what was holding me back. I’d spent years outrunning it and now they were done holding back.

Would it change anything?

I wasn’t sure it could.