Raph pressed their foreheads together. “If we left Meadowfall... this would be okay.”
“It wouldn’t, would it?” Wyatt chuckled. “I can’t leave. The drive-in is here. Hazel’s made a few new friends this semester, and I just... I don’t want to uproot her if I can.”
It wasn’t like Raph could ask Wyatt to move to Highton. Wyatt had nothing in the big city, and Raph doubted that Wyatt would want to rely on him for help. “Either way, I’ll stand by your decision,” he said. “You’re the omega.”
Wyatt swallowed noisily. “Does that... does that make you my alpha?”
Raph’s heart thumped. “Do you want me to be?”
“I don’t know. I’ve given up trying to find an alpha, so... the position is open.”
If he were Wyatt’s alpha... he’d have every right to protect him. And something in Raph’s gut rumbled with satisfaction.
He thought about his parents, telling them Wyatt is my omega. We’re having a baby together. Dad would grimace. Grandma would smash her teapots. And the illusion vanished, leaving Raph with a bitter taste on his tongue.
“We’ll think about it, yeah?” He kissed Wyatt’s cheek.
“Yeah. We don’t have to make a decision yet.” Wyatt eased out from between Raph and the wall, wrapping up the pregnancy test in a sheet of paper. He dropped it in the bin. “I’ve got to get back to work. If there’s anything you need...”
“Do you need help? With Hazel, or anything? I’m free this evening.”
Wyatt smiled. “I’d really like to get Hazel home earlier. She’s got some school projects to finish, and I was going to step out to drop her off. Both Sam and Penny are busy—they’re her usual babysitters.”
“I can do that,” Raph said. Hazel had been fun to talk to, and maybe he wanted to find out more about Wyatt, see if Hazel would tell him anything her dad hadn’t.
“Thanks.” Wyatt paused at the office door, tucking his hair behind his ear. “I’m serious, though. If you’re hungry, order something from the kitchen. Hazel has a booth she does her homework at. If she needs help with math...”
“I’ll help,” Raph said.
Wyatt broke into a smile. The years fell away from his face, and he looked like the carefree brother Raph had known, once upon a time. Raph swallowed. Stepped forward, just to touch Wyatt’s cheek again.
“You’re great, you know,” Raph murmured. “I don’t care if you’re my brother or my omega. You’re important.”
Crimson flooded through Wyatt’s face. “You should be saying that to another omega. Not me. You can do so much better.”
That had been what Grandma had told Raph, too, after she’d whispered it a dozen times in Wyatt’s ears. Raph growled. “I don’t care what Grandma says,” he muttered. “She’s not important.”
Wyatt looked at his feet. “She’s your boss.”
“Screw her.”
He stepped closer, caught Wyatt’s chin. Then he kissed Wyatt, hot and hard, and Wyatt gasped, his fingers curling into Raph’s shirt.
“Gods, Raph,” Wyatt hissed, his breath puffing against Raph’s cheek.
“Not the last time,” Raph whispered back. “Tonight?”
Wyatt groaned, leaning into him with a shiver. “Don’t say things like that. I need... need more.”
“Then I’ll give you more,” Raph murmured. “Everything you want.”
A soft whine slipped from Wyatt’s throat. “We’ll see.”
Except he smelled like musk, and Raph couldn’t help caressing Wyatt’s cock, just to feel how hard Wyatt was for him. “Tonight, then,” he whispered. “Don’t forget.”
Wyatt gulped.
With a great effort, Raph stepped back from Wyatt. The office smelled like sex, like magnolia and teak. And if that wasn’t incriminating, he didn’t know what was.
8
Wyatt
When he stepped out of his office, Wyatt remembered his outstanding tasks at the drive-in. There was a kitchen to run. Patrons to tend to. The murmur of conversation filled the hallway, accompanied by the clinks of cutlery in bowls.
Raph stood close by as Wyatt locked the door, his broad shoulders crowding out the space in the corridor. And Wyatt remembered the hot slide of his mouth, the drag of Raph’s teeth over his lip.
That, and the two blue lines on the pregnancy test.
Gods, he really was pregnant. It was Raph’s baby inside him. All it took was just one night. How terrible was it, that his first child was from someone who had hurt him, and his second child was from someone he couldn’t have?
Growing up, he’d always thought he and Raph would lead separate lives. That they’d visit each other with their mates, and Raph would tease him about his piano-playing, or screw-ups, or whatever.
Except Wyatt had presented as omega, and suddenly Raph had seemed like the best alpha anyone could want. And so Wyatt had thought about Raph, wishing Raph would look at him the same way, see him as a desirable omega.
But his fantasies hadn’t extended to a baby.
What would he say to his parents when he visited? What would he say to Hazel? This was everything a relationship shouldn’t be.
I’m carrying my stepbrother’s child.
His head spun. Wyatt ducked into the washroom to rinse his hands.
Unlike Max’s saccharine whispers, Raph had made quiet, solemn promises. He’d offered to bring Hazel home when it was her bedtime. Wyatt had dated and lost interest in various alphas, but he trusted Raph.
And that had to be enough for tonight, when Wyatt stepped into the dining area of the restaurant, just as his new evening staff tripped, trying to avoid a toddler. Mina yelped, losing her balance. Dirty dishes slid off the tray; bowls smashed, drink glasses rolled and clattered. The toddler wobbled his way back to his parents, who had been scolding their other child.
The boy seemed fine. Mina had paled, eyeing the child, then the mess. Wyatt scanned the rest of the diner. There were no server requests, no cries for help. He spun on his feet, headed into the kitchen, and grabbed the broom and dustpan. When he turned back, he found Raph on his knees, grabbing the fallen chopsticks and spoons.
Raph was an alpha. A regional manager at his bank.
