Page 10

Verity

“ G o, Grif!” I cheered as I watched Grif score a goal on my tablet. “He’s on fire tonight,” I told AJ, who I was video chatting with as I sat in a green room at the arena in Portland.

“He’s close to breaking some records. Someone’s probably going to get a boner tonight. He’ll save that for you.” AJ grinned at me from the corner of the tablet screen.

“I’m sure he will.” I still thought it was a little silly that getting three goals in one game was called a boner.

The other team took the puck and raced across the ice, fueled by the need to retaliate. Their forward powered through. Jonas confronted her, and she passed it to someone who smacked it at Dean. Dean dropped into full butterfly, blocking the goal.

“Dean might get a shutout, too.” AJ took a lazy sip of beer.

I grew a little wet at the idea of rewarding my guys for playing well when I returned. Perhaps more than once.

My phone buzzed, followed by a picture of Grace and Riley.

Grace

Got snacks? We’re at the food court.

Me

Why are you in Portland? I’ll meet you when they go warm up.

What a delightful surprise. My attention turned back to my tablet as Dean did a little dance in the goal.

“What do defensemen get? It seems unfair to Jonas,” I asked as Jonas came over to Dean and knocked helmets, in what was basically their in-game version of a kiss.

“You want some of that, Princess?” AJ smirked as he took another pull of beer.

“Don’t you? How can you limit yourself to Grif when there is so much yumminess in your pack?” After five days, I was beyond horny for my boys. My vibrators didn’t compare. Not even the green tentacle one.

He nearly spit out his beer. “I’ll leave you to think of something. They’ll be away when you get in, but you know where I am if you need me.”

“What are you offering, Cow Boy?” My eyebrows waggled.

We’d never addressed him and Grif spit-roasting me in a storeroom. Or him saying that it would be nice to get naked with us.

And him telling me at the greenhouse that he’d take care of me another time.

“Aw, you miss me?” AJ put a hand to his heart.

Mercy

Done with the meeting. Where r u?

“I miss you so, so much, AJ. Hey, I’m being summoned by my sister. Talk to you later.” I blew him a kiss and ended the call. Gathering my stuff, I made my way to the locker room.

“Where have you been?” Mercy asked as she applied lipstick in a mirror.

“Watching the Knights game while video chatting with AJ.” I hung up my blazer and swapped out my blouse for my Team Mom jersey. “Grace and Riley are here.”

“I know. There’s a seat for you if you want to be with them during some periods.” She added sparkles to her eyelashes.

“That’s nice. Thank you.” I checked my hair in the mirror.

They finished getting ready and went to warm up on the ice. I found Grace, Spencer, her giant omega, Evan, and his teenage sister, Riley, in the food court sitting at a table.

Grace’s pretty face lit up when she saw me. She pushed her fries over. “Nacho fries. Oh my god.”

“What are you doing in Portland?” Plopping down in a free chair, I leaned my crutch against the table. I took a fry, covered in cheesy goodness.

“Harassing my omega’s sister. I mean touring the school for geniuses that my sister-in-law is dean of and visiting our foundation’s very first science scholar,” Grace told me, her blue-gray eyes dancing.

The Thanukos pack’s foundation gave scholarships to talented betas in the sciences. I was pretty sure one of Compass BioTek’s secret projects was being housed at said genius academy.

“I had the most interesting conversation with the owner of the Rockland Daredevils.” A smile twitched on Spencer’s lips. Today, the Greek billionaire wore Mercy’s jersey with his wool slacks and expensive shoes.

While Grace had other alphas, most were antisocial, including her scent match, so Spencer was the one who tended to travel with her.

Sometime, I should introduce Spencer and AJ. Certainly, they’d get along.

“Making fake logos and putting them on the internet wasn’t my idea.” I put my hands up in surrender.

“Naw, it was mine, and they’re fire.” Riley grinned as she bit the head off of a dinosaur-shaped pizza nugget. Heaps of beaded bracelets lined her wrists.

