Blizzards and Brews (Holiday Hollow Omegaverse)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Dustin

I t wasn’t the first time I’d woken up with Lindsay in my bed, and I was determined for it not to be the last.

Sun drenched over her golden locks, her face snuggled into my chest where she ended up some time during the night.

We’d been friends forever, and then when high school had hit, we’d grown into more. She was my first everything, and I was hers. But when our designations hit, she not only pulled away from my brothers, she had pulled away from me.

For a moment, I admit, I wasn’t sure we would find our way back together, especially when we had to leave Holiday Hollow for Ollie’s first heat without an explanation and had come to find that she’d bought a tiny home of her own with her inheritance.

She hadn’t wanted to dive back into anything but her stubbornness and ours had saved our friendship. Well that, and my late father’s will.

Still that couple of months had been the hardest of my life, and there was no way in hell I was going back to that. Lindsay was exactly where she was meant to be.

I had made her a promise a long time ago, that I would always tell her the hard truths, and even if she wasn’t ready for all of this, she had to know that this was the way forward.

“I can feel you staring at me from here,” she mumbled into my chest.

“Just making sure you hadn’t escaped, babe,” I said, tightening my arms around her.

“Har, har,” she said, turning her head to look up at me, before glancing at the clock. “I can’t believe we slept the rest of the day away and through the night.”

She looked like a beautiful, wild racoon, residual traces of her mascara darkened underneath her eyes. There was no doubt she’d kill me for not mentioning it later, but I didn’t give a fuck about the smudges, nothing could change how gorgeous she was or what she meant to me.

“It was nice having you in my bed,” I told her seriously. “Best sleep I’ve had in ages.”

“Me too,” she said with a small smile before her stomach interrupted us with the biggest growl I’d heard in ages.

“We need to get you fed before the alphas hear that,” I teased, digging my fingers into her side.

“For Hollow’s sake,” she groaned, the two of us getting out of bed.

I grabbed a shirt and tossed it on before using the restroom, managing to make it downstairs before her. She’d piled her hair up into a bun and the smudges below her eyes were gone.

Of course, that didn’t stop her from narrowing her eyes at me and pointing her fingers. “I got my eye on you, Dusty.”

A wide smile slid across my lips. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, babe.”

I grabbed a few bowls making a cereal assembly line, the two of us sitting on stools at the kitchen bar. It wasn’t long until we had company and I definitely didn’t miss Adam’s eyebrow arch up at the sugary goodness we were eating.

Hey, not everyday can be a full-blown breakfast. Plus, I happened to know for a fact that these golden clusters were one of her comfort foods.

“Morning,” Adam said, putting a hand on my shoulder in greeting and placing a kiss on Lindsay’s head.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head from his casual gesture.

Ollie and Spencer ended up coming down the stairs before she could respond, the two of them filling the space with their energy.

My brother all but scaled Lindsay, crawling into her lap and scent-marking her as Spencer came up and framed her from behind, the two of them whispering things that had her scent turning sweeter.

“I’m taking you out on a date tonight, firefly,” Adam all but growled out.

He threw a pleading look at me and I knew he wanted my help with arranging something. It wasn’t that my brothers didn’t know and love our girl on their own, but somehow, more often than not, they always ended up wanting to run their ideas by me.

Lindsay ducked her head around Ollie. “What?”

“We’re going on a date tonight,” he repeated, his chest puffing up as if he was preparing for some kind of fight. “After we get things settled at the brewery.”

“Oh god, the brewery,” Lindsay muttered, looking to me. “Were the cleaners?—?”

“All good,” I assured her. “I had a couple messages waiting on my phone. Leander is there already receiving the new food delivery to replenish our stores. We should be able to reopen today.”

“We really need to touch base on the festival sooner rather than later,” Spencer said with a grimace. “Especially if we’re going to have product to distributors or the new designs for the local release in time.”

“I have a few things to do this morning but then I’ll be in early to help Leander and get everything organized. Let’s meet there at nine thirty and we can go over everything before we open for lunch?” Adam asked, grabbing one of his protein drinks from the fridge.

“That works,” Ollie said, nodding. “Gives me enough time to corral this one into some online retail therapy with me.”

“Oh no,” Lindsay said, shaking her head. “The last time I agreed to that you redecorated my entire freaking home.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in, the devastation wiping away the smile on her face.

The guys and I all exchanged looks, knowing that we weren’t anywhere done with that shit piece of an ex of hers.

“Well, it won’t make up for all your stuff, but I have been graciously offered a room here and I would love your input,” Spencer said, all but pouting at her. “Do you think you could find it in your heart to help me?”

She rolled her eyes. “What’s in it for me?”

“Oh I’m sure I can think of plenty of ways to repay the favor, angel.”

“And I’m out,” Adam said. “I’ll see all of you in a bit.”

It was of no surprise to me that Adam was going to the gym again, it was only one of the outlets he had to relieve some of his pent up stress.

Adam had the gym, I had my guitar, and Ollie had his collection of specialty brews and bottles. He’d taken on the role of brewmaster early on. They were each interests, sometimes vices, in their own way that we used to fill the time that Lindsay didn’t occupy.

I left Lindsay in Ollie’s and Spencer’s capable hands knowing they’d want a moment with her before what was bound to be a long day for all of us.

By the time we all had wound up back at the bar I had managed to prep some helpful things for Adam and really review the rest of the options Spencer had given us just before the blizzard hit.

“So, you’re one hundred percent decided on this theme?” Spencer confirmed. “Because once I put in the order, there isn’t any going back. All the signage and labels will coordinate.”

“I think it’s the most seasonal while still being open to a lot of possibilities,” Ollie said. “I like that we’re pulling in colors from all kinds of traditions, not just the standard red and green.”

“Agreed,” I said. “But we need to decide what to do about the festival tent and here at the brewery. I think given some of our numbers, especially on the nights we have live music, that we should throw a main launch party here during the festival. Go all out.”

“What if we called in a couple of our temp workers to manage the tent during the day so we can explore the festival as a pack,” Lindsay said. “Then we can save our energy for the big launch party.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said as I fidgeted with my lip ring and studied her. The idea of walking around the festival and showing her off to the town had warmth spreading in my chest.

“I love that plan,” Ollie said, his eyes lighting up. That was enough for Adam’s resolve to weaken.

“I’ll contact Matt and Pat to see if they’re free for a few hours,” Adam relented. “We should make some flyers or signs to point everyone to the brewery when we open up for the evening.”

“Oh, good idea,” Lindsay said, already adding the new ideas to our shared list. My alpha brother melted a bit at her praise and I shook my head.

Those two needed this date tonight. Let’s just hope the alpha could pull it off.