Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-One
Dex
“It’s been two months.” I knew I was whining but didn’t really care. “I’ve dropped every fucking kind of hint I can come up with and Otto still hasn’t mentioned claiming me again.”
Taylor gave an impressive eye roll and sucked a mouthful of iced latte through his straw.
“What did I tell you three days ago when you complained about it? Or the four times before that?”
Okay, so I’d brought it up a time or two. Maybe more.
I huffed. “To bring it up in a conversation like an adult,” I snarked. “Is that not what I’m doing?”
“Not with me, dumbass. With the damn Alpha in question, princess.”
“I thought you loved me?” I was definitely whining again. “Why can’t you drop a hint or two?”
“Because he’s waiting for you to be sure,” Taylor snapped back. “Not me. Why can’t you just tell him you’re ready? In those words, not wrapped in innuendo or muffled by his dick in your mouth.”
Ouch. My best friend was savage today.
“Really? That’s the best you can do?” I sighed. “If you came to me with a problem, I’d actually try to help you.” I put on my best sad face. “You know how much I’ve been through the last few months. Aren’t you the one who kept saying stress isn’t good for your future nibbling?”
“For fucks sake,” Taylor groaned and plopped his cup down, ignoring the specks of whipped cream that splattered across the table. “Fine. You really want me to find a solution?”
I nodded. “I really need something.”
“Fine. Give me a week and be prepared to do exactly what I tell you, okay?”
As ominous as that sounded, I nodded eagerly. “Absolutely, Tay-tay. I’ll do anything if you think it will work. Absolutely anything.”
Otto
Dex was being weird. He was still every bit as hot and endearing as always but he was still being weird.
And frankly, so was Taylor. I mean, I know they’re best friends and all but the amount of time they were spending together whispering behind their hands?
It had me starting to question Taylor’s earlier declaration about not being a teenage girl.
I was ready to double down on that when they started asking me the types of questions you’d find in a dating profile.
What was my favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite childhood memory?
It was only Dex at first, so not all that strange, but when I ran into Taylor outside my therapist’s office and out of the blue he asked me what my favorite flower was? That was pretty freaking weird. Even stranger was Dex’s reaction when I got home and told him about it.
“I ran into Taylor earlier,” I told him. “Has he seemed a little off to you lately?”
“Hm? Taylor? No. Why?”
“He asked me what my favorite flower is,” I explained, noting with interest that Dex was having trouble meeting my eyes. “Do men usually have favorite flowers?”
“Oh, I’m sure some do,” Dex said with a slight shrug. “What did you tell him?”
“That I’ve never really given it much thought.” A thought occurred to me. Maybe Taylor was hinting that I should be bringing Dex flowers? That actually made sense. Pretty sure I’d caught on, I pressed my advantage. “Do you have a favorite flower?”
“Me?” Dex seemed concerned by the question. “Oh, you know, it depends on the time of the year.”
I cocked my head, amused by his terrible attempt at brushing the question off. “Okay. What about this time of year?”
“Oh! I, um, you know. Pretty much everything,” Dex mumbled, intently not meeting my eyes. “Oh, was that someone at the door?”
Before I could tell him I hadn’t heard anything, Dex bolted past me out of the kitchen, leaving me shaking my head.
See what I mean? Weird. Still, I did earn a blow job by dropping into Posh Petals to pick up a bouquet of mixed flowers for Dex that afternoon, so win-win.
That went on for a week or so and then the daily games of twenty questions stopped as abruptly as they had started.
“You haven’t forgotten that we have the baby shower today, have you?”
I was barely out of bed Friday morning when Dex’s anxious voice came through the bathroom door. I spit out the toothpaste and grinned at my reflection in the mirror.
“No, love. I’m getting in the shower now.”
“Thank you.” Dex sounded nervous. “I’m, um, I’m going to go work on the decorations, but Taylor will pick you up at ten.”
“Okay, baby. I love you.”
I heard Dex’s sigh through the door. “I love you, too, Alpha.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dex
I couldn’t believe I let Taylor talk me into this. I’m all for progression and equality and all that, but surely that means the Omega proposes to the Alpha, not that he invites him to his own wedding.
When I tried to make that argument to my best friend, he just shrugged and reminded me that I said I would take any advice he gave me. That is how I ended up pacing the aisle of the small Unity Christian Church chapel until Taylor grabbed my arm and jerked me to a stop.
“Would you please stop that and sit down? You’re wrinkling the aisle runner, dammit!”
“Sorry,” I apologized automatically. “Are you sure this is going to work? What if he says no?”
Taylor shrugged. “Then I guess you’ll have an answer, right?”
I dropped my head into my hands. “I thought you were my best friend. Aren’t you supposed to tell me Otto loves me and everything is going to be fine?”
Another shrug. “Pretty sure I tried that a few times. Also tried to get you to just talk to him. Ambush is the last choice I have.”
Before I could answer, my papa walked up with a box in his hands. “Got the boutonnieres, gentlemen,” he said with a grin, waving the box with a flourish. “Everything seems to be ready. Shouldn’t you be in your suit, kiddo?”
“The cake is here?”
Papa nodded. “Your dad signed for it a few minutes ago and is in with the caterers going over the reception set-up now.” He nodded toward the back of the church.
“Your suit is waiting.” When I didn’t move, his brow furrowed.
“Cold feet? Or did you change your mind? You know we’ll support you if you decide not to go through with this. ”
“Yeah, I know.” I took a deep breath. “I didn’t change my mind. I just wish I knew what Otto was going to say. What if the reason he hasn’t mentioned claiming me again is that he doesn’t really want to marry me?”
“Then I be the biggest damn fool on the planet.” Otto’s voice came from the hall behind me a moment before he stepped into view. “Hi, baby.”
“I..what..how?” I turned to look at Taylor. “Why is he here?”
Taylor looked as shocked as I felt as he shook his head. “I don’t know. I was going to leave to pick him up in a few minutes.”
Still standing in the entry to the room, Otto chuckled.
“When I stopped by the florist the other day to buy your flowers,” he explained, “they asked me to confirm the order for my wedding while I was there.” He winked at me.
“You really thought I was going to believe that wearing a suit to a baby shower was a thing?”
I was gaping at Otto and couldn’t find the words to respond to his teasing. His smile fell and he was by my side in a few short steps. “Dex? Are you okay?”
I nodded automatically, a shudder running through me when he wrapped his arm around me. “You knew?”
“I knew,” he confirmed, “and I’m still here. I told you I wanted a life and a future with you, with our baby. I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” He kissed my cheek and then gently pushed me toward my smiling papa. “Now, why don’t you go get dressed so we can get this show on the road?”
Otto
After Jackson led my stammering groom to the dressing room at the back of the chapel, I wandered around and took it all in.
My favorite color of pearl gray was mixed with Dex’s favorite color of seashell pink in everything from the pinstriped suits we wore to the ribbons on the pews.
The flowers were a mixture of blossoms that matched what I picked up for Dex after that conversation.
I hadn’t peeked in the reception room yet, but I suspected the favorite foods I’d listed off the week before would play into the reception lunch.
Everywhere I looked I saw the answers I’d given to those dating app questions and my mouth hurt from the smile stretching it. I didn’t know how I’d gotten so lucky to end up with the Omega of my heart after fucking things up so badly, but I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep him.
And when the minister placed Dex’s hand in mine and asked me if I promised to love, honor, and cherish Dex forever? It was the silliest question I could imagine.
Looking down into his eyes, I didn’t just see my love. I saw my future. My forever. I saw my everything when I said, “I do.”
The end