Page 57 of The Omega's Fake Mate

Rhys shot me a devilish grin. “Oh, I'm sure he will.”

Oh God.“You heard us last night, didn't you?”

He chuckled. Well, at least his spirits were lifting. “There was no waynotto hear you.”

“I hope we didn't damn this whole house?” I tried to joke.

“Nah, don't worry about it.” Rhys waved me off. “Enthusiastic coupling of a mated alpha-omega pair? You've probably blessed it.”

I cringed without wanting to. “Interesting religion you guys have.”

Rhys gave me a soft smile. It seemed I hadn't insulted him, at least. “Isn't it just?” he said. Dusting himself off, he stood from the couch. “I better clean this mess up. You'll find everything you need in the kitchen. And... thank you for your help.”

“No thanks needed. That's what family is for, right?” I said, remembering that he believed I'd married his brother. That I hadn't was immaterial. I loved Nick, and I wasn't going to watch quietly while his family was being threatened.

20

Nick

It wasnoon before I woke up, and still, I couldn't really shake the sleepiness until I'd had two cups of coffee while we got ready to head back to Oceanport.

“I knew you weren't a morning person, but this in a new height even for you,” Zander teased, loading his bag into the car.

“I guess you wore me out,” I shot back. It was only after the words were out of my mouth that I realized we weren't alone. My brother and his so-called husband had come out onto the porch to see us off. Oh well. So what if Zander and I were bantering like a married couple? That's what they expected from us, wasn't it?

Not that I could imagine my brother exchanging banter with his husband.

Once I had my meager possessions in the car, I turned to look at Rhys. “I'll call you tonight and you'd better answer the phone or we'll come back here.”

Rhys laughed, although something about it sounded forced. “Is that a threat?”

I shook my head. “Only if you want it to be.”

Zander stepped up beside me and took my hand as if he could tell how uncomfortable I was on the inside. Maybe he could. He'd always been good at justknowingwhat was going on, even when I struggled to find the words. I sighed. Part of me actually thought it might not be so bad to be married to Zander.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. How had I fallen so hard so fast?

No time to worry about that now. I had to say goodbye to my brother. Letting go of Zander's hand, I gave Rhys a hug. “Take care,” I said. “You know you can always come to me if anything happens, right? To any of us.” We had so many siblings and they would all welcome him with open arms.

“I know,” Rhys said, and then his husband spoke up.

“I can take care of my mate, thank you.”

I only shot him a look before climbing into the car. Jeremiah was about the last person I was going to trust with my twin. Too bad the choice wasn't up to me and there was nothing more I could do here. When Zander got into the car beside me and put us back on the road, I wasn’t too sad to be leaving this town behind me.

My hands needed something to do, so I pulled my phone out of my bag.

“When are you going back to LA?” Zander asked, suddenly.

I looked up. “The day after tomorrow.” And I'd totally forgotten about it, but Zander was right. My life wasn't in Oceanport right now. What was I doing with him? What had we done last night?

“That's soon.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I leaned back in my seat, looking at the road outside. The sky was gray and seemed to promise more snow. I was going to miss snow when I was back in LA.

And not only snow. I couldn't deny that now.

“Last night...” Zander started after a moment of silence. “Did you...Was that...?”