Chapter 15
Reid
Addie waves goodbye as she heads towards her gate. My heart hurts watching her go, and if I had it my way, she’d be coming home with us.
But we agreed to keep things the way they are, doing a bit of long distance until the hockey season is over. Then we will have more time to spend together, build our bonds, and get to know one another.
Except we’re keeping this big fucking secret from her, and I feel it’s about to implode and fuck everything up.
As soon as Addie disappears down the tunnel to her flight, Carson’s smile drops, as does his hand from waving, and he turns to me with a totally panicked look on his face. “We’re fucked. We’re so fucked, Reid. What the fuck do we do!?”
“We have to tell her. Simple,” I tell him.
“How!?” He growls. “She just told us she wanted to add three guys to our pack. Two of those three are already in the pack—us!”
“I know,” I growl. “Would you calm down?” I hiss, looking around. Carson’s freak-out is starting to draw attention. The last thing I need is someone to pull out their phone and record two KP players having a meltdown and posting it online. Marilyn would kill us.
“Nothing about this calls for calm, man. We should have said something at brunch. We should have just said, Hey, about that. Waffle and Grim? Yeah, that’s us. We didn’t know how to tell you, but... surprise! Also, we’re totally in love with you, too, so no problems there.”
Honestly, he’s not wrong, and I’m normally the level-headed one. “We were having such an amazing weekend with her, anything that could possibly ruin it would have sucked.”
“Yeah, but how do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out? This is worse, so much worse, because now we’re lying to her face.”
Carson grabs handfuls of his hair as he starts to pace. Grabbing his arm, I pull him toward the nearest bathroom.
“You need to breathe! We’ll see her next week when we are there to play against the Royal Alphas. After the game, we’ll sit her down and tell her everything.”
“Okay, fine. What about Death, though? She said he messaged her and told her his feelings! So, what? We’re just supposed to welcome him with open arms now?
This is all so messed up. We should have told Death that we happened to run into PastelPrincess, found out she was our scent match, and that we’re chill if he wanted to try to pursue something with her too. ”
“But we’re not,” I point out. “I don’t have any ill will toward the guy, but we know nothing about him.
He might be chill with us, but who knows what kind of guy he really is?
He could be a fake, evil person in real life.
It’s a gamble being friends with people online, people you don’t really know. ”
“Dude, stop. It’s the same with people you do know.
You hear about all the stories of couples who have been together for years and find out someone’s living a double life, or is actually a serial killer!
Our mistake was not telling Addie as soon as we found out.
We should have video-called her right then and there, and we’d probably have laughed about it.
Acting like we didn’t have a clue was a mistake, and we just made it again! ” He throws his hand toward the door.
Fuck. Fuck! He’s right. God, he’s so right.
“So what do we do?!” I shout back. “Call her up and tell her?”
“Well, no, she’s on the plane, and we’re about to get on ours. But we have to tell her soon.”
“I know. I know. Trust me, I fucking know.” I lean against the sink, heart pounding, head a mess.
“And what about Death?” Carson asks. “I say we message him, tell him we know about him talking with Addie about his feelings, and ask him to have a video call. Maybe we can vet him a bit before Addie takes things further.”
“Yes.” I nod. “Let’s do that. Maybe Death isn’t a bad guy. We did blindside him with our confession. I’d have reacted the same way if it were the other way around.”
“Okay then, first we talk to Death. Then we tell Addie. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Checking my phone, I curse. “Shit, we leave in thirty. Our terminal is on the other end of the damn airport."
“Fuck.” He rushes for the door. “We'd better book it.”
During the flight home, all I could think about was Addie.
I feel guilty. I know Carson, and I haven’t really done anything wrong apart from not telling her who we are online.
The whole thing is complicated, and it shouldn’t be this big of a deal.
We only just found out who she is online, it’s not like we’ve been keeping a secret for months or years.
But the longer we take to clear the air, the more it’s going to hurt her.
I just hope she doesn’t hate us for keeping this from her, and she can understand where we’re coming from.
