Chapter 17 – Theo
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THEO
Arin is being weird.
And it’s making all my alarm bells ring.
It started with his weird behavior during our last movie night, but for the past few days, he’s only pulled further and further away from the rest of us. I even found him doing his own laundry .
Which is a fucking war crime because he doesn’t know how to use my natural detergent properly — it keeps us all smelling fresh without adding microplastics to the environment.
He excused his behavior by saying it was just a small load, but that’s bullshit . He’s been eating at odd times, closing his office door, and not reciprocating June’s touches. That pisses me off almost as much as the laundry.
Turning my head, I blow out a breath as I cut through the water. The pool is almost too cold to be out here this early, but I refuse to turn on the heated function when I’m swimming my morning laps. The sound of the back door sliding open makes my focus waver as I reach the far end, shifting upright to shake water out of my hair.
June walks out barefoot, dancing across stone pavers on her tip-toes with a blanket slung over her shoulders. Her nose is slightly red as she catches my eye. Last night I slept alone for the first time in a handful of days, but only because Seth and Bennett are going into New York City for the day.
My little omega plops down on the side of the pool, sticking her bare legs out from the blanket and into the water. They kick as I swim over, grabbing her left calf and squeezing it. The smell of honey and orange compote covered fudge comes off her in waves as she giggles down at me.
“Charles just took Seth and Bennett to the airport. I thought you’d be up.”
“I’m always up.” I murmur the words, bracing my hands on either side of her hips as I hoist my upper half out of the water, capturing her lips in a kiss. She’s so goddamn sweet . Her body molds to mine on instinct, and I have to resist every urge to climb out on top of her and take her at the side of the pool.
Not that I won’t reconsider doing that when it’s summer.
She laughs harder, pressing her palms against my wet chest as she wiggles. “ Stop , you’re getting me all wet.”
“Up and wet?” I brush my lips over hers, nipping at her. “We’re a match made in heaven.”
She shoves me and I fall back into the water with a massive splash. It gets the exact reaction I hoped for — she shrieks, flinching away from the water as I splash her. June huffs, scolding me as she wags a finger. “ Theo , you’re such an asshole .”
My dick twitches. It shouldn’t when she calls me names, but I’m harder than fucking steel.
Dunking my head under the water, I come up and smooth my longer hair back. I’m hesitant to cut it. She keeps letting me lay in her lap, fingers twisting it idly at night when we’re in my bed, up on our shared floor, away from everyone else.
I grin at her. “Born and raised.”
She rolls her eyes, but dips her hand into the pool, splashing me half-heartedly. On one of the deck chairs, my phone starts to vibrate. June jumps up, leaving wet footprints as she pads over to it. “I’ll get it for you.”
I float backwards, closing my eyes as I call out. “It’s probably just my financial advisor.”
My childhood goal of never having to work felt stupid — until I actually managed it. A few careful investments and friendships made during college turned into early stakes in booming industries. I have my hands in everything from tech to medicine. When I realized I could live off a fraction of the interest my various investments make, I knew I had made it. Some of my favorite companies to invest in are the private resource centers for omegas who want to get out of bonds.
I’m still waiting for the day my mom lets me help her like I’ve helped strangers.
And I’m obviously a key player in Seth and Bennett’s liquor company — I threw money at them the moment we were a pack. I’ll never regret that decision because it’s what brought us the cute little omega standing on the pool deck, frowning down at my phone.
“The contact says it’s Dick #1 .” June raises an eyebrow. “I’m going to assume it’s not someone named Richard.”
“Shit.” I reach the edge in seconds, lifting myself out of the pool with my arms. June’s eyes widen, flaring as she stares at me and the water sloshing off my body, but I can’t indulge her lust-blown pupils as I snag my phone from her and answer it.
Peter never calls.
“Hello?”
I don’t even sound like myself, half gruff, but mostly panicked. If this asshole is calling me to say something happened to Mom I’m going to kill him myself. I reach out to her weekly hoping that she’ll meet with me without my fathers in tow.
“Theodore.” Peter’s voice rings across the call. “Glad I caught you — I was about to go into a meeting.”
June gives me a concerned look, then grabs my towel and wipes off my back and stomach. Her arms wrap around me as she presses her lips against my sternum. The feeling of her body against mine makes my heart rate slow as I clutch the phone.
