Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Zak
As Monday morning gets well underway, my body arrives at the stadium with Spencer for practice, but I think the rest of me is still back at Mia's apartment.
Or maybe I left the rest of me at Mia's office yesterday, since I can't seem to stop replaying the moment in my mind where I got to wring every last drop of pleasure I could out of our sweet little omega.
My two most dominant thoughts are torn between affection for the woman who proudly showed us her office, and horniness for how sexy she looked falling apart with my fingers buried deep inside of her.
Plus, the memory of her calling me Daddy is going to be permanently etched into my brain.
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to make it through practice with my focus on more important things.
Freddie, the lucky bastard, got to stay behind with Mia this morning. He isn't required to attend all of our practices, though he often does because he hates feeling left out. There's not a single more well-practiced mascot in the league, I'm damn sure of that.
Spencer parks the car in our usual spot, and we both get out. He grins at me as I walk around the car and fall into step beside him toward the stadium entrance. "I forgot how quiet the car can be when there's not an endless stream of commentary coming from the backseat."
"Yeah, I missed him too." I laugh, knowing that no matter how lightheartedly Spencer tries to joke about enjoying the peace without Freddie, he wouldn't trade our beta for anything in the world. Neither would I.
Freddie keeps things interesting. Spencer and I are both more serious; we'd probably be a snooze-fest for Mia all on our own. There's a reason the dynamic feels whole now with our omega's arrival to help round out the pack.
The sooner we mark her, the better.
Every step inside the stadium feels so wrong, knowing we left both Mia and Freddie behind this morning. I would never dare skip practice because I'm not an idiot. We've got our next game to prepare for. Coach Lamb and Deacon Kane would probably take turns strangling us if we lost focus now.
And I need to make the most of this season. If I’m being completely honest with myself, there’s no way of knowing how many games I have left in me. I'm the oldest on our team, and one of the older players in the league.
Football careers don't last forever.
That thought isn't as scary as it used to be. At least now there's something worth staying home for, now that there's no glaring gap in our pack dynamic. I wouldn't mind staying home, spending all of my time coming up with new ways to spoil our omega, when the time does come for me to retire.
I'm not quite there yet.
Spencer and I are nearly to the locker room entrance when a vaguely familiar figure pops out of seemingly nowhere.
"Good morning, gentleman."
I feel bad that it takes me a second to place Trevor, the soft-spoken beta we hired to help us find an omega for a pack. We always knew we wanted a true scent match, and Trevor's entire job was essentially to matchmake us with every feasible match in a hundred-mile radius.
Luckily, Mia found us all on her own because Trevor predominantly used online sites to find us dates. Mia told us yesterday she preferred finding dates in real life and wasn't active on dating sites.
Trevor wouldn't have found her.
So fate made sure that she found us.
Trevor looks between Spencer and me. "I checked out the realtor your omega suggested."
My shoulders loosen considerably. One less thing to worry about. "And?"
"He has an excellent reputation. No major complaints online, good client reviews, and he's known for being patient with picky buyers." Trevor says the last part carefully, unsure how blatantly to point out that our omega certainly has opinions.
Lots of opinions.
I already adore that about her.
She's both sweet and sassy. Like a good sour candy. My favorite.
"Very good," Spencer says in a clipped tone he uses when he wants to keep things moving. We've already dragged our feet enough; we'll make ourselves late for practice if we don't get a move on.
Trevor nods respectfully. Then he grimaces before clearing his throat and schooling his expression. "Right. Well. Since you've now found your omega, Mia..." He trails off and looks at us expectantly. "I was wondering what happens next. For me, that is."
Spencer and I trade a distressed look as we realize what Trevor's asking. He wants to know what comes next for him in terms of his job.
Trevor is a really nice guy. We vetted him extensively before hiring him, wanting to ensure our privacy during the process of trying to find an omega. We know all about his background as a widowed single father. He has a young daughter, never-ending student loan debt, and a newish mortgage.
I guess our endless rejections of the women he introduced us to made him feel secure in his job for quite a while. Firing him would upend that security, and I know neither of us wants to be responsible for that.
We can't fire him.
Absolutely cannot.
"You'll stay on as our assistant, of course," Spencer blurts out.
Trevor blinks. "Oh. That's great." Then, after a beat, "What exactly does that look like moving forward?"
Spencer, who I know for a fact has no thought about this at all beyond blurting out the words of course, says, "You'll do... assistant tasks. Just regular assistant stuff. That sort of thing."
I look at the ceiling. Uncomfortable and also trying not to laugh.
