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“Is she gone?” Daphne whimpers, sounding absolutely miserable.

My chest hurts, desperate to help as I drop to my knees at her side. “Yeah, baby. She’s gone.”

“Can I slink out the door without her seeing?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Mama calls from the kitchen. “I’ve raised five kids, three of them my own. I’ve got eyes sharper than an eagle.”

“Let me die here.” Daph groans, trying to become one with the blanket. Or sink through the floorboards. I’m not sure which, but I refuse to let her disappear.

This isn’t how I wanted her to meet my family, that’s for damn sure, but this could be a good thing. She needs support and if there’s one thing the Barretts do, it’s support the people they love. And I know they’re going to fall for Daphne as hard and fast as I have.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. She’s the one who barged into our home.”

I pull the blanket off Daphne’s face, smoothing the curls away from her forehead. Kind of wish I’d wrapped her hair up before we fucked, but there’s nothing to do about it now. We’re going full sex hair this evening and she’s going to rock it.

“My exes were family friends I was forced with the second I presented, Dez. I’ve never met a new boyfriend’s mother and the first time I do, I’mfucking her son.”

Daphne’s hiss is so pointed it could cut, but I can’t stop smiling. “You called me your boyfriend.”

“Oh my god, not the time.”

Uh oh. She’s climbing into dog whistle territory. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the best introduction I could’ve imagined, but Daph looks like she’s about to have a panic attack.

My instincts rush to the front, knowing I need to calm her down before shit gets really bad. I wrap her up burrito style and pull my blanketed omega into my lap. She fights for all of two seconds before I cup the back of her neck and squeeze. Just like that, putty in my hands. I’ll have to thank Nate for the heads up later.

When I’m sure Daph won’t bolt, I stroke her back, reveling in the way she rests her head on my shoulder. How she softens with every breath of my scent. How good it feels to be there for her when she needs it.

Once I’m no longer concerned about heart attacks, I squeeze Daph tighter. “Would it help if I said this isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened with Mama?”

Her fingers tighten, little nails scratching my chest through the shirt. “If you tell me she caught you fucking someone else, I swear, I will revolt—bad impression or not.”

We both ignore the fresh cackles from the kitchen.

“When we were horny teenagers, Levi and I would get industrial packs of lotion so we could each have one in our rooms for—well, you know.”

“Oh, like…” Daph’s hand wiggles under the blanket and I laugh, pushing it down because joke or not, my dick wants her to jerk me for real. I can’t be aroused in the same room as my mother. It’s a universal law.

“Right. Well, one day, I was itching to destress, and I ran out of lotion the same day Levi did. The house was empty for once and I didn’t want to wait, so I snuck into Mama’s bathroom and stole hers. Did my business and put it back before she noticed, but I forgot to putmylotion on the grocery list.”

“Oh my god. You didn’t,” Daphne whispers, biting her bottom lip as she tries not to laugh.

“Yep. I kept using it, until one day Mama barged in just before bed. ‘If you don’t stop using my good lotion for your spank bank, we’re going to have a problem.’”

Daphne’s entire body twitches as she tries and fails to smother a snicker. “Nooooo.”

“Yes. Then I tossed him an industrial sized bottle of lube and told him to use that instead. Gave the others one as well while Iwas at it. That lotion was too expensive to use on masturbation,” Mama says from the kitchen.

This time, Daphne tosses her head back and laughs so hard she nearly cries. I’d do a lot of terrible things, suffer through more embarrassment than I’d care to admit just to hear it again.

“I was fucking mortified, but Mama never mentioned it again. She’s good at that.”

Daph tilts her head, reading me like we’ve been together for decades. “You’re trying to tell me she won’t hold this over my head?”

Mama snorts. “Sweetheart, I’m almost sixty years old. If you knew half the shit I did when I was younger, you wouldn’t be embarrassed.”

I ignore her interruptionagain, waiting for my omega’s answer. Daph bites her lip, glancing toward the kitchen warily. “You’re not going anywhere?”

“I wouldn’t leave you,” I promise, heart swelling with her trust.