Chapter 11 An Awkward Conversation
AN AWKWARD CONVERSATION
“Get in!” Titan hissed, hastily stepping back to make way for his siblings.
Gavric and Ottis exchanged a look. Then they entered the cabin; Gav with long strides, Ottis with a limp.
Mathlin shut the door. This mostly soundproofed the cabin, enough that anyone outside wouldn’t be able to hear a conversation easily.
“A fake relationship, huh?” Ottis said dryly.
Mathlin covered his throat. “We didn’t do anything!”
He sounded so incriminating that Titan was torn between wincing and laughing.
“Clearly there’s more going on. They didn’t even want to stop and talk,” Gav said, elbowing Titan.
Titan’s face grew warm. “Go away!”
“You invited us in, just to tell us to leave?” Ottis raised his eyebrows. “Ti, this isn’t like you at all.”
“Titan had to give me the claim marks because Mr. Gonal showed up and wanted to see us make out,” Mathlin said. “So Titan slobbered all over me like a wild dog and made funny sounds like he was going to eat me. Mr. Gonal almost called the police.”
Titan stared. Ottis laughed so hard that his face turned red.
“Did you also pee on Mathlin to mark your territory?” Gav asked. Then he sniffed, and his eyebrows shot up. “Huh.”
Fuck, he had smelled the dried slick and cum.
Ottis sniffed, and his eyes grew round.
“Fuck,” Titan said.
He had never mentioned the Baby Service to his pack. It wasn’t the most upstanding business, selling his cum to strangers on the internet. Besides, his family didn’t need the mental images.
The real question was: Did he want to tell his siblings the truth?
“I hired Mathlin for some things,” he muttered. “It’s within the terms of our contract.”
Ottis frowned. “So you’re faking a relationship, but at the same time, you’re paying him to do relationshippy things with you.”
“No! It’s... for work,” Titan said, realizing immediately how odd that sounded.
“What kind of work involves jizz?” Gav asked, mystified.
Ottis rolled his eyes. “Really, Gav? You really don’t know?”
Gavric froze. Then his eyes grew wide.
“It’s really none of your business,” Titan said tightly.
Mathlin leaned into Titan, his warmth reassuring. “You know they’ll only get more curious. This is a super juicy secret. It would keep me up at night.”
“Up in what way?” Titan’s mouth had decided to copy Mathlin’s. He cursed himself.
Mathlin flushed bright red, his scent growing warm and sweet. Titan’s instincts rumbled.
The next moment, his siblings’ stares intensified. Ottis folded his arms. “Look, Math is my friend, and also my ex-roommate. He might’ve eaten all my ice cream, but I still care about him.”
“Sorry,” Mathlin mumbled, fumbling for his wallet. “I’ll pay you back. Titan gave me an advance—”
“Put it on my tab,” Titan said before Mathlin could get his money out. It made something settle in his chest when Mathlin glanced at him in surprise, all soft and pleased.
“Ah,” Ottis said. His shoulders relaxed, and suddenly he didn’t seem quite so irritable.
Gav looked away and rubbed his neck. “I feel like a third wheel.”
Hamilton spoke up. “At least you weren’t in the car when they—”
“Ham!” Titan yelped.
“It was almost a threesome,” Hamilton said with a dramatic sigh.
Titan cringed. “It was not.”
Ottis and Gavric were staring at him again. Then they looked at Mathlin, who turned bright red.
“Nothing happened!” Mathlin squeaked.
From the looks on their faces, neither sibling believed him.
“You should probably go have dinner,” Titan said to get them out of his cabin. “Shoo! Food’s getting cold!”
“You’re not joining us at the pack house?” Gav asked pointedly.
Ottis rolled his eyes. “With them smelling like that? You probably won’t see them out of bed ‘til next week.”
If only, Titan thought with a pang.
“I told you, it’s for a job!” Mathlin yelped.
Warning signs popped up in Titan’s head. Surely Mathlin wasn’t going to...
Mathlin curled his fingers into loose fists, jerking them up and down. “It’s a very big job. Like, the biggest. And the messiest.”
For a long while, no one spoke. Ottis looked embarrassed. Gav looked a little sick. Hamilton began to snicker.
Titan wanted to sink through the floorboards.
“It’s the magical healing cock, isn’t it?” Ottis finally said. “That only makes sense. Ti’s desperate for his injuries to heal.”
Mathlin covered Jannie’s ears. “Why does everyone keep suggesting that? I don’t think my jizz has magic in it.”
“You’d be surprised,” Ottis said, completely serious. “The rumors are wild. Apparently it cures everything from warts to chronic illnesses, and third nipples.”
Mathlin shook his head slowly. “Does that mean people would buy my jizz, too?”
Huh. That hadn’t occurred to Titan. But maybe...
“‘Too’? What do you mean by that?” Ottis asked.
Mathlin’s eyes widened. He glanced at Titan. “Uh. Nothing!”
And now Ottis and Gav were staring at Titan again. Titan sighed. “Please just leave. Math and I have plans for tonight.”