“I assured him that I wasn’t looking to buy his team. Yet.” Spencer grinned back. “For some reason, powerful people fear me buying a hockey team, and I have no idea why. It makes me want to do it. Maybe buy more than one.”

“Spence. We don’t buy things just to piss people off.” Grace fake slugged her alpha, who was much larger than she was.

“Apparently, people are afraid you’ll build a dream team and circumvent the salary budget by also hiring their spouses. Apparently, a lot of MASOs have degrees you’d find useful,” I told him, repeating what someone had told me.

“Hmmm. To change the subject, I signed the papers for your funding, but…” Spencer leaned in, and I could detect the notes of concern in his leather scent. “Is this what you want? If you’re worried about replacing everything, please don’t. We’ll help you regardless of whether or not you work for me.”

“It’s mostly to give me credibility, if that makes sense. You being interested in my flowers means something to people. I talked to Grif about it. He highly suggests you buy the team in Boston. And a place for me to work.” I popped another cheesy fry in my mouth.

“Boston? Is that where you all want to settle down after you finish your degree?” Evan asked, taking a sip of his lime whirl. Grace’s omega was part of the giant-omega club, and bigger than Dean, but not as big as Grif. Like Riley, he had light brown skin and dark hair.

“I think so.” I nodded. “Thanks for catching the person who wrecked my greenhouse. She’ll be facing the disciplinary committee,” I told Riley.

All I could think of was that it was a drunken dare. Because online passion for hockey aside, Samantha was an excellent student, who other people described as being kind and compassionate.

“Let me at those assholes who talk shit about you online, like those exes of yours that are dating each other.” Riley took another slurp of lime soda. Tonight, she wore a Maimers shirt, which had been cropped, shredded, and studded, worn over a fishnet bodysuit, with a studded mini and tall boots.

I grimaced, imagining the trash they were talking about me. “Never dated Derva. We just worked together sometimes. She wasn’t the most… conscientious co-worker.”

Back when I was in undergrad, I sometimes saw her in Research Circle, which was weird. She must have known people there, though her sister lived here in New York. Derva was always like it’s none of your business.

“Is everything okay with you and Grif?” Grace asked quietly, her peach and ice cream scent taking on notes of concern.

I took another fry. “We made up, but we still have a lot to talk about when I get back.”

“Is there anything you want to talk about with me? Given you’re not flying out tonight, we can go to the pizza arcade after the game, and the girls can play games while we have a beer in the corner.” Grace offered, as her small hand smoothed back her short blonde hair.

“I’d like nothing better than to get advice from you and Evan on this, but I can’t yet.” I sighed in defeat. Sure, I’d done a lot of research online. The Omega Center had some great information in its online public archives. Still, Evan worked for the Omega Center as an advocate and Grace was a gamma, they'd be a great resource—but it wasn't my secret to tell.

“Why not?” My brother Creed appeared, wearing a Maimers jersey. He and Grace looked a lot alike. However, my alpha brother towered over her.

“Is this about trying to balance Grif and Dean, or is something amiss with the other alphas? I can send you a video. Dean should involve the Center’s integration team if this is going where I think it is. They can help,” Evan offered, stealing one of Riley’s pizza nuggets.

“Maybe?” I stood, leaning on my crutch as I hugged Creed, inhaling his nectarine scent. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you’d need a hug, so I tagged along. Also, I miss you.” His arms stayed tight around me. We were about the same height and build, though he’d bulked up a bit since moving to Rockland to work for Spencer.

“I miss you, too. I’m sorry if I’ve been quiet.” While we texted daily, we didn’t talk as much, as I turned more to my guys than to him.

Creed shook his head. “I know you’re slammed between Mercy, your PhD, your boys, and modeling. Why were you in a bathtub of fish?”

“It was such a beautiful photo. I love that website,” Grace told me.

Ooh, they’d love her. I should introduce them.

“Because they paid me?” I shrugged.

