Snowfall and Secrets (The Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 1) by Kierra Quinn Page B

slices. Her phone rang while she was searching for tongs to flip the bacon.
    “Hello,” she said while digging through a drawer.
    “Hey, dear, I figured you weren’t on the phone tree, so I thought I’d better check in on you. I’m sure Lukas has as well, but I wanted to be safe.” Marie was a sweetie. Tess felt so cared for here.
    “Yeah, I’m at Lukas’s house. My fireplace busted in the middle of the night, so I stayed here.”
    “Oh.” Marie paused for a second. “That was nice of him. You two have some fun?”
“Marie! What? No! Why would you ask me something like that?”
    “We’re friends, and you need a good friend. Besides he likes you, and you like him. It makes sense.”
    “No. Just no.”
    “Protesting a little too much, dear.” Marie chuckled.
    Tess blushed so hard the tips of her ears burned. Thank goodness Lukas was in the living room.
    “Well, from the looks of things, you’ll be staying there for a few days at least, so make sure you use protection.”
    “Marie. Seriously.” Then Tess grinned. “Though, it wouldn’t matter anyway, would it?”
“No, I guess it wouldn’t.” Marie laughed again. “Have fun, whatever you get up too. I’ll let Doc know you’re safe. He said to tell you school is cancelled tomorrow and likely all week.”
    “Okay. Thanks for letting me know. You guys take care of yourselves. Let us know if you need anything.”
    “You too, sweetie.”
    Tess hung up the phone, and it immediately rang again. Sara Chambers. Tess smiled. At least she wouldn’t ask about her love life. This phone tree thing was pretty nice.
    The next call came just as quickly. These people didn’t mess around. She glanced at her phone. Her mother. She probably heard about the blizzard.
    She answered. “Hey, Mom.”
    “Six feet of snow. Six. You’re tall but even that will be over your head. Are you even alive?”
    “I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
    “What’s it like?”
    “Well, my house is covered, and the power is out, but it’s beautiful in a strange way. When the snow dies down, I’ll send you some pictures.”
    “It smells amazing in here,” Lukas said as he walked into the kitchen. Tess turned the bacon and smiled.
    “Is that a man’s voice I hear? Seriously, Tess. I thought you’d outgrown sleeping with strangers.”
    Tess’s stomach grew cold.
    “Yeah, Mom. It was a blizzard, and I thought ‘hmm, I’m going to be stuck at home for a few days, better find someone to screw to pass the time.’”
    “Tess, I didn’t mean it like that.”
    “Yeah, you did. For what it’s worth, my heater stopped working in my house, so I’m staying with my landlord. As a thank you, I’m making him breakfast, which I’m going to burn if I don’t get off the phone. I’ll talk to you later.”
    Tess hung up the phone and wouldn’t look at Lukas. She turned the bacon over and over in the pan and blinked away the tears that were forming. She had no doubt she made the right decision by coming to Michigan.
    Lukas moved behind her and placed his hand on her back.
    “Tess, you okay?”
    She sniffed back the tears. “Yeah, I’m fine. My mom thinks I’m a slut. Nothing new there.”
    She knew what he was going to say. It’s what her friends said when she whined about the way her mom talked to her. She doesn’t mean it. She’s just doesn’t know how to say it right. Give her a break.
    But Lukas didn’t say any of those things. Instead, he said, “It doesn’t matter what she thinks. You’re not.”
    She spun on him. “How the hell do you know that? You know nothing about me.”

L ukas moved around the other side of the bar so he wasn’t standing so close to her. She needed some space. He watched her flip the bacon with a vengeance. Eventually she slid it onto a plate and grabbed the eggs out of the fridge.
    “How do you like your eggs?” she finally asked.
    “Over easy.”
    She nodded and cracked an egg into the sizzling grease.
    “I know a lot about you,”