Page 13 of The Omega's Fake Mate

Good thing I was only in Oceanport for a week, or I might just get in over my head.

5

Zander

What had I done?

Even after I'd closed the store down for the night, I couldn't stop thinking about Nick's sudden visit and that book I'd given him to read. Giving him a romance novel—what a stupid idea! It wasn't one of the tamer ones, either.

Exhaling, I pinched the bridge of my nose. What had I been thinking? What would Nick be thinking when he read that book?

Why had I given himthatone?

Trying to calm myself down, I left the store area and went up to my apartment, which was upstairs under the roof. “C'mon, Betty. Time to turn in,” I told my dog so she would follow along. Slowly, she walked after me, the old wooden stairs creaking as she went. “Did you see what I did today or were you sleeping?”

Yes, I talked to my dog. But to be fair, Betty was an excellent listener and probably smarter than a lot of the people I could have talked to otherwise. She never tried to butt in with her opinion and she rarely disagreed with me. She did sometimes nod off while I was talking, but I forgave her.

“You were sleeping, weren't you?” I said as I unlocked the apartment and let her in beside me. “You should have seen Nick. You would hardly recognize him. He's changed so much.” I went down on one knee to stroke the fur behind Betty's ears while she looked at me with her soulful eyes. “He's become so handsome, though. I mean, I noticed at the wedding, but I couldn't get up close. If he comes along again, you need to take a look at his behind. But don't stare, it's rude.” Not that I had to tell Betty. My dog had fantastic manners. Grandma had seen to that.

With a sigh, I got up and walked into the small living room. An old photograph of my grandmother decorated the coffee table in front of the couch. Looking at it, I sometimes felt like the old lady was judging me from beyond the grave.

You need to step out of your comfort zone, boy.

That's what she used to say.

But hadn't I done just that by handing Nick that book?

I never passed the books I wrote around like that. That one hadn’t even been released to the general public yet. For some reason, though, I wanted Nick to read it. Giving it to him had been a spur of the moment decision. I didn’t usually act like that, but being around Nick had always screwed with my decision-making abilities in ways I couldn’t explain. It was a silly sense of nostalgia that made me give him my book. Nothing more.

I used to always give him my stories to read. Did he remember that? I couldn’t help but wonder. That wasn’t going to get me anywhere, though. No, I had things to do. More books to write and some research to do.

Picking up my laptop from the coffee table, I settled on the couch. Conner wanted more books with strong omegas in them. I wanted to help the young boy, but I had no idea where to start. One or two romance novels came to mind, but I doubted that was what he was looking for. To my chagrin, I had to admit that the literary canon hadn’t quite caught up to modern times in many ways. Omegas were still suck in supporting roles more often than not.

Someone should do something about that.

Glancing at my grandmother’s photograph again, I sighed. I could practically hear her voice in my head.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

I scoffed, just in case she could see me wherever she was. I wrote romance, not young adult books. Hell, I didn’t evenlikechildren.

You like Conner.

But he was the exception to the rule. Still, I couldn’t deny that there might be more young omegas like him out there who needed books. I also couldn’t deny that I knew hardly anythingaboutomegas. To be honest, I didn’t even know all that much about alphas, and I was one. I’d simply never cared. But at the same time, I realized that it was my alpha privilege that allowed me not to care while others struggled with the ramifications of their labels.

How was that fair?

You can do research. You have books to read. You can ask the people you know. You could even ask Nick… Talk to him again while he’s still in town.

I ran a hand through my hair. Was this really a good idea? Somehow, I doubted it. And yet, before I knew what I was doing, I opened a blank document on my laptop and started making notes.

It was better than stressing about how Nick might like my book, anyway.

6

Nick

“What’sthat in your hands?” Kade asked as I walked into the house with the book Zander had given me. “Did you buy a book?”