He took a sample for himself, popping it into his mouth. It tasted like salt and the buttery notes of Swiss cheese, but sharper. Tastier. Kind of like Sam.
Sam was still staring at the cheese sample in his hand. So Harris said, “It tastes like you.”
Sam’s forehead furrowed. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
With another wary glance at Harris, Sam brought his palm up to his mouth, nudging at the nugget of cheese with his tongue. He licked at it, a deft flick of pink, then took it into his mouth.
It shouldn’t look so much like sex.
So maybe Harris had been watching that omega for too long. It had been a month since Sam had moved into the mansion, and his baby bump was just starting to show beneath the sweater. It looked bigger when Sam was naked, when Valen ran his hands over it.
Sometimes, Valen brought Sam into the master bedroom, and fucked him in front of Harris. Sometimes Harris walked into the kitchen, and Valen had Sam bent over and spread, Sam panting against the counter, taking Valen’s cock.
It got Harris hot under the collar. He knew all of Sam’s faces now—the flutter of his eyelashes when Valen sucked his cock, the raw, choked moan he made when Valen pushed inside him.
All Harris had done was rub Sam’s feet.
Take him for yourself, Valen had said. I want you to love him, Harris. He needs you, too.
Not like Harris hadn’t been thinking about it.
Sometimes, when he found Sam at the stove, making them dinner, Harris thought about stepping up to him, touching his waist. Slipping his hand up Sam’s shirt. Sometimes, he thought about Sam beneath him, arched and sweating, trembling with sheer need.
Sam chewed into the Parmesan sample now, his eyelids fluttering shut, a slow smile spreading across his lips. Harris thought about spreading him out on the table, knocking off all the cheese wedges, palming Sam’s cock until it strained against his palm.
When you were standing in the store, thinking about fucking your lover’s omega, clearly something was wrong with you.
“Mmm.” Sam licked his lips, leaving a sheen of wetness on them. “That tastes like a slice of heaven.”
“More samples?” Harris asked.
Sam winced. “I’m sure the deli staff will chase us off with knives.”
Harris grabbed a wedge of cheese, setting it in the cart. Sam yelped.
“Damn it, Sam. You ever give yourself a treat?” Harris frowned.
Sam looked up at him, his eyes midnight-blue and defenseless, his lips slightly parted. “A... treat?”
Harris almost kissed him then. It would look so wrong, though, someone old like him, all salt-and-pepper hair, kissing a pregnant young omega. His parents never raised him to be one of those alphas, taking advantage of a young omega. “Yeah. You know, something that makes you happy.”
Sam glanced down, his gaze sliding side to side, like he was searching his memory. And he was coming up empty.
“There’s... the one time,” Sam said quietly. “When I left Valen and I needed a pick-me-up. That was when I spent the night in the hotel room and fell. So... it’s like something telling me I shouldn’t indulge.”
Harris’ chest ached for him. Two months after he’d gotten to know Sam, and he was only finding this out now? How long had Sam been carrying that guilt with him?
“You deserve to be happy,” Harris said quietly.
Sam glanced up, surprise darting through his eyes. “But I... If I don’t spend money on frivolous things, if I don’t make mistakes... then maybe it wouldn’t be my fault if something happens to the baby.”
Harris took Sam’s hand, rubbing his thumb over Sam’s knuckles. “You fell, Sam. It wasn’t your fault.”
Sam looked at the cheese wedges, then the tomatoes and cabbage in their cart. “You don’t know that for sure.”
“You work hard,” Harris said. “You’re honest. And you’re an attractive young omega. No single event determines how you live the rest of your life.”
“Even a death?”
Harris paused. His entire life had changed after Nicholas died. “Touché.”
Sam laughed, and this time it was bitter. “I’ve been screwing up my whole life, Harris.”
“But we met, didn’t we? And you’re back with Valen.”
Sam wet his lips, looking down at his belly.
“This baby is wanted,” Harris murmured. “It’s not a mistake.”
Sam gulped. “I’m not good enough for Valen.”
Harris narrowed his eyes. “Who told you that?”
“Valen’s mom.”
Harris had met Valen’s mother. “She’s not someone you should use as a yardstick.” Harris squeezed Sam’s shoulder. “There are far kinder people in the world.”
Sam stared at him, his lip trembling. “You’re too kind to me, Harris.”
“Anyone can see that you’ve got a good soul,” Harris said quietly. “You’re worthy of love.”
Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. But Sam’s eyes were wide, and Harris wasn’t going to stop now.
“Valen loves you because you’re a delight to have around,” Harris said. “He wants to see you smile.”
Sam blushed, twisting his fingers into the hem of his shirt.
“Everyone deserves happiness,” Harris said. “Babies and older folk and everyone in between. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done—you deserve to feel good about yourself. And if that means you get a slice of cheese that makes you smile, then the price of that cheese is worth it.”
Gods, he was being cheesy about cheese.
“You think so?” Sam cracked a smile, glancing at the wedge of Parmesan in the cart.
“Yeah. I want you to feel good about yourself.”
Sam sighed, his shoulders sagging.
“Try. That’s all I ask,” Harris said.
“I mean, I don’t think I’ll feel better about myself in a day, or a week.” Sam bit his lip.
“It doesn’t matter how long it takes,” Harris said. “As long as you remember you’re worth something to someone. More than one someone.”
“Including you?” And now there was a growing sparkle in Sam’s eyes.
Harris froze. Felt his cheeks heat up. Didn’t know how to answer. He reached over the rows of cheese wedges, grabbing the uncut wheel.
Gods, was it heavy—almost like a large child.
“H-Harris?” Sam stared, his jaw hanging open.
“We’re getting this, too.” Harris set it in the cart. “Carry it—it’s
