Oh, gods. Olivier stepped away from Eric, realizing too late that Eric had been touching his waist.
“Ollie, you wanna return to the shop?” Eric asked flatly. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
It was a warning. Olivier nodded and turned, his heart thumping too hard. Cole couldn’t find out. If he did, if he brought the news back to Dad...
Olivier stepped away, straining his ears.
“You’ve been seeing an omega that has Ollie’s scent?” Cole asked, incredulous. “That’s sick, Eric.”
Eric growled. “None of your business who I fuck, Cole. Ah, damn it, we shouldn’t be talking about this with Jenn around.”
“You have some... brother complex, or something? I didn’t know that.”
When Olivier looked over his shoulder, he found Cole with a confused, disbelieving expression. Eric was glaring. Then Eric met Olivier’s eyes, and Cole followed his gaze.
“You should at least apologize to him, Eric,” Cole said.
That was nice of Cole. Growing up, Olivier had never been close to him. Eric’s mom had made sure Olivier stayed far away from her youngest children.
Eric sighed. “I’m sorry, Ollie.”
It was a front. They’d be fine once Cole was out of the picture. Except Olivier’s stomach heaved then, violently, and he clapped his hand over his mouth.
Worry darted through Eric’s eyes. He was next to Olivier in a couple of strides, curling his fingers around Ollie’s arm. “You okay?”
Olivier uncovered his mouth to answer. “Yeah—”
Then his stomach heaved again, and before he could stop it, he was throwing up onto Eric’s chest, chunky, globby fluid gushing out of his mouth.
Horrified, Olivier watched as his body betrayed him, heaving every last bit of his breakfast onto Eric’s sweater. He couldn’t stop the next heave either. The vomit landed on Jenn’s leg, and down Eric’s pants. Jenn babbled.
Olivier whimpered, turning away. The smell was terrible, and his stomach roiled, still unhappy. And Eric was now covered in Ollie’s puke.
14
Olivier
“I’m sorry,” Olivier said, horrified. And yet his stomach continued to churn.
“I’ll be fine.” Eric frowned. “You okay, Ollie?”
Olivier shook his head, his skin flushing hot and cold. People were staring. Some of them were his customers. Olivier wanted to burrow somewhere and never emerge. And the smell.
“C’mon, back to the store,” Eric said, slinging his arm around Olivier’s back. “We’ll get you cleaned up.”
“I puked on you!” And his stomach roiled again.
Olivier wiped his chin on his shirt, swallowing to keep down the rest of his stomach’s contents. He stumbled along next to Eric, trying not to notice his puke all over Eric’s clothes, and the pedestrians looking at the vomit in disgust.
Eric’s not going to want me now. I’ve made a mess of him. Olivier huddled into himself, wincing when Eric threw open the door of Olivier’s Strings. Some of the customers looked over. Olivier wanted to hide his face.
“Ollie?” Levi glanced at them, his mouth falling open.
“Bathroom,” Eric said, hauling Olivier into the backroom.
“Want a hand with Jenn?” Cole asked behind them.
Eric paused, turning to hand his daughter over. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Levi froze, looking away from Cole.
Ollie didn’t pay attention to it. He needed to hide. He’d puked in front of so many people.
Eric swept Olivier into the bathroom and shut the door. Olivier crouched next to the toilet, his limbs shaking, his face so hot he couldn’t think.
“Don’t worry about it,” Eric said, shrugging out of his sweater. “No one will remember.”
“I’ll lose all my customers,” Olivier groaned. Then he heaved, his stomach clenching, ejecting what little he had left into the toilet. The smell was terrible. And yet... Eric was here with him.
Eric tossed his sweater into the sink, crouching next to Olivier. Then he rubbed Ollie’s back, sweeping Ollie’s hair away from his face. “You’ll be fine,” Eric murmured. “I’m here.”
Olivier trembled against the toilet, heaving again. Tears prickled in his eyes; he heaved until his stomach felt completely empty, and he felt wrung out.
When there was a break in the vomiting, Olivier sat back, his limbs shaky.
Eric flushed the toilet and pushed a mug of water into his hand. “Here.”
Olivier rinsed his mouth. Swallowed some of the water, then wiped his face off. Gods, he couldn’t go out there and face his customers. And Eric—Eric had no change of clothes here. Ollie had ruined things between them, hadn’t he?
Why would you date someone who had puked on you?
“I’m sorry,” Olivier said, wincing at Eric’s soiled pants. “If you get your pants off, I’ll wash it for you. I’ll get your sweater washed, too, and I could even—I could get you a new sweater from the shop next door—”
Eric snorted. “It’s fine. I’m not taking my pants off unless you want to see me naked.”
Olivier laughed shakily. “But... you’ll have puke on you the rest of the day.”
“I can go home for some new clothes.”
Ollie squirmed, feeling especially unattractive. There were so many omegas out there, people who wouldn’t be puking on Eric. Surely Eric would rather have them instead.
“Hey,” Eric said gently. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you sure you want to stick around?” Ollie asked quietly, the words stuck in his throat. “I just... I puked all over you. In public!”
Eric blinked, looking down at himself. Then he chuckled. “Ollie, do you know how many times Jenn has puked on me? Spit up, pee, snot, drool... Seriously. This is nothing.”
It made sense. But Ollie was still doubtful.
Eric brushed his thumb over Ollie’s bonding mark, though, like that was more important. And the anxiety in Olivier’s chest eased.
Eric kissed his shoulder. “Are you feeling better?”
Olivier rubbed his stomach. “I think so. For now.”
Eric nodded, looking deep in thought. “It’s been a month, huh?”
It had. Which meant that this wasn’t some stomach flu—it was probably the start of Olivier’s morning sickness.
There was a baby in his belly. The pregnancy was real. Olivier pressed his hand to his abdomen, cradling it.
He was carrying Eric’s child.
What would he name it? What would
