Page 30

Ziggy

“Frey, wait up,” Ziggy called out as he exited the elevator, seeing Frey heading down the hallway in front of him.

His worry for his friend when he’d not responded to his messages had lessened somewhat after the responses in their group chat.

But he still wanted to check that Frey was all right after his first proper heat.

Frey came to a stop and turned to watch Ziggy.

“I was hoping to catch you,” said Ziggy.

Frey grinned, his cheeks pinking prettily. “Hey, sorry. I meant to send a reply to you last night.” He sighed. “Then I got a little distracted by Emmy, who was a little fussy when I put her to bed. It seems Popi prefers to hold her rather than put her in her crib.”

Ziggy clutched the cashmere vest covering his shirt, belly laughing.

“You’re as bad. I’ve seen you,” he spluttered around his laughter, knowing Frey loved to fuss over his daughter.

They all did. She was an absolute delight and could make even a hard work day better.

The new setup where they all got some Emmy time was a blast.

Ziggy had never worked for a company that was so supportive of its employees.

Perhaps folks could argue that because Booker part-owned the company, he could do whatever he wanted.

But Ziggy had heard Lane was already planning for other staff to be able to bring their children to work with a new creche.

What it meant for Frey was that he could come back to work after the adoption of the orphaned child like he wanted, without any guilt of leaving her with strangers.

Frey gave him an unrepentant look, shrugging. “She’s my daughter, I’m allowed.”

Nudging him with his shoulder, Ziggy nodded while continuing to chuckle.

“You are. And she is a total sweetheart. But I see we have something else to talk about.” His gaze lingered on the small bit of scarring that peeked out from the top of Frey’s button-down.

“It went that well, your first proper heat?” He’d kept his voice down, not knowing if anyone else had noticed the mark and unsure if Frey wanted to share his newly mated status.

Frey checked the hallway before he nodded. “It was… amazing!”

“That good?” Ziggy’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm at how happy Frey was. Discovering he was infertile because of taking heat blockers, the universe had worked in other ways to give Frey what he thought he’d never have—family. And now he had a mate.

“Let’s go to the coffee lounge, I’m starving as I missed lunch,” Frey suggested. Ziggy went willingly, needing someone else’s happiness to cling to for a little while.

They entered together, Frey closing the door behind him despite his full attention being on the offering of cakes on the counter. He went straight there, grabbing plates, making Ziggy grin at his friend.

When Frey offered him a plate, he felt the conflict for real. Cake had been his best friend while he avoided thinking too hard about Silas. Eat cake and not think about what it was a substitute for had become his mantra. Had it worked?

Most definitely not, and his waistline had taken the brunt of his persistence. So he debated with himself before he took it and put it under his nose, sniffing because he was too weak to resist.

“Fuck, that smells so good.” Ziggy patted his round stomach with his free hand, feeling his bulging belly, and eyed Frey with resignation.

“I’m sure I’ve gained at least five kilos since I started work here.

Maybe I should half the slice?” It was futile fighting the desire when all he had was cake to fill the void inside him.

Frey rolled his eyes at him. “Give over, there is nothing wrong with you and all I’m saying is Lennon makes the best chocolate and raspberry cake in the history of cakes.”

The chuckle came with a wry smile when Ziggy was already reaching for the fork Frey offered him before he collected one for himself and went to the comfy couch to sit down.

Frey glowed like a ball of bright yellow sunshine. He radiated happiness, the kind a person wanted to bask in.

Frey arched his brow at him, head tilting slightly. “What?”

“Being mated… it suits you.” It truly did. If anyone deserved this happiness, it was Frey.

Blushing, Frey sighed happily. “It does. I’ve never felt more alive.

Like everything is brighter, more colorful.

Smells better.” He dug into the cake and took a mouthful, groaning at the taste.

“So good.” He made more joyful noises as he took another bite, barely giving himself time to savor it.

“But honestly, I’m just down to the bone happy. ”

Ziggy came and perched on the sofa next to him, waiting for a beat.

Fuck it , what was one more slice going to do?

He dug into the cake with his fork. “Good god, that’s so fucking good,” he moaned around the mouthful of cake that was blowing his mind.

“It really is.”

The silence between them lasted until the plates were empty and both wore satisfied smiles. Ziggy moved and took Frey’s empty plate to place them into the dishwasher. “Want a coffee?” he asked as he grabbed the coffee pot that someone had recently filled.

“Please.”

Ziggy poured their drinks, feeling the weight of Frey’s stare before he asked, “You okay?”

Was he? No. Did he want to talk about it when Frey was so loved up? He wasn’t sure.

