Page 31 of Shattered Trinket
A unique and beautiful name for a uniquely beautiful woman.
Tesoro.
She’s so small, with a frailness to her that’s unmistakable when she and Valley get closer to us. Her copper hair shines in the fading sunlight, her curls wild and untamed as they frame her heart-shaped face. Clear blue eyes briefly glance at me before moving on, but that one second is enough to completely ensnare me.
“Boys! I didn’t know you were stopping by today. If I’d known, I would have brought dinner home for everyone.”
Valley’s face lights up with a warm smile as she wraps her arms around each of us, embracing us tightly. When she wraps her arms around me, it takes everything I have to get my limbs to work again so I can hug her back, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t take my eyes off the petite omega at her back. With a gentle smile, Valley releases me and beckons her over with a wave. I notice Cozy’s initial hesitation, but she visibly regains her composure, inhaling deeply and standing tall before coming to stand in front of me next to Valley.
“Manny, you two didn’t get to meet when Zeke and Ridge stopped by. This is Cozy. She’s been staying with us. Cozy, this is Manny, Zeke and Ridge’s pack brother.”
Valley pulls Cozy closer, her arm encircling Cozy’s shoulders in a gentle, affectionate embrace. Inhaling deeply, her sweet fragrance overwhelms me, making it difficult to suppress the sound of longing that rises in my throat.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Cozy whispers, the voice ofun ángelsoftly ringing in my ears.
When she glances up at me through her thick lashes, I swallow around the knot suddenly lodged in my throat.
“Y tú pequeña,”I choke out, the Spanish falling from my lips without thought as I get entirely lost in her eyes.
Zeke laughs under his breath as he comes up behind me and slaps a hand to my back, knocking me out of my stupor enough that I notice the puzzled frown on her lips.
“Dinnae mind him, lass. Ye’ve rendered him speechless in the American language, so he’s fallen back on his default settings.”
Pink tinges her cheeks when Zeke speaks to her, but she smiles softly at him. I scowl up at the giant knothead and glower when he looks over at me with a wink.
He was the one sitting here, bouncing his knee and moaning about being nervous to see her again!
“Te mostraré la configuración predeterminada, pendejo,” I mutter under my breath, low enough that he hears, but Valley and Cozy don’t.
I’ll show you default settings, asshole.
While Cozy may not understand Spanish, Mama Valley has become fluent over the years I’ve spent with her. Zeke smirks, and I resist the temptation to reach up and wipe that self-satisfied expression away, a reminder of his knack for being an aggravating shit.
El bastardo.
Valley leans in, her voice barely audible as she speaks to Cozy, and she nods, prompting Valley to give her shoulder a reassuring pat. She glances at me and Zeke, her gaze lingering for a second before she walks over to Shep and Damien. Cozy grows increasingly restless as Zeke continues to stare at her, her movements becoming more fidgety as she shifts from foot to foot. In an attempt to distract him, I give him a sharp elbow in the stomach, eliciting a grunt and momentarily diverting his attention away from her. I meet his intense gaze head-on, reciprocating with a meaningful glare, before clearing my throat and shifting my attention back to Cozy.
She’s uncomfortable, but she hasn’t run yet, which is good. I don’t know if she knows what she is to us yet, so I’m unsureof what to say to her. I just know that I want to ask her…everything. I want to know all there is to know about this woman, to listen to her talk to me for hours. Above all else, I want to erase that hurt I can see hidden in her pretty eyes and rebuild her heart, fix the cracks caused by someone else.
“Ignore him. All I said was it’s nice to meet you, too,” I finally say, the right side of my mouth tipping up tentatively.
“Oh. Um, I know what you said. I was frowning because you called me little,” she murmurs, once again frowning as she looks at me with furrowed brows and flushed cheeks that are… incredibly fucking adorable.
My brows rise as Zeke barks out a laugh at my side and claps me on the shoulder.
“Ye werenae expectin’ that now were ye, ye bastard!” he snorts, and I roll my eyes.
“Yeshut your giant ass up,ye bastard,”I mock him with a growl.
I catch Cozy flinch when I growl and I swallow that shit down real quick, throwing an apologetic look her way as I rub the back of my neck. Frustration fills me as I sigh, convinced that I’m messing up every aspect of this and creating an awful first impression. I also don’t like the way my chest aches because she flinched at my growl. I didn’t think it was a threatening growl, more playful annoyance, but it’s apparently something she doesn’t like.
“Sorry,” I mumble with a wince, and her features soften slightly.
“It’s okay.”
I feel like I’m floundering as I try to come up with something,anything,to talk to her about when Zeke saves me from embarrassing myself further. By embarrassing himself. He steps forward and bows, holding his hand out for her to take, but he’s so fucking huge that he just looks ridiculous.
“Would the lass do me the honor o’ accompanyin’ me on a walk?”