“No bad feelings,” Sam murmured. “Maybe just regrets.”
Harris nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I don’t begrudge you or Valen,” Sam said. “I’m just wary of relationships. They’re probably not for me.”
“I hadn’t thought they were for me, either,” Harris said. “Somehow, this thing with Valen... it seems to work. Imperfectly, but it works.”
Sam wasn’t sure how two alphas tangled their lives, but maybe it wasn’t so different from being best friends, except with sex involved. He almost wanted to be a fly on the wall in Harris’ mansion, see if Valen behaved differently around Harris, than he would with Sam.
“I lost my omega,” Harris said, meeting Sam’s eyes at a stoplight. “He died during childbirth.”
Sam’s stomach swooped. “You... you lost your omega? And the baby?”
“The baby’s dead, too.”
Harris shrugged, looking straight ahead of him. But Sam read his pursed lips, the tension in his hands. “Why are you telling me this?”
“To explain my relationship with Valen, I guess.” Harris smiled crookedly. “I’m aware that not everyone takes kindly to two alphas in a relationship.”
It explained why Harris would date Valen. But all Sam could think about was the lost baby, that Harris was like himself.
“I’m sorry about your loss,” he said, touching his own belly. “I know what it feels like.”
Harris drove past the gates of the community, glancing at him. “Yeah?” he said, his voice gruff.
“I—I was pregnant. I miscarried.” Sam bit his lip, wondering if he should say more—Harris was with Valen now. He didn’t need to be dragged into an old mess. But if Harris wanted Sam to get any closer to Valen... then Harris should know. “It was Valen’s.”
Harris sucked in a breath. “Does he know?”
Sam shook his head. “It was after I left him.”
“Gods, Sam.” Harris brought the car up the mansion’s driveway, then parked. Clicked off his seatbelt, turning to face Sam. “Did you have any support at all?”
Sam shook his head. “I’d just moved out of Valen’s place. I didn’t want to go home, so I—I rented a room in a hotel for a bit. Then I slipped in the tub.”
He hadn’t wanted to return to his parents’ place, after he’d told them he’d be fine with Valen, that Valen would support Sam and their family. Then he’d slipped while he was alone in that hotel, his belly hitting the edge of the bathtub.
Sam had hurt, and he’d bled, and he hadn’t realized what all that blood was in the toilet, until later.
His throat closed. Sam bit his lip, looking down at his hands.
“I’m sorry I brought it up,” Harris whispered, touching Sam’s chin. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Sam met his gaze, wondering why Harris was saying that when he’d lost the same, himself. “You don’t have to care,” Sam mumbled.
“Valen likes you,” Harris said quietly, his eyes dark in the shadows of the car. “You work hard. You’re honest. I have no wish for terrible things to happen to you.”
With the dead babies weighing on his chest, Sam trembled. He hadn’t thought he’d appreciate kindness from a near-stranger.
Harris cupped Sam’s face, stroking Sam’s cheek with his callused thumb. Perhaps they didn’t know each other well. But they’d slept together last week, and maybe a little bit of comfort wouldn’t hurt.
Harris clicked off Sam’s seatbelt. Sam leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Harris’ cheek.
He’d lost Valen’s baby—that would always haunt him. Even if he had another child... his past would never change.
“If you ever need a shoulder to lean on, I’m here,” Harris murmured, stroking Sam’s back.
“You don’t have to,” Sam said. Leaned into Harris anyway, breathing in his oak scent, the faint sweetness of soap. “We barely know each other.”
“I understand your pain. That’s all I need to know.”
Sam laughed, choking, and then he couldn’t see because his eyes were wet. “I don’t need this. I’m fine.”
Harris brushed his cheek, his thumb catching on the tears streaking down Sam’s face. “Are you sure?”
Sam shook his head. Gods, first the sex one week, and now the crying. He was supposed to be a cooking instructor, not a mess.
Sam groaned, his breath stuttering. “I think so,” he said.
“You were Valen’s once,” Harris murmured. “I don’t think he’d want to see you upset.”
Sam allowed Harris to pull him back against his chest, closing his eyes, waiting until his tears stopped.
He breathed with Harris for long moments, focusing on Harris’ warm breath on his ear.
“You smell sweet.” Harris brushed his hand slowly down Sam’s arm. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, ‘cuz this isn’t a small issue. But that honey scent? That’s yours, Sam.”
He wasn’t sure what Harris was talking about. But as Sam leaned away, blinking at the porch light that came on, he found Valen on the doorstep watching them both.
Sam’s pulse stumbled. Sex was one thing. But cozying up to Valen’s lover in the car? What the hell had he been thinking?
“It’ll be okay,” Harris murmured, squeezing Sam’s knee. He was looking at Valen, though, a tiny crease on his forehead.
Valen strode up to the car, his gaze flickering between Harris and Sam. Harris stepped out. Sam wasn’t sure he would survive looking at Valen again. I’ve left him. And then seduced him.
Harris murmured something to Valen, and glanced at Sam. The uncertainty in Valen’s eyes deepened.
And then Valen opened Sam’s door, reached in for Sam’s hand, and Sam wanted to melt into a puddle, disappear before they decided to fire him as their instructor.
7
Valen
“I think he’s pregnant,” had been Harris’ first words to Valen.
It had been unnerving, watching Sam and Harris in the car. Not because Valen thought Harris was cheating on him, but because that moment had been so damn tender. Like Harris cared for Sam more than he did Valen.
Like Harris belonged with Sam.
Valen knew he was an idiot, himself, young and struggling, still trying to grow into an alpha like Harris. Harris was wiser, richer, far more respected in the station.
Seeing his omega with Harris... Valen had realized that Harris could give