"That makes sense," Trevor says slowly, even though it doesn't make any sense at all. I'm sure he realizes he shouldn't question things too deeply for fear of Spencer changing his mind.
"In fact," Spencer can't seem to help himself. "We'd like to offer you a raise."
"You would?" he asks at the same time I say, "We would?"
Spencer nods, seemingly becoming more confident by the second. "Yes. We'll increase your pay in exchange for adding one specific task to your to-do list."
"Sure," Trevor agrees immediately. "What is it?"
"I'd like you to sneak Freddie's mascot suit out to be dry-cleaned.
That thing hasn't been properly cleaned in too long because he doesn't like to let the suit out of his sight.
" Spencer rubs at his temple as if he's already got a headache developing just picturing how Freddie will react if he finds out about this.
I cough out a laugh, unable to hold back.
I'm staying out of this one.
"Glad you're staying on, Trevor," I nod to him and hurry into the locker room, leaving them to finish rounding out the details of the new agreement. I don't want my stamp of approval anywhere near the plan, no matter how much I agree that Simon the Sloth could use a bath.
I'm dressed in only my compression shorts when Spencer joins me in the locker room a few short minutes later. Most of our teammates are already dressed for practice and preparing to head out to the field.
Spencer's gaze sweeps over me, and there's a hunger there as he walks toward me.
His locker is a few down from mine. He brushes against me as he passes me. The only touching we dare engage in when our teammates are all around. Still, his eyes drag down my body in a way that feels just as intimate as a touch.
He opens his locker and then turns back to me, tugging his sweatshirt over his head.
The locker room is quickly clearing out now, but I know we still won't cross any lines.
We're always careful not to let our personal lives impact our relationships with our teammates too much.
We never want to make anyone else uncomfortable or envious.
Not all of our teammates have packs of their own.
"You did a good job with our omega yesterday," Spencer says quietly.
His praise makes me lightheaded, joy blooming in my chest. Praise from the alpha always feels incredible. Especially when he's looking at me like this. He looks ready to have me for a mid-morning snack, and if we were alone, I would let him bend me over one of the benches in the locker room.
I have to look away for a second, or I'm going to say something reckless in the middle of our workplace.
Instead, I focus on getting dressed in my clothes for practice. I do pause to say, "She deserved it."
"She does."
The words hang heavy between us. I think we both know she deserves even more than what I gave her yesterday. She deserves all of our desire and affection.
We've been chaste longer than we're used to since meeting her.
It's not like we're sex maniacs with no self-control, though I'm sure Freddie would wear a decorative sash with those words with pride if offered to him.
The three of us have been hooking up regularly since the day Spencer and I put our mark on Freddie.
We work hard, and we play hard. We always have each other when the rest of life gets too noisy, so we've been able to feed our very active libidos.
Those libidos haven't disappeared since Mia joined us. If anything, my need feels twice as strong.
The problem is our gorgeous omega has nowhere to call home. Not until we give her the house–and nest–of her dreams. Until that moment comes, the three of us guys have quietly agreed we don't want to push things physically.
It just doesn't feel right.
The future doesn't feel certain enough. Not when the wrong house could so easily dim our omega's sunshine. Not when we're at risk of our omega's heat coming on with no safe space to ride it out with her.
Spencer seems to read my mind. "Whatever house she wants, we'll buy it. I don't give a fuck about the money. We'll give her a nest, and then we'll give her our knots."
My stomach clenches as the image comes too easily to my mind. Mia flushed and needy, trapped between our bodies. Maybe even tied up for us. Begging. Needing. Letting us take care of her every need.
"We need to make miracles happen."
Spencer nods.
At least we know without a doubt that fate has been on our side this far. I have a good feeling that things are gonna work out for us sooner rather than later.
And if they don't?
Well, I guess my fingers are going to just have to keep getting a workout.
We can't leave our omega unsatisfied.
The last of our teammates slam their lockers shut, and Spencer and I rush to finish dressing and join them in heading for the field.
Coach Lamb raises his eyebrows and looks surprised to see us joining the rest of the team on the field. He looks behind us briefly before giving us a knowing look.
"I see Freddie has decided Simon doesn't need as much conditioning as a professional football player, after all," he jokes, shaking his head to himself.
As much as Freddie grates his nerves sometimes, Coach has been a good sport about our refusal to sign with the team without a mascot clause for Freddie included in our contracts.
We've always looked out for our beta since claiming him, and it's not like he doesn't take his role as Simon seriously. I actually can't remember the last time Freddie missed joining us for a practice before now. Funny how easily all of our priorities can suddenly realign.