Page 5 of Baking for His Omega (Omegas of Oliver Creek #13)

Gideon

I pulled into my driveway, confused, distraught, and beyond planning anything further than going into the house and drinking myself to sleep. I rarely touched alcohol, and shifters, particularly of the bear variety, had to imbibe quite a lot to feel anything, so I only hoped I had enough in the back of my kitchen cabinet to make it happen.

Usually, those bottles were used as flavorings for baking experiments, so they were mostly liquors and such, but I would make do and worry about the likely hangover from all that sweet alcohol tomorrow.

Surely finding out my mate had already chosen another was worth a pity party.

I turned to grab my hoodie from the back seat, and my gaze lit on a small blue box. Oh, hell no! I can’t go back there and meet the male who stole my life.

They’d probably already cut the cake anyway, and it was too late for the smash cake. So, why was I putting the car in gear and backing out of the driveway? I pulled over to the curb to send a text to the omega and let him know I was on the way then realized he’d called on the shop landline, so his number wasn’t in my cell.

It was, however, on the order taped to the top of the smash cake box. I typed, Just found the smash cake in my back seat. So sorry for the inconvenience, but I’ll be there in a few minutes. He’d probably tell me not to bother, or that it was too late, but I had a duty to complete. They could always freeze the cake for a night when they wanted a special dessert if they didn’t use it for the party.

I was driving again when a notification chime came, but I didn’t want to take the time to pull over and check it. A red light offered the opportunity.

As I’d suspected, it said, Please don’t go to any more trouble. The one you already brought was more than enough.

I didn’t reply. Nor did I look too closely at why I really wanted to do this. Even if it hurt, I wanted to see my fated one more time. In this town, it was likely it would be more than once. And that would really be a problem.

Parking in the same spot I left not long before, I reached over the seat for the small cake box and tried to slow my heartbeat. And quiet my bear. We were going to see our mate for the second time, but that meant nothing since he belonged to someone else. Fated mates took precedence to chosen—if they were found first. I couldn’t ever ask him to leave Wyatt’s father. That little guy deserved the love and attention and secure home his two dads were providing for him. No, they didn’t live in a fancy house, but what I saw past him as we stood in the doorway was a decent place with lots of cheerful decorations celebrating their son’s very first birthday.

If I was going to be decent, I’d hand off the box as quickly as possible and run for it, never to return. Hopefully, he’d never come into the shop and I wouldn’t run into him anywhere else in town. I could do my shopping elsewhere.

I rang the bell, and this time, the door opened much faster.

My omega—not my omega—stood there in front of me, wearing a friendly smile and a different set of clothing. Still casual, these jeans fitted him in a way I shouldn’t be noticing, and the pale-blue polo was almost the same color as his eyes and my cake box. “You really didn’t have to do this.”

“Oh, I did. Not only for you, but if I didn’t deliver it, what would I do with a cake that says Wyatt and has a number one on it? What are the odds I’d get another order like that before morning?”

“Not good?” he guessed.

“Nonexistent, I think.” I tried not to stare at him, but I was drinking in a memory I’d have to consult whenever I was sad or lonely in the future. Fate had indeed given me a mate, even if that mate had chosen someone else before I found them. He wouldn’t be the first to make that mistake. “I-I hope I’m not too late with this for the festivities.” I could hear chattering of both adults and toddlers in the background, and see people moving around in the dining room off the living room. “I know it’s a very important cake.”

“It is that,” he said. “But if you hadn’t come, we’d have made do with the other one. My family didn’t even do smash cakes, we just had a piece of cake to make a mess with. Judson, Wyatt’s other dad, wanted to do that.”

“I see. And you wanted to keep up that tradition for Wyatt.”

“I guess. I’m not sure, but it suddenly seemed very important to have for him. And also, I had no cake at all because…well, it fell through.”

“I guess I’d better just give this to you and let you get back to your guests. Tell Wyatt happy birthday again from me, and I hope he enjoys smashing the cake.”

He wrinkled his nose, looking even more adorable. “Yeah, not looking forward to cleaning it up, but he’ll have fun.”

“Absolutely.” I’d already stood here about four times longer than planned, and I was keeping this polite omega from his mate and others at the party. “I guess I’ll go, then. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” Kelly took the box from me, and I started to turn away but then he said, “If you don’t have other plans, why not come in for the party?”