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“Exactly,” Allie added. “Defender of the drunk and stupid.”
Gabe chuckled. “That's definitely one way to put it.”
Dad gave a decisive nod and then gestured to the food. “Everyone dish up. The food is getting cold.”
Luca was in charge of serving, filling our plates for us.
I nudged him as he sat back with his own plate. “What’s new with you?”
“Nothing.” His eyes darted to mom briefly and whipped back to me before focusing onto his food. Weird. He was a little twitchier than usual, but I wasn’t going to call him out on it in front of Mom. He’d tell me about whatever was making him so nervous when he was ready.
“This food is incredible, Mr. Marino,” said Gabe after his first bite of the chicken parmigiana. “And not just because I’m trying to get you to like me.”
Dad's cheeks turned pink. “Thank you. That's appreciated.”
We were spared some conversation while we all stuffed our faces, but I could see the questions working behind Mom's eyes as we ate.
Allie, bless her, welcomed Gabe into the situation as if they had been best friends for years. Sidney looked at his wife a few times with his own questions tucked behind that dark gaze. Allie knew the details, but I hadn’t quite worked myself up to telling him yet. I did still want to talk to him since I hadn’t made it to the clinic, though I didn’t really want to leave Gabe to the mercy of my family. At least Allie would probably be able to keep them on track.
Tension slowly climbed up my back, burrowing at the base of my skull. My family was being astonishingly good about me springing a surprise man on them, but I just kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Do you like sports, Gabe?” Dad asked as we hit the point in the meal where there were only a couple bites remaining.
Gabe glanced at me briefly, and I tried to give the subtlest nod possible.
“Yeah, for the most part. I don’t play much anymore, but I watch the World Cup with my dad every year.”
That single fact softened my dad even more. Gabe had an annual tradition with his father, which told my dad that the family was important to Gabe, beyond basic duty. Family was the biggest thing to my dad, and I couldn’t have coached Gabe to answer any better.
“Could I interest you in my signed World Cup jersey I got in Brazil?”
“Absolutely, I’d love to see it.”
Gabe was hitting all the bull's-eyes with my family tonight. We polished off our food, and Mom declared a brief reprieve before we started dessert. Gabe went with my dad and Luca into the den, and I snatched Sidney by the wrist, dragging him into the guest bedroom.
“Can I ask you a weird question?”
His face squished up. “I only hope it's nothing about sex now that you’re dating an alpha.”
I snorted. “Vaguely related, but not really because of him. Okay, a little bit because of him but… So I’ve already talked to Allie about this, and she said I should talk to you. I didn’t wanna be weird.”
“Well, spit it out so I don’t have to imagine anything unsavoury.”
“Gabe isn’t the only one that I’m seeing.”
“Elaborate.” Sidney lately crossed his arms over his chest.
“He's part of a pack. I’ve been seeing a few of the members.”
“You little horn dog.” Sidney laughed. “I knew you had it in you. So what's the question?”
“I was wondering if you would ask the doctor at your clinic if there's anything weird about, how do I say this… Reacting stronger than anticipated?”
“Nick, you have to give me a little more info to go on.”
“It's just, like, I’ve only ever dated betas, and they were fine, but this pack, even the beta in it, it's likeextrafine. You know? I feel like my brain fritzes out with the whole lot of them.”
Sidney ran a hand through his hair. “What are the dynamics in this pack?”
