Page 23

Beth

“ Y ou should be resting!” Jensen said as I padded downstairs.

“I’ve been in bed for days. If I don’t get up soon and move, I’m going to lose my mind. Don’t you guys need to get to work? How much time did you take off?” I asked pointedly.

Jensen grimaced. “A few days, but we’ll be fine.”

After my heat had broken, we spent a day napping, eating, and recovering, and now I was ready to move around again. I had ignored my life for too long.

Knotting was something else. I had snarked at the guys that I wasn’t new to it, but what I failed to admit is, I had only experienced knotting via a knotting dildo. The real thing was far more intense… not that I was complaining.

“It’s Saturday. Joey and I can do her homework and eat a bunch of junk food while you guys go to work. We’re not going to leave the house or do anything too strenuous, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Jensen paused for a moment, his eyes piercing as he looked me over. “Are you sure? I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone so soon after a heat.” He wrapped an arm around me, kissing the top of my head.

“Honestly, I feel great. If Cullen brings me any more food, I may throw him out a window. He’s feeding me like I’m a linebacker and not an omega.”

A chuckle escaped Jensen’s chest. “It’s how he shows he cares.”

Did he care? Given everything that had happened between us, I wasn’t quite sure where we stood. We bickered and we fucked. There were moments when there was a soft understanding between the four of us, and there were moments when I wanted to strangle them.

The front door clattered open as Gideon and Joey came home, the exuberant child running up to me with a big hug. “Bethany!” she cried excitedly. “I went to the grocery store with my dad, and we got all of the cookies.”

“Hey! Good job!” I said, hugging her back.

Gideon shook his head with a smile as he took off his jacket. “She managed to get three types of cookies. That’s all.”

“Three types?” I asked, looking between the pair of them. “I don’t know how you convinced him, but I’m impressed.”

Joey beamed at me. “I told him you like all those kinds of cookies.”

Gideon looked away, the tips of his ears turning pink.

“Thank you,” I whispered as Jensen pulled me tighter to him.

“Have you told her about Friday yet?” Gideon asked, looking over my head to Jensen, his momentary embarrassment forgotten.

“Friday?” I asked, looking between the two alphas.

“We’re taking you out on a date,” Jensen said, his grip on me never lessening.

“A date?” I asked, confused. When had I agreed to a date?

“Yeah,” Gideon said, striding toward me and pulling me into his arms, acting like it was the most natural thing in the world. I had expected everything to go back to normal as soon as I recovered from the heat… but they were still very touchy and warm toward me.

I liked it more than I dared admit.

“Like a date, date?”

They both nodded. “Like a date, date.”

Jensen cleared his throat. “Also, Bethany is insisting we all go catch up on work while she and Joey hang out today.”

“It was all part of my master plan to get cookies.” I grinned.

Both alphas looked me over, their expressions discerning.

“Are you sure?” Gideon asked.

“Yes!” I cried, rolling my eyes. “I’ve already said that to Jensen. Now, the pair of you need to get to work. I assume Cullen is already there?”

Gideon nodded. “Text me every hour.”

“Yes, sir!” I laughed, playfully saluting him before turning to Joey. “First one to the den gets to pick the movie!” I shouted, ending the conversation with the bossy, sexy alphas.

My brain was running a mile a minute. Was I officially dating these alphas now, or were we going to go back to normal? Could we even go back to normal now that I knew how delightfully each of them could fuck me?

“Hey, Beth?” Joey asked as she played with her pasta, not looking me in the eye. I had reheated some of the restaurant food for us, quick and easy, and it even contained the odd vegetable.

“Yeah?”

“Would you come to my school in a few months for a thing?” Her shoulders were hunched, like asking made her anxious, even though I had no idea why.

But if it was important enough for her to ask, then I would go.

“Of course I will! What is it?”

“The school Thanksgiving festival. All the moms come and help man the booths.”

“I would love to come, but why don’t you ask your dads?” I asked, frowning slightly. While I liked that she was trusting me, I was more concerned with why she was bringing this to me instead of to her dads.

Also, what school started planning the fall festival in August?

Apparently, fancy private schools like the one Joey attended.

“That’s because I didn’t tell them about it.”

That raised a few alarms. I stopped messing with the dishes and turned to Joey, giving her my full attention. “Talk to me, kiddo—why didn’t you tell them? Your dads love going to your school things.”

Joey suddenly became very interested in her pasta. “Because it’s all moms going. I don’t have a mom, but you’re always around and really nice, so I thought you could come.” She shrugged. “The teacher made it clear it wasn’t a thing for dads…”

I paused, my heart breaking for Joey. My reaction was to immediately agree, even though a small part of me worried that I would be stepping on her fathers’ toes. “Hey, I would love to come.”

