I drag my cousin into a hug, holding a beat longer than necessary, letting him know how much his help was worth. My family won’t stay gone forever. They’ll step forward at another moment, trying to pull me back in but for now, I’m free.
And I’ll fucking take it.
Koda's phone rings. He glances at the screen and his expression shifts as he grimaces, half-laughs, and runs his hand over his face. "Fuck. I have to figure out how to tell these men no."
I frown. "The mechanics?"
"They want to come over. Both of them. Together." He’s laughing but it sounds panicked. "I fucked them once, Sai. Each. Separately. And now they have joined forces and they are... fuck. I gotta go."
He waves and starts walking away with the phone already to his ear. I watch him go and I see it, the same confusion I felt in the early days, the same overwhelm of want and fear and the terrifying possibility that something good might be happening and not knowing what to do about it.
Mavi tugs my sleeve. "What was that about?"
I pull him in and kiss him, letting Mavi sag against me. When I pull back Mavi's eyes are soft and his cheeks are flushed. "It seems my cousin found two Omegas who think he’s irresistible."
Mavi's grin blooms, the real one with the sharp edge. "Two? At once?"
"They work him on his car stuff. And apparently they have decided he belongs to them and Koda has absolutely no idea what to do about it."
"Oh, that is going to be a disaster."
"The best kind."
Mavi starts laughing as he pulls me toward the car, obviously eager to be anywhere other than outside the dinner. Not that I can blame him.
"Personally," Mavi says as his voice drops to the register that still rewires my nervous system, "I would love to go back to the apartment and find a pretty Alpha on his knees for me. What do you think?"
I grin. "Sounds perfect to me."
