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I grinned and shook my head at him. “Isn’t it a little early for that?”
He pulled it out of his mouth, his tongue matching the same shade of orange as the frozen treat, and shrugged. “It’s basically a glass of orange juice on a stick. I just haven’t been hungry lately, so I’ll take my calories however I can get them. Whoever said morning sickness only lasted the first trimester was a dirty liar.”
“I’m starving.” I shoveled a big scoop of cinnamon-laden oatmeal into my mouth.
Joey waggled his eyebrows and dropped into the chair across from me. “Does that mean you had a good time last night?”
I could feel my face lighting up just thinking about my time with Louie. “Yeah, we went back to his room and…he asked me to stay over.”
“Really? In the family wing?” Joey bit off the tip of his popsicle and chewed it slowly as he stared at me. “I’m surprised. Andro said they never bring omegas into the family wing. I was the first.”
“Well…” I shrugged, feeling almost proud. “I guess I’m the second.”
As much as I didn’t want to let my mind wander, I couldn’t help but imagine that I was on the same path Joey had been on. Of course, he was brought into the house specifically to marry Andro.
I, on the other hand, was brought into the house to be a fuck boy to the entire staff of alphas.
Not exactly the same thing, but that didn’t mean our stories couldn’t have similar endings…right?
My shoulders drooped, and I immediately felt like shit, remembering my place. Andro had to marry Joey because his father had demanded he get married. Someday, Louie would have to marry for the good of the family too. I was pretty sure that a harem omega wouldn’t make the list of possible suitors. “But I know it doesn’t mean anything. I’m sure he just wanted to be in his own bed.” I made the argument as much for my benefit as for Joey’s.
Joey sighed and scooted closer, giving me a side hug. “It does mean something, Connor. Just…try not to get your hopes up. Louie is a great guy, and I know he would never intentionally hurt you, but there are a lot of politics involved in relationships at his level. Practically every move he makes has to be approved by the family.”
Good point. “Well, your mate is the head of the family now. Doesn’t that mean Andro could okay something between us?” Joey might have been an acceptable match for Andro, but it wasn’t the one that Vern had wanted. When Andro brought Joey home, he had set the family on edge.
Joey sorta nodded, but it wasn’t very convincing. “In theory, yes. Maybe? And you know he would never stop his brother from pursuing love, if that’s what this is.” He added that part apologetically as if reminding me that my feelings might be unrequited.
“But…?”
“But it wouldn’t be an easy road for you or Louie. Even if Vern agreed to any decision Andro made to a union, that could cause even more dissension among the ranks and other families. There’s a lot going on right now that we probably don’t even realize, so it might not be the best time to be shaking things up, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” The last thing I wanted to do was cause problems for Louie or the family, but it was hard to accept the fact that I could never be anything more than just one of the omegas in his harem.
Right now, the first priority of the Ferrinis was to keep Joey and the baby safe. I wouldn't jeopardize that.
As I picked at my oatmeal, several other omegas came in, deliberately ignoring me and sitting at a separate table. They liked Joey well enough, and appreciated all the things he was doing for them, but they didn’t like that I got so much special attention.
Not from Joey, and definitely not from Louie. It had been like that since my first day here. No alpha beside Louie would touch me, and now, no omega besides Joey would talk to me.
I took a bite of the oatmeal that had smelled delicious just a few moments ago, but as soon as I swallowed, I knew it was a bad decision. Nausea immediately rushed through me. I stood up and raced to the trash can, heaving what little was in my stomach with all eyes boring into my back.
Fuck. It was over just as quickly as it began, but I stood there for a moment, staring at the wall and wishing I didn’t have to turn around and face everybody.
Accepting that I couldn’t fast forward the next few minutes of my life, I turned around and went back to my seat, sighing as I looked over at Joey. I took a small sip of water and wiped at my face with the napkin.
Joey shook his head minutely and a small grin began to spread across his face. “Do I need to have the same talk with you that you had to have with me?”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. “No. No, that’s not possible. Don’t even joke about that.” I couldn’t be pregnant. I couldn’t… I was on suppressants.
“Have you taken a test yet? You all test pretty regularly, don’t you?”
We did. But it had been a while since I’d taken one. I shook my head, not wanting to face this reality, especially so publicly. Everyone who was in the room was thinking the same thing Joey and I were thinking. And these omegas didn’t have my best interests at heart. Most of them were jealous, which meant the news would travel fast. “This is the first time I’ve been sick.”
He shrugged. “Maybe it’s the flu?”
I bit my lip as I nodded, wondering if there was any possibility that was true. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