“Really?” Her eyes brightened as she sat up straighter.

I nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll check with your dads. If they’re okay with it, I’ll be there! I remember those events at school. They sucked.”

“Who went with you?”

“No one. I was usually alone.”

Joey’s face dropped. “That’s not good.”

“It wasn’t. Now, eat your pasta, or no cookies.”

Joey groaned playfully but picked up her fork and started eating.

Gideon was the first to make it home. Joey was upstairs, trying to find her books, when I found him in the kitchen. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him for a moment, burying his nose in my hair.

“Hey,” I greeted him with a tight smile, nerves coiling in my stomach. “Can I have a word with you for a moment about Joey?”

The alpha tensed, his face going from placid to tense. “Is everything okay?”

“It is!” I assured him. “It’s just…Well, today, Joey asked me to go to an event at her school, and I agreed. I should have asked you guys first, but I just felt for her and blurted out the words before I thought about them!”

“What event?”

“It sounds like the mothers come into the school and help set up a little carnival for the kids.”

Gideon frowned. “She asked you to go? We usually go to those things.”

I took a deep breath. “I think it’s moms only…”

“You’re not her mom—why would you agree to go to that?” His voice was sharp, and I couldn’t help but wince.

“I know I’m not, but the moment she asked me, all I could think about was how many times my school did mom-and-daughter events and I was all alone.

It sucked, Gideon. I was always on the sidelines, and every time it happened, I felt terrible.

I know I’m not Joey’s mom, but I care about her, and if I can help her feel a little less alone, then I would happily do it! ”

“She really asked?” Gideon’s posture was still tense. I desperately wanted to know what was running through his mind.

I nodded. “I should have asked you first, I know. My heart just broke for her, remembering my own childhood. Even though you guys are far more involved in her life than my fathers ever were.”

“You don’t talk about your family much…Was it really that bad, being raised by just fathers?”

The vulnerability in his voice was palpable. He wasn’t asking about me; he was asking out of concern for his own daughter.

I cocked my head to the side, thinking for a moment before speaking. “Yes and no. On the one hand, I certainly missed my mother, and she left a gaping hole in my life. Never having anyone to go shopping with or to teach me to do my hair or nails wasn’t fun.”

His brows knitted together. “I hate that you had to experience that. You deserved better. Do you see your family much now?”

I scrunched my nose. “I honestly want to avoid them. I only go back out of obligation. That won’t be the case for your family, though.

My fathers never made an effort. Cullen learned to braid hair better than most for Joey, and I saw the wardrobe full of princess dresses from when she was a toddler. ”

“We’ve done our best.”

“And Joey is a fantastic little girl,” I assured him.

“But we’re failing if she doesn’t feel like she can ask us to these events.”

I shook my head. “No, speaking from experience, it’s not like that at all.

Joey thinks you guys hung the moon, rightfully so.

You are some of the most attentive fathers I’ve ever met, but these school events…

frankly, they suck, and little kids suck.

Joey didn’t ask me because she would rather have me there over any of you guys.

It’s simply because I have a pair of tits, and the other kids would tease her if she brought a dad. ”

Gideon’s eyes widened. “They would tease her?”

I nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, children are seriously assholes.”

“Did children tease you?”

“Tons.”

“How do we stop that from happening?”

I took a deep breath. I wanted more than anything to advocate for Joey, having been in her position, but I also didn’t want to insert myself where I wasn’t welcome. “Listen to Joey. See what she feels comfortable with. Yes, she’s still young, but you’ve raised a wonderful child, Gideon.”

He swallowed. “I appreciate you talking to me about it. I’m honestly not sure how I feel. We knew that Joey would need a female influence in her life eventually, but we didn’t want someone to come along who would just vanish out of her life and hurt her more…”

I placed my hand on his arm. “Gideon, look at me. I don’t give a flying rat’s ass about whatever disagreements I have with you three.

Everything that happened over the last few days means nothing in this conversation.

Even if you fuck me over and I hate you…

When it comes to her? I’ll be there as a friend whenever she needs me.

I needed that more than anything when I was a child and hated that I never had it.

I don’t want to leave here and go back to my family.

I keep telling them I will, but every day I realize more and more how much I love it here.

So, for as long as Joey needs a friend, I’m here. ”

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“I went to a few too many mother-daughter events alone…That shit is scarring, and I refuse to let that happen to her. I know that may anger you, but I?—”

My words were cut off as I was hauled against Gideon, my body pressed against his as he pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you,” he muttered in a choked whisper, his face buried in my hair.

I giggled. “You’re stuck with me for as long as Joey wants me.”