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Chapter 17

Ember

Sitting in my office, I stared at my computer and willed it to behave.

It had been an amazing week. Alejandro spent the night, even though he offered to give us space. But I usually came home around five or six; West usually made it around six, and Alejandro around seven or eight. So I still had time with just West.

I’d asked my omega a couple of times how he was doing, and he replied the same way each time. The sex was mind-blowing, and he didn’t mind Alejandro hanging around.

Which was West speak for he wanted the alpha around as much as I did. Alejandro was easy to get along with, and most of the time we snuggled on the couch and watched movies.

Maybe, a tiny voice in my brain whispered. Maybe we could keep him.

I squashed the voice. It was too soon to tell. West and I dated an alpha named Josh three years ago, and it had started out great. He was charming, fun-loving, and not pushy. Didn’t seem to care at first that West didn’t want to be knotted, that I could go top or bottom, or that we were both passionate about our jobs.

It wasn’t until a few months later that Josh’s suggestions got louder about us staying home so he could take care of us. Josh assumed West would beg for a knot during our heat, or that I’d want to quit my job and be the good little omega homemaker.

I’d thought Josh would work out too. I really liked Alejandro, but it would be safer for me to keep my expectations on the ground, firmly level, where they belonged.

The feeling of being on a limb stayed with me, but I wondered if maybe the branch was a little stronger than I’d realized.

My brother Terran poked his head into my office. “Got a minute?”

“Sure.” I gestured at my armchair. I’d spent more time on the couch than at my desk. It was more comfortable than my chair. It had nothing to do with the couch still smelling faintly of Ben and Rian.

Nope. I was already on a limb. I wasn’t about to leap off without a parachute.

Terran took a seat. He wore shorts despite the chilly weather, and a thin long-sleeved shirt. He had dirt smudged on his cheek, so he was probably wandering around doing yardwork. No wonder he looked so happy.

I gestured at the plate of food in front of me. “Hungry?”

Alejandro was not playing around with food now that West and I gave him free rein, so he prepped breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some desserts.

I’d had an actual breakfast every day, not just a cup of coffee, and this week we had chicken salad with a strawberry vinaigrette for lunch.

“The software is still having issues.” Terran stole some fruit and cheese from the charcuterie board Alejandro made me for snacks. He called it my good girl charcuterie board since I liked snacks more than meals.

My stomach tightened. This was why I didn’t like heavy meals. I hardly ever had panic attacks anymore, but they used to happen several times a week. Tension made my stomach upset and it was hard to eat.

“I don’t know what’s happening.” I took a long sip of my Coke, willing the sugar to make everything better. “I’ve started checking it daily, and sometimes it’s fine and sometimes there’s all sorts of bugs.”

“Me too.” Terran sighed and ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair. It was getting a little shaggy around his ears, and he’d cut it soon.

He was muscular from his handyman work around the property as well as the weights he liked to lift. My brother was a beefcake cinnamon roll who got hit on as much as I did when we went out.

Terran was partially why I didn’t buy Greg’s whining that the reason no one wanted to date him was that he was a beta.

Sure, plenty of alpha and omega assholes thought they couldn’t get by with only betas, but it was also about personality and how you took care of people.

Like Alejandro. West and I wouldn’t have kept him around if he acted for one second like we owed him our bodies just because he had a knot.

I shut my brain down, not wanting to think about knotting in front of my brother.

“We might have to pause some functions for maintenance,” Terran said, looking grim.

I groaned. “What if people are chatting? In the process of signing up?”

“We can section it off, do updates at different times of day.” Terran added some candied pecans to his pile of food. “This is good. I’m glad you’re finally eating.”