His siblings began to smirk. Their assumptions were completely wrong. But at least they now understood that their presence was unwelcome, so Titan gritted his teeth and waited.
Halfway to the door, Gavric stopped, whipping his head around. “Wait. I figured it out.”
Titan held his breath, wondering if Gav would be disgusted by his new business.
“What?” Ottis asked.
“He’s selling himself somehow!” Gav said, his eyes wide. “Wow, Ti. That’s badass.”
Titan stared. “Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Gavric shrugged. “As long as it’s something you’re into, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“It’s a side hustle,” Titan admitted, relieved. “I hired Mathlin to help me with it since it’s something I can still do, now that my bakery income is hitting rock bottom.”
Gav frowned deeply. “Ti, if you need help with the bakery, all you have to do is ask.”
Titan shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “It’s a lot of hard work. I’m not going to ask you to wake up at 3 AM every day, for weeks, to help me with it.”
“But we can all chip in a little,” Ottis said. “Our pack isn’t small. It’s not too much to ask.”
It kind of was. Deep down, Titan was a little ashamed that he wasn’t making as much money as some of his other alpha brothers. He didn’t want the pack to help him, only to find out that Twin Buns was struggling. Twin Buns had been his dream for years.
“Let me think about it,” he said eventually.
Gav nodded. “That reminds me—are you gonna fulfill that order for Aunt Yasmin’s party? She’s been asking about her cupcakes. I wasn’t sure what your plans were, so I didn’t want to cancel them without talking to you first.”
“Thanks,” Titan said, hating that he would probably disappoint Yasmin anyway. She loved his cupcakes, and she was his favorite aunt.
“I’ll help,” Mathlin said.
Titan drew a sharp breath. “You sure?”
Mathlin nodded. “You’ll have to make sure I don’t mess up. But we can sell the practice ones if they turn out okay, right?”
“Yeah,” Titan said, a weight rolling off his shoulders. “That sounds good.”
“That means you’ll get to show off your fake boyfriend at the party,” Ottis said brightly. “Yasmin invited non-pack, too.”
“Oh.” That would mean putting on a show... and it would be an excuse to have Mathlin close.
Titan couldn’t help it; he blushed. Ottis and Gav’s eyebrows shot up.
“What?” Titan grumbled.
“This is going to be so good,” Ottis said with a grin.
“You know what would make it better? Pickup lines!” said Hamilton’s disembodied voice. “I have pickup lines for all of you!”
“No thanks.” Ottis shuddered and limped toward the exit. Then he paused and gave Titan and Mathlin a last look.
Was it Titan, or did Ottis seem worried?
He decided not to ask.
“I have a copy of 699 Pickup Lines,” Gav said proudly. “I can help you pick out a few.”
“Please don’t,” Titan said.
“Picking out pickup lines is my job!” Hamilton crowed. “I’ll make a list that you can read in front of the bakery customers.”
Titan cringed. “My customers might sue me for harassment. On Mathlin’s behalf.”
Hamilton snickered. “Those unenlightened souls.”
“Maybe they would rather stay blissfully ignorant!” Ottis said while dragging Gavric to the front door.
“Actually, you should visit the bakery,” Mathlin blurted. “Right now, it looks like the inside of someone’s asshole.”
Ottis and Gav stopped dead in their tracks. Titan groaned. Hamilton cackled.
“What?” Ottis said faintly, turning back.
Mathlin nodded. “You know how your inner walls are rippled and pink? The bakery looks exactly like that. I’m surprised the customers haven’t commented on it yet.”
“Please don’t tell them,” Titan said. “They won’t be able to unsee it. Actually, Gav, maybe you or Crush could come over and help me take down those curtains? They really need to go.”
“They’re pink satin sheets,” Mathlin explained.
“They really give Twin Buns the cheesy love tunnel vibe. Wait. Do you think love tunnels are named after the fuck holes in people’s bodies?
They’re wet. You literally sit in a boat in the love tunnel; that’s how wet they are.
And they’re dark inside, too. You have to feel around if you want to find anything in there. ”
Titan winced. “Math, you know I lo—like your words, but... could you avoid discussing sex with my siblings? In front of me, anyway.”
Gavric snickered. “Yeah, we gotta see this.”
“We gotta bring witnesses,” Ottis added.
“Please don’t,” Titan groaned.
“Crush should visit with his new omega, really soak in those love tunnel vibes,” Gav said. “Maybe Twin Buns will inspire them to make more pups.” Cheerfully, Gav linked his arm with Ottis’, walking with him out of the cabin.
Titan groaned. “What the hell just happened?”
“We invited your siblings to visit your butt-vibes bakery,” Mathlin blurted, wincing. “Sorry? I think it’s my fault. My mouth opened and everything just fell out.”
Titan sighed. “It’s okay, I don’t blame you. But I blame Hamilton.”
“You love me,” Hamilton sang, dancing into the living room. “Twin Buns is the best it has ever been.”