The memory of the debt crashed back into him, foreboding and nerve-wracking. Wyatt’s stomach shrank. How had he forgotten that? “I don’t know. Probably not.”
“What do I have to do?”
He felt like a bit of a jerk, refusing to forgive Raph. But a hundred and fifty grand was a huge whopping sum, and the thought of trying to pay it off anytime soon... Wyatt’s thoughts spun.
“I’ll think about it,” he said.
“Am I still staying over tonight?” Raph asked.
“We’d have to talk about everything else. Figure where we go from here.”
Raph looked away, his mouth a thin line. “Yeah, I guess we’d have to.”
This shouldn’t be happening, him and Raph. When all was said and done, they were still stepbrothers. The townsfolk thought of them as blood family. Their dad still didn’t know. If Wyatt wanted to escape it all, he’d have to move Hazel and their home away from Meadowfall, and rebuild their roots somewhere else.
I can’t believe you never told me about the debt.
He held on to Raph’s hand, listening to the tinkling lullaby of the clinic.
24
Raph
Much later, when they were both in Wyatt’s bed, stripped down and sweaty, Wyatt said, “Someone has to move. Either you do, or Hazel and I will.”
Raph sighed. Yeah, there was that. He’d been hoping he didn’t have to discuss the debt—he’d been kicking himself for letting Wy see the text message—but deep down, he knew it wasn’t something they could avoid indefinitely.
He laced their fingers together, bringing Wyatt’s hand up to kiss his knuckles. “So we aren’t making the hour-long commute every day forever?”
Wyatt snorted, turning to sink his teeth into Raph’s bicep. The sharp points pressed lightly into Raph’s skin, and Raph wished Wyatt would bring his face closer, bite him on his scent gland.
But Wyatt never seemed to want to return his end of the bonding, and maybe he knew Raph wasn’t the greatest alpha there was. Wyatt deserved so much better, so much more than an alpha with a debt on his shoulders.
Their parents had struggled with debt. No reason to put Wyatt through it again. Except Raph didn’t want to let Wy go, either.
He swallowed. “I could apply for a transfer. See if they’ll let me move operations to Meadowfall.”
Wyatt smiled wanly, his hair gleaming golden on his pillow. “Somehow, I don’t think regional managers operate out of small towns, Raph.”
Raph sighed. He’d been turning over the options in his mind: Wyatt and Hazel moving out to Highton with him, or him leaving his job, returning to his hometown. Both would incur expenses. At the back of his mind, Raph wondered if Wyatt would do better with a different alpha, someone who wouldn’t fail him like Raph seemed to keep doing.
Wyatt leaned in, curling into Raph’s side. The bump of his belly nudged against Raph’s hip, and Raph imagined their baby, already the size of his hand. He couldn’t abandon their child. And Hazel. And especially not his omega.
If Wyatt even wanted to be his.
“You’ve never—never bitten me,” Raph said, his heart pattering.
Wyatt’s gaze slid over to Raph’s neck, where the skin over his scent gland was still unmarked. Then he looked away, running his hand down his belly. “I don’t know. You said I don’t have to.”
Yeah, well. Right now, Raph almost regretted that. He didn’t want to ask Wyatt, and make it sound like he was pressuring Wyatt into the bonding. But he couldn’t help blurting, “Do you think of me as your alpha?”
Wyatt looked back at him, the corners of his lips twitching up. He eased his elbow beneath himself, swung his leg over Raph’s hip, and straddled Raph, the damp skin of his ass rubbing down on Raph’s abs.
He was beautiful like that, his skin creamy, his belly half as round as a basketball, a dark line following the dusting of hair down his belly. The faint silver scar stretched horizontally above his pubic hair, six inches across, and Raph trailed his thumb over it.
“You have every right to touch me,” Wyatt murmured, holding his hands out. “Doesn’t that make you my alpha?”
“You haven’t left your mark on me.” Raph stroked the velvety skin of his thighs, the curve of his belly, his heart beating too loud.
Wyatt leaned in with a rustle of air, his belly pushing up against Raph’s abs, his hands coming up to cradle Raph’s face. “I still don’t believe I deserve you,” Wyatt whispered, kissing Raph’s jaw. “I’m used goods, Raph. I’m not an omega you can have publicly by your side.”
“I don’t need to be seen in public.” But he had his responsibilities at work, and he’d never once showed up at his office parties with an omega. Except now people at work knew he had a partner, even if they hadn’t asked who Wyatt was. “Do you want to be my omega?”
Wyatt paused with his mouth half-open. Raph’s heart sank. Whatever they’d built over the past five months... it had been a game. They’d been playing pretend, hoping they didn’t have to make a decision until the baby was born.
He cupped Wyatt’s belly, holding their baby between them. “You don’t have to answer,” he said, brushing his fingers over the scar. “You had a C-section with Hazel?”
Wyatt sighed, leaning into Raph. “Yeah. She was taking too long. The doctor wanted me to have a C-section and I... didn’t know better. She had trouble breathing at first because of it. Gods, I should’ve done my research. I mean, I was eighteen at the time, but you’d think...”
Raph frowned. “Just because the doc wanted it?”
Wyatt nodded.
“Were you alone?”
“For most of it, yeah.”
I should’ve been there. Raph closed his eyes, hugging Wyatt close. How had Wy gone through all of that by himself? Why had Raph been such a damn coward, staying away instead of reaching out? He buried his nose in Wyatt’s hair, breathing in old sweat and magnolia. “I’ll be there this time,” he