He added cream and sugar to Frey’s drink, leaving his black, then carried the mugs to Frey. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” Frey accused as he took the cup and reached out with his other hand to keep hold of Ziggy when he went to move away. “Whatsup? You were there for me. Can’t I offer the same to you when it’s obvious something is off?”

They had spent so much time together that Ziggy felt real conflict between being that easy to read and how happy he felt that Frey could see past his fake smile.

It was easy to give in when he really wanted to talk, so he sat next to Frey, who twisted on the seat, his knee knocking at Ziggy’s.

Unsure of himself, Ziggy kept his gaze on his cup, considering what to say, when mentioning Silas by name was out, with Frey now mated to Booker. He didn’t want to put his friend in a position where he might have to lie to his mate.

“Please, you can trust me.”

He heaved a sigh and took a sip of his black coffee to give himself more time.. “You know the alpha I was sort of seeing?”

Frey nodded, his brows drawing together. “Yeah. It was a casual thing ‘cause that was what you wanted?”

“No, not strictly true.” He ran a finger around the edge of his cup, gazing at it. His snake had known exactly what Ziggy wanted, despite his denial. “He didn’t want anything more than a casual thing between us. I was fine with that…”

“But,” Frey nudged as he paused, floundering to keep it vague enough not to arouse suspicion.

“Something changed between us.” Ziggy placed the cup down on the table in front of him and got up, walking to the window. His steps were jerky, having trouble holding it together after weeks of coming to terms with how he felt and what he had to give up on.

Frey came to him and gently stroked a hand down his arm. “In a good way?” He could hear the uncertainty.

Ziggy fired him a quick look over his shoulder before looking back out the window, hating how his defeated attitude washed away Frey’s happiness, causing his smile to dim.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“There isn’t much to say. I want more, he doesn’t. He’s made that perfectly clear. I need to move on.”

Yes, he could have continued having sex with Silas, but at what cost? Was moving on and using cake as a substitute for what he wanted with Silas really moving on?

It was all he had when the thought of being intimate with anyone other than Silas left him feeling like he would betray the other man.

How fucked up was that? During his last heat, he’d gone through it alone, having decided Hidden Desires was out-of-bounds in case Silas had looked in the heat calendar and shown up.

He’d never have been able to resist him, and a clean break was for the best, no matter how upset his snake was by that.

Instead, he’d trapped himself inside his home and fucked himself senseless on several dildos stuck to the walls of his bathroom. If there’d been no satisfaction, then so be it. Protecting his heart was more important.

How can you protect something you’ve already given away?

Not listening, Ziggy fired back, without enthusiasm.

“Listen, I’m not gonna drag you down with my shit—”

“You can stop that nonsense right now,” Frey cut in. “You were there for me and I wanna be there for you. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Ziggy took a step back and turned to face Frey fully, unable to conceal his sadness.

“I don’t want to talk about him. It hurts too much right now.

So if it’s alright, let’s talk about you and Booker?

” He winked and pretended Frey wasn’t wearing a look of worry.

“I’d rather hear about your sexcapades with the hunky bear. ”

“Is that why you didn’t answer my messages?” Bowie asked quietly from behind them.

Ziggy and Frey both spun to see Bowie standing in the open doorway.

Frey glanced from Bowie to Ziggy, giving him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about that,” Frey murmured, returning his attention to Bowie.

Frey went to Bowie, blocking Ziggy’s view of Bowie’s expression for a moment.

“I got my heat and, well, it was unexpected,” Frey explained cheerfully.

“Yeah? Was it bad?” Bowie questioned.

“To be honest, it was my first proper heat,” Frey confessed. “I was taking blockers.”

“You mean you ain’t had a heat before this one?” Bowie’s shock and confusion were plainly evident.

“It’s a long story. Maybe we could do the park this weekend and I can explain it properly?”

“I want to, but I kinda got plans this weekend.” Bowie chewed on his lower lip.

Frey patted Bowie’s arm. “It’s fine. We can do it another weekend.”

“We can?”

The smile was back at Frey’s nod. “Of course, just let me know when you’ve got a free day at the weekend, and we can plan something.” Frey glanced back at Ziggy, the look on his face making it clear their conversation was far from finished.

A moment later, he was gone, and Ziggy was alone with Bowie. Ziggy watched him closely. Had he heard what they’d been talking about?

“Ziggy…”

He met Bowie’s gaze. “Yes?”

“You said we were family.”

“We are?” Ziggy answered with trepidation.

“Then believe me when I say friends don’t judge each other, not real ones.

If you wanna share… I’m a good listener too.

” Bowie came to him and kissed his cheek and then walked out, leaving Ziggy staring out the window, tears rolling down his cheeks at just how lucky he’d gotten— in some areas of his life .