“Is Mom okay?”
“Your mother is fine.” I can hear him rolling his eyes, his words clipped. “George spoke with Dev and Laila Mohan yesterday evening and they said they were visiting Rochester — that you have an omega living with the pack now? Why is this the first time we’ve heard about this?”
My throat swells. I unconsciously drag June closer, squeezing her hard enough that she squeaks. Her hands smooth over my back, rubbing my muscles as I bite out, “I wasn’t aware that Arin’s parents were visiting.”
“It’s his entire brood, apparently,” Peter states. “We’ll be there. Especially since the last time we spoke, you insisted that you’d never take an omega.” I bristle, but I don’t get a chance to respond as my father continues. “My meeting is about to begin. See you then, Theodore.”
I pull the phone away, staring at it blankly as the call ends. June touches me gently. Arin’s family is coming? And he just… didn’t tell any of us? I want to see Mom, but god — I can’t even imagine June meeting my fathers. It’ll be a repeat of the dinner with her parents.
“Hey.” She blinks up at me, eyelashes fluttering.
I discard my phone on the deck chair, cupping her full cheeks. Bending down to kiss her forehead, I whisper, “I need to go talk to Arin.”
“Oh.” She gives me a puzzled look when I pull back, frowning softly. “Okay?”
“I promise we’ll do something today.” I catch her gaze, finishing drying off as best as I can. “What if we went into Rochester and finally visited that bakery you found?”
Her lips twitch. She showed me no less than twenty social media posts from some small business near us, oohing and ahhing over their various cupcake flavors.
“Yeah, we can do that today.” June brushes our fingers together. “I sent the first draft off last night of the new manuscript, so I’m free for a few days.”
Chuckling, I brush back her hair. “You work too much.” I say it with affection as we step into the living room. She rolls her eyes, crashing onto the couch.
“You say that now, but you also begged me to print out the draft the other day.”
I walk past her, heading for the foyer as I call over my shoulder, “I contain multitudes!”
Her laughter follows me, easing the tightness in my chest as I reach Arin’s office door, shoving it open. Arin looks up from his desk, pausing in the middle of writing something, his hair messy and his expression taut.
Sucking in a deep breath, I attempt to keep my temper measured as I grind out, “Why the hell did Peter just call me and tell me that your entire family is visiting?”
Arin has the good graces to look guilty. He rubs his nose, a nervous tick that he’s had his entire life. Arin glances at the door, like he’s worried someone else will pop up behind me — and I just know he’s hoping it won’t be June.
“Meena texted and it spiraled,” he admits. “I barely let Bennett know before they left this morning, you were my next stop. I didn’t think my parents would call yours.”
“Well they did.” I throw my hands up. “I don’t want a repeat of June’s parents —”
“We won’t have that, my parents would never —”
“I know they wouldn’t, but mine will.”
Arin grimaces. “My hands are tied, Theo. I cannot let only my family visit without extending the invite to Bennett’s parents and Seth’s —”
I cut him off again. “Seth’s parents don’t care. They’re probably in Antartica studying penguins fucking. His brother calls him once a year. I don’t even know anything about the rest of his family. Bennett’s dad is a saint and will want to meet June. My fathers will just make our lives hell.”
His face twists, anger rolling off him in waves as he slams his pen down. “I don’t know what you want me to say. They’re all coming, and we will deal with it all as it happens.”
My lip curls as I lean away from him, snarling, “What the fuck crawled up your ass and died? You’ve been a prick for weeks. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you pulling away from June —”
“That’s rich, considering you made it your sole purpose to make her cry when she was in London with us.”
My blood runs cold.
I stare at him, my body vibrating with a growl. “Don’t come to me when you end up isolating yourself so much that she won’t even look at you. Don’t think I don’t see it, Arin ‘ the martyr ’ Mohan. You’ve always been so concerned about everyone else, and that makes you blind to your own self-sacrificing nature, even when it’s harming other people.” I step closer, fisting my hands at my sides. “You’re doing a fucking spectacular job being prime — any other information you’re keeping from us?”
The office goes quiet.
“Just leave, Theo. I don’t have time for this right now.”
I don’t dignify him with a response, but I do slam the door behind me as I stalk back toward the living room — back to June . Because Arin’s right, I did make her life hell, but I’ve apologized, and she forgave me.
We love each other.
That’s enough.