“Am I planning a wedding?” Grace looked smug. My phone buzzed, and I saw she sent me a link to a pin board titled Verity Wedding Inspo.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Grif said he likes weddings. You basically had my dream wedding, so I trust you to help me execute my wedding vision.”

“It’ll be so much fun. If you’re getting married in the hockey off-season, let me know as soon as you can. It doesn’t give me much time. Where were you thinking? Greece, in a field of your lilies?” Grace took a pull from her bottle of beer as she leaned into Spencer.

“Oooh. That’s a great idea. I’ve always wanted a garden wedding. A field of my lilies would be lovely,” I agreed, imagining it.

“Considering your research, Greece would be quite fitting. There are many lovely places.” Spencer nodded as he had a sip of red wine.

“Absolutely. Were you thinking of a formal reception, or more of a summer picnic, where we could bring in tulle tents and big cushions?” Grace started typing things into her phone.

“I’m up for whatever, as long as there’s dancing and good music.” I nodded.

“Grace, don’t push them. Isn’t that fast?” Creed frowned at her.

I shrugged, enjoying the wedding planning conversation. “Part of our fight was we’re not moving fast enough.”

“I know to you it’s practical and makes sense to wait, but as an omega, Dean’s going to have quite the time waiting until after Grif. Especially since you don’t want to mate Grif until summer.” Evan nodded as he took one of Grace’s fries.

“I know.” I sighed. “Mercy likes them, but she’s enjoying it being just the two of us instead of a houseful.” What else did we do other than wait or move in?

“That’s why the integration team would be useful,” Evan pushed, his brown eyes glowing with concern.

Not sure we needed an integration team, which helped out when new members joined a pack.

Creed looked at me and held out his hand. “Come with me to get food?”

I looked up at the giant TVs in the food court and saw that the Maimers were still warming up. “Sure, I have time.”

He draped an arm around me as we got in the burger line. “You’re really going to stay with Grif? Mate him? Marry him? You talked it out? What happened?”

“We haven’t had the big talk, because we wanted it to be in-person. But…” I lowered my voice. “Based on our non-conversation, my earlier hypothesis might be correct. If so, that explains everything.”

“Fuck.” His look stayed pensive. “It would.”

I sighed as I leaned on my crutch. “I was trying not to rush things. But I don’t want to take things so slow that they hurt people. Mercy could be amenable to moving in with them. There’s a lot to work out.”

“That there is. I’m here if you need to talk.” He squeezed my shoulder.

Creed placed his order and got his food. Then we started walking back toward everyone else.

“I’m proud of you for getting on the ice with the team the other day,” he told me.

“The entire time I worried about falling and getting more injured.” I grimaced. “I never used to worry about stuff like that,” I replied.

“We’re adults. We no longer believe we’re invincible,” Creed replied as we rejoined the group. “But you can’t let it stop you.”

“I know. One of these days I might join the mascot on the ice with my snack cannon. I miss skating.” Even after I stopped taking lessons and competing with Creed, I’d still skated for fun–and had taught most of my younger siblings how to skate.

Riley’s eyes lit up. “Ooh. I want to shoot snacks at people. Is the cannon yours? Can I have it?”

“It’s the teams’, and not unlike the potato guns Creed and I used to make,” I told her. Usually, I shot it from the bench. It had been Sonny the social media manager’s idea to shoot pre-packaged snacks instead of T-shirts to go with my Team Mom theme.

“What’s a potato gun?” Riley asked.

Grace sucked in a breath. “I remember those. We’d shoot them off in the back field. Yes, let’s make one.”

Evan rubbed his temples, probably imagining the calls he’d get from Riley’s school about the aforementioned snack cannon. On the TV screens, I saw the teams skating off as warmups ended.

“Duty calls, but I’ll see you all second period?” I gave everyone hugs.

“Perfect,” Creed told me.

“You can talk to me, promise,” Grace whispered as she hugged me tight.

“I know.” I was grateful that even though we hadn’t grown up together, that Grace and I had easily slipped into sisterly roles.

Soon enough, we’d have a lot to talk about.