Chapter 8: Tyler - Wrong Date, Right Mates

Touching Elliott started a fire I can’t put out. I was so close to giving Elliott what he needs, what would chase away the inferno inside me.

Except he belongs to my best friend. Of course. I finally meet an omega I’m attracted to and he’s Alden’s date.

I stand with my back against the sink so I can still watch Elliott. Every muscle in my body coils with tension, and not just because of Elliott. I’m scared Alden will be furious. I’m scared what just happened will destroy our friendship. I’m scared that Alden is going to fall in love with Elliott—how could he not?—and I’ll be forced to watch them from the sidelines.

Alden waits, holding his fingers in front of his mouth while his other hand cups his elbow. He does that when he’s stressed. He used to bite his nails when we were kids, but his parents hated it, so he learned to hover his fingers by his mouth instead.

“Ty, what happened?” Alden asks, eyes round and uncertain, vulnerable, and hurt. I don’t want to hurt him.

“He was in so much pain, and I just wanted him to feel better so I could get him out of the sun and somewhere safer. I didn’t know he was your date.”

The muscles in Alden’s jaw twitch as he nods.

“I fingered him and sucked his dick,” I continue with a grimace. “That’s it.”

Alden’s skin flushes in red blotches. His body betrays him when he’s upset.

“He told me earlier that he was supposed to meet someone, but he couldn’t get hold of him,” I continue. “I didn’t know he was your date until you said yours canceled.”

He lifts a hand. “How could you have known?”

Some of my tension fades. “I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head, one quick jerk. “I’m glad you were there to take care of him.”

Relief fills me. I cross our narrow kitchen, and press my forehead against Alden’s, losing sight of Elliott, but I don’t care right now. I need it to just be Alden and me.

“Thank you.” I roam my hands up and down his neck, intermingling our scents, soothing us both. I close my eyes slowly and inhale.

“I can smell him on your lips,” he says, desire in his tone instead of anger.

My gaze drops to his lips. He’s right there. All it would take is for me to tip my head. Fuck, I want to kiss him, to let him taste Elliott from my lips, share our omega with him, and never leave him. Never leave them.

But I can’t. This isn’t real.

My anxiety returns. I don’t know what that sappy internal monologue was. It feels like a thought said by someone else. I don’t think like that. It’s just hormones and emotion. I hate it. I don’t want that. I don’t want to hurt Alden when this fog clears, and I realize I’m not in love with him.

“I have to go.” I feel out of control. I can’t kiss Alden. I can’t hurt Alden.

I don’t care how much I want Elliott, how much he felt like mine, how he’s the only omega whose scent ever dragged my attention away from Alden’s. Elliott could be my fated fucking mate, something I definitely don’t believe in, and I would still leave.

I’ll never let an omega stand between me and Alden’s happiness.

I cradle the back of Alden’s head with my hands. “I love you more than I want to knot an omega I just met.”

“Ty…”

“I’m so glad he belongs to you.” I try really fucking hard to mean it. “He just imprinted on me like a baby goose because I was the only alpha around.”

“You mean gosling?”

I pull back with a frown. “You have an omega in heat on the couch and you’re correcting my semantics?”

He huffs a short laugh, then leans toward me, and nuzzles his nose against mine, his own scent blooming. “You two smell good together.”

“Naw.” I step back and release him. “He’s your date, not mine. He’s perfect for you.”

I sound like I’m reassuring myself more than him and he knows it.

“I don’t want an omega,” I add. “I want you to be happy.”

“Ty, I want you to be happy too. If you want to stay or if you want me to go so you can explore this with him, I understand.”

“No. It’s just biology. It means nothing.”

“Right.” Alden’s spine straightens, his face smoothes. I call it his boarding school look, the structure he falls back on when he doesn’t want to be vulnerable.

A soft sound like a breath exhaled draws my attention. I return to my post with a view of the living room, and Elliott. He’s turned onto his side, and the towel didn’t come with him, exposing more smooth skin over statuesque bone and muscle. The scent of orange blossoms summons me like he’s got me on a leash. I bet he’s slick between his legs, ready to be taken.

Taken by Alden. Not me.

I shake myself and will my erection to disappear. I need to get out of here. “I’m going to go.”

Alden turns his head away from Elliott slowly. “What?”

“I’m behind on my grant proposal. I have work to do. My board’s on the beach. I’ve got to pick up my dry cleaning.” I can keep coming up with excuses all day because I can’t stay here.

Alden quirks a brow. “Dry cleaning? I’ve never seen you dry clean anything? Do you even own something dry clean only?”

I head to my room and hide inside my bathroom.

“Tyler?” Alden says from the other side.

“I’m fine. I’m just getting dressed. Tell him goodbye for me?”

“What? No, Tyler.” He pulls on the door handle. “You can’t just leave without saying goodbye. He’s in heat. He’s going to feel rejected. It’s going to kill him.”

I know. But it is what it is. If he didn’t belong to Alden, I wouldn’t be doing this. But he does, and if I stay around to explain that, I’ll never be able to leave.

“I mean, what did you expect me to do?” I pull a shirt over my head. “Just hang around while you two fuck?”

“He might not want me,” Alden says quietly.

“He will. Trust me.”

I swap my trunks with shorts and grab a clean change of clothes. I’ll shower at work after I get my board. I’m not spending any more time here than I have to, especially not while naked.

“He might want you,” Alden says. “Then what?”

“Then, I guess you call me, but you better be sure.” I open the door to find him blocking my exit.

Those pink splotches are on the verge of hives, a visual representation of how much I’m fucking up this conversation.

“I don’t want to do this, Alden.” A total fucking lie if you ask my body, but I refuse to be ruled by my body. “I’m leaving. I’m saying no. I don’t consent to this. I know you’ll take care of him, so let me go.”

He breathes out a sad exhale that takes the height out of him as his shoulders slump. He steps aside. “Okay.”

I don’t linger. I don’t make eye contact. I don’t give my best friend any reassurance that I’m okay or that we’re okay. I don’t fucking know, to be honest.

I leave through the second entrance, the one I installed in my room so I could avoid Niall.

Leaving them both feels wrong, excruciatingly wrong, but I put one foot in front of the other until I reach my car. Everything inside me says to go back inside. My brain screams at me that I’m abandoning my omega, that I have to go back and knot him and make him mine. That Alden is mine too.

My brain is fucking stupid. Fuck being an alpha. This is bullshit.