“She was good,” Olivier said, standing up. “Except for when she threw her cereal everywhere.”
Eric grinned, kissing her cheek. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for you to clean up her mess.”
“I’ll be compensated for it, right?” Olivier murmured. “Later.”
“However hard you want,” Eric growled. Ollie’s blood ran hot through his veins.
Maybe Olivier really was a slut, with how much he craved his alpha’s touch. Some days, it seemed as though he couldn’t get enough of Eric at all.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. Eric’s gaze burned dark into him, and Olivier was grateful he’d volunteered to care for Jenn. Not only because she was better than he’d expected, but also because Eric’s rewards were toe-curling, ripping his voice from his throat.
It had started after Eric moved into Olivier’s place. Eric hadn’t wanted to drop Jenn off at their parents’—he’d been wary of his mother, and the things she would say to Jenn about Olivier. So Olivier had volunteered the backroom of his shop, and Eric had set up a changing station and playpen there, and given Ollie a crash course on how to care for babies.
Levi had helped. Between Eric’s texts and Levi’s experience, Jenn’s days at Olivier’s Strings had been going well. And increasingly, Olivier had been realizing that maybe Jenn liked him, with how she grinned so wide when he smiled at her.
“She said something this afternoon,” Olivier blurted. “I was going to take a video, but she stopped.”
Eric’s eyes grew wide. “She did? What did she say?”
“Dada,” Olivier answered, holding his breath when Jenn looked over. “You did say that, didn’t you? Say ‘Dada’.”
“Dada,” Jenn answered with a smile. Eric grinned so wide that Ollie’s heart skipped a beat.
“Holy sh—C’mon, say that again,” Eric murmured, his gaze glued onto Jenn. “Say ‘Dada’.”
“Dada,” Jenn said, patting Eric’s chest.
Eric turned to Ollie, excited like a puppy. “Did you hear that? She’s gonna say ‘Daddy’ before we know it!”
“Yeah, I did—” Olivier yelped when Eric wrapped his arm around him, turning them around in a circle in the backroom. “Eric!”
Jenn squealed. Eric held Olivier and Jenn close, finally pausing. Olivier swayed, his heart thumping with how delighted Eric was.
“Now say ‘Ollie’,” Eric told Jenn. “Ol-lie.”
Olivier began to protest. “You don’t need—”
“Awwwrr,” Jenn said.
Eric sighed, but he was still smiling. “Soon, yeah? We’ll get you talking in no time. Say ‘Ol-lie’.”
Jenn cooed. Olivier squirmed. “You shouldn’t be teaching her that.”
“What, then?” Eric looked challengingly at him. “Or you... wanna be her dad too?”
Olivier’s stomach dropped. Him? As Jenn’s dad? That would be... impossible. How would Jenn accept him? How would anyone acknowledge him as Eric’s omega? “Th-that’s too soon to be talking about it.”
But it made his insides tingle. Him, being part of Eric’s family? Did Eric want him that much?
Olivier turned away, his cheeks warm. “You shouldn’t. It’s not right. I don’t know how any of this will work out.”
Eric sighed, his smile fading. “Aaron texted me today. Cole told him.”
That turned Ollie’s stomach into ice. Their other brother knew, too? “What? Why?”
Eric shrugged, pulling out his phone. He opened the conversation with Aaron; Olivier watched with dismay when he saw the words, What the fuck are you doing?
That was from Aaron.
Being responsible for my omega, Eric had answered.
Olivier’s our brother, Eric. Do not fuck our brother!
His stomach turning, Olivier looked away. Aaron hadn’t messaged him, but Aaron didn’t know his phone number, either. “They know we’re—we’re... sleeping together?” he asked in a small voice. He imagined his brothers’ accusing looks at him, his insides shriveling. Cole knows. Now Aaron does, too.
Eric tucked his phone away, his lips a thin line. “I guess they do.”
Olivier bit his lip. “You should tell them we aren’t involved.”
“It’s too late now, isn’t it? ‘Sides, it’s not like I’m gonna abandon you. That was never the plan.”
Olivier swallowed. “You should. You know the consequences to this.”
Eric looked away. Already, he’d stopped talking to his mother. He’d said things were tense between him and Cole, and now Aaron was in on the secret. With each day that passed, the lines on Eric’s face had been growing deeper.
“I was gonna take Jenn to the beach with them this Saturday,” Eric muttered. “I don’t know if—if they told Dad.”
Olivier winced, leaning into Eric’s arm. Even though Eric was their dad’s stepson, he’d grown up admiring Dad. Dad was strong. He worked at a mechanic’s shop to put his children through school, and Olivier couldn’t forget the times Eric had tagged along to Dad’s workplace, wanting to get his hands dirty, too.
If Dad found out what Eric had done, if Dad judged him... It would be a terrible blow.
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” Olivier said uneasily. “Or... or we could stop seeing each other.”
“No.” Eric narrowed his eyes. “I made you a promise, Ollie.”
Jenn began to cry. Eric bobbed her in his arms, stroking her back. Olivier squirmed. Somewhere in Meadowfall, Cole and Aaron were probably talking, and they were probably shaking their heads at Eric, thinking the worst of Olivier.
They know I slept with Eric.
His skin too tight, Olivier considered his options. Tell his family the truth, or lie to them. Or leave Eric, and let Eric have his family back.
“Maybe you should move back in with them,” Olivier said in a small voice. “And... and find an actual omega. Someone that isn’t me.”
Eric’s eyes flashed. He reached over and cupped Ollie’s nape, pulling Olivier so close his breath brushed Olivier’s lips. Olivier’s heart thumped.
“I’m not leaving you,” Eric growled, his eyes blurring with their proximity.
“The baby isn’t yours,” Ollie lied.
Eric flinched, but he said anyway, “I don’t care.”
“What about Alice?” Olivier asked, grasping at straws. Because that was the one thing he knew would drive Eric away.
Eric’s breath rushed out of him. “Damn it, Ollie.”
“You don’t love me,” Olivier said. “So you don’t have to stick around, you know.
