Raph wouldn’t be able to say no to those eyes. Apparently, neither could Wyatt.
“All right,” Wyatt said, sighing. “But you’ll take off that apron at five!”
“Will do,” Hazel sang, turning on her skates. She sailed out the front door, and Wyatt and Raph both watched as she circled the parking lot, keeping tabs on the patrons.
“So,” Raph said, glancing at his stepbrother.
“We’ll talk in my office.” Wyatt met his eyes, then waved at one of the chefs behind the counter. “Sam—I’ll be gone for fifteen. Keep an eye on Hazel, please?”
“Sure,” Sam said, looking hard at Raph for a second. Raph felt as though he was being graded against a checklist. Then, Sam nodded. “You know she’ll be in good hands!”
Wyatt turned, leading the way through the diner. His shoulders were thin, his hips narrow, and his pants hugged his ass. Raph took a deep breath, trying to shake his memories away.
Wyatt was a good dad—Raph saw it in the way Wyatt looked at his daughter, the way he watched out for her safety. The way he was polite to everyone, his stride confident, his expression friendly, even when he wasn’t feeling his best.
He had grown in the years since Raph had last seen him, and Raph wanted to know more. Wanted to see how Wyatt had fared since that bastard Max had kicked him out, leaving him homeless and pregnant.
Wyatt was in pretty bad shape when he stayed over at my place, one of Wy’s Facebook friends had said. He had a few bruises on his arms. I told him he could stay for longer, but he left after a week.
Raph had saved those conversations in case they were ever needed. But gods, the thought of some alpha hurting Wyatt... Raph wanted to hit something. Or someone.
They strode to the back of the diner, to the hallway Wyatt had emerged from. Past the bathrooms, Wyatt stopped at a plain wooden door, pulling out a key. “Wait in here for a moment?”
“Sure,” Raph said.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Wyatt stepped past him to the nearest bathroom, his eyes solemn.
Raph watched as he disappeared past the swinging door. Why were you anxious to see me?
Unlike the dining area, the office was small, cramped, and barely fitted a desk. Stacked cardboard boxes stood against the walls, and a desk filled the rest of the space, its surface buried beneath a laptop, stationery, and sheets of purchase orders. There was a single office chair behind the desk, and none for visitors—not that Wyatt would expect many people in here.
Raph shoved his hands in his pockets, breathing in the trace of magnolia in the air.
A few framed photos hung around the room—Wyatt with Hazel at an amusement park, Wyatt with Penny and Hazel in a forest, Wyatt with Hazel and the chef, Sam, at a beach.
Was Wyatt seeing anyone? Raph realized that he didn’t know. He hadn’t smelled another alpha’s scent on Wyatt’s skin, but Wyatt’s alpha could’ve been away. Or was that Sam guy his boyfriend?
The door opened just as something rolled through Raph’s gut, hot and fierce. I can’t be jealous over my brother. Raph turned, eyebrows rising when Wyatt stepped around him, gingerly holding a stick between layers of toilet paper. A pregnancy test kit.
His stomach flipped. “Are you...?”
Wyatt’s lips thinned. “Penny says I am. I... I think I might be. We’ll see what this says.”
Wyatt set the stick down on the desk, its wet end capped in clear pink plastic. The windows on the kit were still blank. Raph tried to ignore his thudding pulse; instead, he looked at Wyatt’s lips, the way they were pink and damp, and so very kissable.
He wasn’t in a rut anymore, but he couldn’t help this attraction, the way his instincts told him how right Wyatt was.
He was a sick, sick person for thinking that. For possibly getting his brother pregnant.
“Fuck,” Raph muttered, stepping closer. Why was he so damn attracted to Wy? “If it’s—If it’s positive, are you keeping it?”
At that question, the uncertainty in Wyatt’s eyes vanished. “Yeah.”
Raph swore.
“You’ve seen Hazel,” Wyatt said, lifting his chin. “I can’t abandon my child.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Raph said. Wyatt wanted to keep the baby. That was fine. But Wyatt didn’t also have to look like the perfect omega, the one Raph had been looking for all his life. “I can’t leave you to raise it alone.”
Wyatt paused with his lips parted, his gaze darting between Raph’s eyes. “I can’t have your name on its birth certificate.”
Briefly, Raph pictured Raphael Fleming and Wyatt Fleming on the official document, his gut curdling. Maybe it would’ve been fine elsewhere. In Meadowfall, people would recognize their names. “Yeah, no. We can’t. But I’m not gonna let you ruin your rep with another bastard child.”
“I don’t have much of a reputation left, if you’ve noticed.” Wyatt gave a wry smile. He leaned back into his seat, the plastic squeaking. “I had to build everything from scratch after I left home.”
Raph winced—that had been a failure on his part. “I know.”
But Wyatt had his own business now, had his loyal customer base, and Raph could only imagine how much blood, sweat, and tears Wyatt had put into his drive-in. For someone Raph had grown used to protecting, Wyatt had come a long ways.
“So I’ll raise the baby myself. If—If you want to help, that’s fine, I guess.” Wyatt shrugged, glancing at the pregnancy test. “I just... don’t know how to tell everyone else about it. Like Hazel. Or Penny.”
“Are you telling your boyfriend?” Raph asked, so he could convince himself that Wyatt didn’t need him anymore. “The chef in the kitchen.”
“Sam? He’s my best friend. Omega.” Wyatt smiled crookedly. “Last week wouldn’t have happened if I had a boyfriend.”
A hopeful flutter rose in Raph’s chest. “So that means—”
“Do you have a family?” Wyatt asked, his smile falling away. “If you
