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The office door opens and Rome steps out, looking edible and smelling like I can eat him alive. “Maximus. Great to see you again. Won’t take long. I have great news.”
Mr. Pooler gives me a wink, then adds in a whisper, “Don’t let whatever you’re thinking stop you.”
I watch his back as he steps past Rome into his office. Rome meets my eyes and my breath catches. His reflect the turmoil I’m feeling, but also … something else. I can’t decipher it because he drops his gaze and shuffles inside, closing the door tight.
Fuck me, what am I going to do?
The best thing to do when I don’t know what to do is talk to my best friend. Brandon knows everything. Well, maybe not everything but enough to help me out. I knock on the door to his office. Brandon’s head pops up and he grins, waving me in.
“Hey, I feel like this is your first time here,” he beams, standing from his chair to give me a hug. “To what do I owe this visit?”
Slumping in the chair across from his desk, I give him what I think is a miserable look. He perches on the edge of his desk and crosses his arms, peering at me with questions in his eyes. “Brandon … I found my fated mate and I can’t be with him.”
“I’m sorry, what?” He sits in the other chair beside me, grabbing my hand. “Tell me everything.”
Groaning, I feel my face flame as I go through what happened a little over a week ago with Rome without mentioning his name. I gloss over most of the TMI stuff, but I do tell him I was missing my underwear when I got home. Hopefully, Rome found them and tossed them out.
Though the thought of him keeping them makes my dick chub behind my zipper.
By the time I’m done talking, Brandon’s mouth is wide open. He stares at me for so long that I think I broke him. “Say something,” I beg.
He closes his mouth, opens it again, but before he can say anything, Zane starts to cry. Hopping up, Brandon opens the adjoining door to Zane’s nursery, then curses. “How did you get in here so fast?” he asks his mate.
I hear Mason say, “I was coming to check on him anyway.”
Brandon huffs, then shuts the door. “Sorry. I thought Mason was at lunch. Anyway, okay, let me think.” He comes to sit back beside me. “Why can’t you be with him?”
Sighing, I wrap my arms around my middle, not wanting to voice what I’ve been thinking, but Brandon is my best friend. He won’t pity me; he’ll give me advice and at least prepare me if what I’m thinking will come to pass. “I think the doctor will tell me I can’t have children. What if he decides he’s stuck with me by fate and he wants a family?”
Brandon does exactly what I think he will. He squeezes my hand and nods. “We don’t know that yet. There are other ways to have a family. You and your mate are a family. You, your mate, and a puppy are a family. You, your mate, and an adopted child are a family. Don’t let society’s guidebook tell you what makes a family.”
Blinking back tears, I nod, knowing he’s right. For so long, I’ve wanted a family to love, since my biological parents couldn’t give a fuck less about me.
I was placed in foster care when I was three, my parents not wanting the responsibility of a child anymore. I know this because I found them and they told me they didn’t want the responsibility of a child anymore. After that day, I told myself that I would take care of any children I had.
But I was limiting myself. Any children I have can include children I adopt. I wasn’t given a home—having aged out of the system—but I can do that for someone else. I can be the person that loves them forever.
“You’re right,” I tell him, nodding. “I’m still afraid. I can’t claim my alpha then drop this on him. What if he can’t handle it and leaves? Or what if he can’t handle it, but he stays? It’s just as bad.”
“Oh, Benji,” Brandon murmurs, sliding closer to me. “You haven’t talked to him, so you don’t know that. How about we try to give him the benefit of the doubt, yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah, okay.”
“By the way, you never told me who it is.” Brandon stands and makes his way back to his side of the desk, shaking his mouse to wake his computer up.
This is the part I’ve been dreading. I’ve talked so much shit about Rome to Brandon—pretty much every day he took over for Mr. Matthews—that he’ll probably think I lost my shit when I tell him. But he’s my best friend and he has to know.
“It’s Mr. Stewart.” I put my head in my hands, counting down until I get a reaction out of him.
I start at ten and get down to three when I hear his abrupt laughter. Peeking through my fingers, I gaze at Brandon. “Yourboss?You had sex with yourboss!”
Rolling my eyes, I stand from the chair. “This was fun. But I have to get back to work.”
Brandon laughs. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He gets himself under control, then tilts his head. “It makes a certain amount of sense, ya know? When I heard you talk about him, there was always an undertone of something else there. Now I get it.” Coming over to me again, he wraps his arm around me. “Let me tell you, having a fated mate is amazing. I feel complete now that I found Mason. But I don’t want to push you into it just because I love it.” He gasps suddenly. “Oh, my gods! You love him, don’t you?”
I frown. “No, but something clicked into place when he kissed me. Now I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about him. I don’t really know and it’s fucking frustrating.”
“I’m sorry it feels that way. Are you going to talk to him about it?”
