Page 164 of Alphas Like Us

He nods. “Maybe watch a movie. Farrow has never seenBatmanReturns.”

“No DC at the table,” Lo snaps. “I swear to all living Marvel things, I grabbed the wrong child in the Home Goods store.” His eyes almost soften when tells me, “I lost him in the toilet section carrying around a plunger in aislefour.”

“I was three,” Maximoff explains to me. “I thought it was asword.”

I smile picturing that, and this is one of those moments where I can feel Lo’s love for his son. I didn’t have that. It’s just a fact. But when I have kids, I want to give them that kind of unconditional, overwhelming attention andcare.

Our waitress returns to take our orders, and after she leaves, Connor tells the table, “In other news, I was offered a condom sponsorship thismorning.”

Ryke almost spits out his water. “You havesevenfuckingkids.”

“Royal sperm,” Loquips.

“Don’t fucking encourage that,” Ryke says and points at Connor’s billion-dollar grin with a butterknife.

With more seriousness, Ryke asks Connor, “When’s the last fucking time you even used acondom?”

I don’t really want this information. At all. Listening to “uncles” and “dads” talk about sex is not my forte. I’m just not used to thisshit.

Sex was never a topic of discussion unless it was an academic lecture about reproduction orejaculation.

I learned about fucking from the internet or friends growing up. I didn’t have advice on lube from my uncles like Maximoff. I didn’t have “the talk” from my dad. No safe sex lecture. Because the old man assumed I was smart enough to know about STDs from the medical journals that Iskimmed.

I glance at Maximoff who looks absolutely unfazed. I’ve always loved how close he is to his family, and I only want our relationship to bring him closer tothem.

“Decades,” Connor answers the last time he’s used acondom.

“Are you taking the sponsorship offer?” Maximoff asks while an appetizer of string fries comes out on ourtable.

“I wouldn’t.” Connor swishes his wine. “It’d have a negative impact on the children if I advertised my face or name on a condomline.”

I’ve noticed that whenever they’re just with Maximoff or Jane, they always exclude those two from “the children”category.

I unscrew the mustardbottle.

Lo focuses on me. “Are you willing to show my son the same respect that I’ve raised him to showyou?”

Maximoff makes a face. “Where the fuck are these questions comingfrom?”

I watch as Lo digs into his pocket and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper. “Questions for the Overly Tattooed Boyfriend of My Perfect Son Dot Com.” He gives me an iconic dry smile. “I hatetattoos.”

“I know,” I say with a nod. “Good thing your son lovesthem.”

Connor and Ryke turn to Lo. Gauging his reaction. And Lo is narrowing his sharp-edged eyes at me, and very dryly, he says, “Doeshe?”

Maximoff pipes in, “I really fuckingdo.”

An amused smile breaks across my face. Fuck, I can’t believe he admitted that in front ofme.

And Lo laughs, a real laugh, all before passing the questionnaire to his brother. Ryke reads the paper insilence.

“These are fucking terrible,” Ryke says, his gaze veering as our food parades over, and while we all dig into burgers and fries, we talk about the latestFourth Degreemovie, the Philadelphia Eagles, and how in July all three families have planned a trip toGreece.

But instead of Greece, we keep sayingTahitiin case anyone overhears. It’s the code name. That trip is approaching fast, and it spans over Maximoff’s birthday. It’s a vacation that I wasn’t supposed to be attending. Because I should’ve still been in a residencyprogram.

Now that I’m out, I cango.

I notice Jack Highland setting his camera down towards the end. He speaks in Tagalog on his phone to someone. I hear the nameJesse. His littlebrother.