When we arrive home, we’re drained. I can feel my energy level crashing. We text with Addie for a bit before saying goodnight and going to bed.
The next day, we’re back to work. By the time we’re home again, it’s late.
“Come on. Let’s get this over with before life catches up with us again.” Carson says, throwing himself in his gaming chair.
He pulls up Twisted Valley and finds our group chat with Death.
WaffleMaster_135: Hey, man. So, we just spent the weekend with Princess. She mentioned you told her how you felt. We are hoping we could talk with you about it.
Carson presses send, and I pull my chair over to his to wait for Death’s response. It says he’s online, and I can see that he read the message.
“He’s not going to reply,” Carson growls.
“We’re her Alphas. Does he not expect to talk to us at some point if he thinks he has a chance to be with her?”
“Maybe he thinks she would leave us for him,” Carson mutters.
“Like fuck.” I laugh. “We’re her scent matches, and she already has our bite marks. You don’t leave that behind so easily. This is forever kind of shit, and he’s just some nobody online."
Just as I’m done saying the words, his response pops up.
FatalDe@thWish: There’s nothing to talk about. I told Princess my feelings. It’s her choice what she does with that information. It’s not your decision.
“Fucking asshole,” Carson growls.
“He’s not wrong,” I point out.
“Still,” he huffs, typing out his reply.
WaffleMaster_135: Like it or not, she’s our Omega, and we want to make sure she’s safe. We’re not saying she can’t explore her feelings with you, we’re asking if we could talk this out with you. Maybe do a video call? To make sure she’s safe.
FatalDe@thWish: Trust me, I’m the one person in the world she would be the safest with.
You have nothing to worry about. I’m not some creep or weirdo.
I’m a twenty-eight-year-old man with a good career.
An Alpha who would burn the world down for his Omega.
I’ve kept my feelings for her to myself for too long.
No more. I’m not missing my chance. Nothing you can say or do will drive me away.
WaffleMaster_135: We’re not trying to drive you away. We just want to get to know you.
FatalDe@thWish: We’ve been friends for years, and we’ve been playing together for longer.
I thought we knew each other. I guess this proves that people online and in real life can be two different things.
As soon as you met Princess, you pulled her from the online fantasy and made her your real one, while screwing over the last person in our friend group: Me.
You were never planning on sharing her with me, not until she told you how she felt about me.
So don’t try being all buddy-buddy with me now.
I hate you. Both of you. I might have to deal with you because of Princess, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
So take yourself righteous bullshit and shove it.
“That son of a bitch!” Carson snarls. “Who the fuck does he think he is?”
WaffleMaster_135: You know what? Fine. Fuck you. Stay the hell away from our Omega. Go near her, and we will end you. She’s ours, and we’re her Alphas. Her scent matches. She wears our marks. You’re just some loser online with a crush. This is the real world, buddy. Go find someone else.
“What the fuck!” I slap Carson upside the head. “You just made things worse!”
“He’s being a fucking tool!” Carson shouts back. “Addie will see it and end things with him herself.”
“Or, this asshole will show her what you just said to him, and she’s going to think we’re some controlling Alphas!” I throw my hand towards the computer.
Carson’s face drops. “Fuck.” He groans.
“Yeah. Fuck.” I start to pace, my head so full I feel like it might explode.
FatalDe@thWish: I hope she sees the real you.
Unlike you, I would never force her to choose.
I’d never take that choice from her. I’d have learned to deal and make it work.
But now? It’s not up to me, it’s up to you.
I have a question for you. Does she know who you are?
Who you really are? Because from the message she sent me, she doesn’t have a clue that her online world and real world have collided.
Boy, would I love to be a fly on the wall when that comes out.
Good luck with that. You’re going to need it.
Now, I gotta go. But you two have fun. Like before, may the best Alpha Win ;)
He logs off, leaving us staring at the screen.
“We’re about to lose everything, aren’t we?” Carson whispers, eyes still on the screen.
Dread fills me as my stomach sinks. As much as I want to tell him no, I can’t say it with confidence because... I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.