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Bergy, obviously sensing Ishir’s indecision, pushed. “Stay the night, at least. We’ll have a movie night with my girl. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll do that.”
He texted Zee, not wanting him to worry. Maybe a little time apart would do them good.
**********
Ishir could feel Zee staring at him during practice the next day. Ishir smiled at him because he wasn’tangry. He was just burnt out.
Zee skated closer tentatively. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just spending some time with Bergy.”
The corners of Zee’s mouth turned down, but he nodded in acceptance. “You wanna do lunch after?”
“I’m actually doing something with Olive and Levy, but we can do dinner?”
Zee smiled. “Yeah. Let’s do dinner.”
Practice went well, the drills gruelling but satisfying to complete.
Olive and Levy were even more all over each other than usual—not surprising, since Olive’s heat had only been a few weeks ago.
Despite the slight ache it caused, Ishir didn’t mind. It was sweet, watching Levy dote on Olive, kissing him on the brow when he left to get something from the kitchen, threading their fingers together on his return.
Olive appeared much healthier than he had at the beginning of the year. He’d told Ishir all about the health stuff he’d gone through the previous year—the aftermath of taking shitty suppressants since he presented—but things seemed to have calmed considerably.
“How are you feeling, by the way?” Ishir asked Olive, embarrassed that he hadn’t mentioned it last time they’d seen each other. He knew that heats were a big thing with his condition.
“Honestly, it’s all pretty good. My heats have mostly adjusted—I’m taking stabilisers now. Pretty much given up on suppressants.”
Levy nodded. “He’s a champ.”
Olive rolled his eyes, but his expression was affectionate. “Thanks, coach.”
“Youare,though,” Levy insisted.
Olive gave him a peck on the lips, making Levy grin.
“One thing I have to say,” Levy went on, “is that I can’t believe Gabby got mated before us.”
Olive squinted his eyes incredulously. “They’re like ten years older than us?”
“So? We got together a year before them! That whole thing when they were kids doesn’t count.”
“We’re so young, though,” Olive said, his words clearly part of an old argument.
Levy shrugged. “I’d mate you tomorrow.”
Olive flushed brightly. Ishir watched them stare at each other, the sweet mixing with the bitter inside him. He could be happy for them. Maybe one day he’d get that too—someone who would be so ready to mate him they’d drop it in casual conversation like it was nothing. An Alpha who loved and accepted him for who he was.
Eventually, Ishir would get over Zee. Would heal, and move on, and belong to someone else.
The picture was idyllic. A big apartment in Brooklyn. Adopting a few kids, maybe. The possibilities his life held should have filled him with hope.
Instead, he was just…sad.
He could still find the strength to be happy for his friends, though. He wasn’t so far gone as to resent them for being in love.
