Page 27 of High Achiever
Weirdly, it was Ryder who broke the silence. “You did really well,” he told Spencer gruffly. “Helping out.”
Spencer flushed, spots of pink blooming high on his cheeks. It was kind of fascinating—Ash had never seen him blush before. But then, he’d never seen someone praise Spencer so sincerely before either.
“Oh. Well. Nothing to it.”
Ash decided there was no better or worse time to dive right the fuck in. “My heats are going to be erratic for a while,” he announced. “Unpredictable. Intense. We may need more help.”
Spencer nodded, fiddling with his fork without making eye contact. “So you’re gonna call heat services?”
“What? Fuck no. I’m not fucking random alphas.” Ash was starting to get really fucking annoyed with how many times he’d been forced to make that statement. He leaned forward, spearing Spencer with his gaze. “I’m askingyou. You and Ryder.” Ryder shifted next to him, and Ash added, “Please.”
“Oh.” Spencer blinked at him. “I mean, if you— You’re sure you don’t …?”
Ash didn’t know what self-deprecating nonsense Spencer was trying to mumble, but he cut it off. “We want you.” And sinceit couldn’t fucking hurt, he added another, “Please. This is— It’s a lot.”
Spencer’s gaze softened—apparently a little vulnerability really got to him. He nodded slowly. “Okay. Yeah, sure. Of course. Okay.”
Got him.
“And we’re not telling Noah.”
Spencer blanched. “Wait. But, like?—”
Ash cut him off again. He knew he was being an asshole, but his fatigue was making him sharper than he wanted to be. “Until my pheromones show up for good and necessitate some big omega reveal, I’m not ready to tell.” He narrowed his eyes at Spencer’s panicky face. “And it’smything to share, not yours.”
“No, of course. Sure. Of course.”
He looked so uncomfortable. Poor fucking baby. Ash was definitely an asshole for demanding secrecy. But he really did need a little time to process, and he needed it without his perfect brother getting in the way. Ash was too raw and rattled to hear anything golden boy Noah might have to say about any of it.
Unfortunately, Ash didn’t have much time to soothe Spencer’s ruffled feathers. The alpha had to get to his classes for the day—his schedule started earlier than either of theirs. Ryder saw him out with an ominous, “We’ll be in touch,” and Ash waited until the door was firmly shut before turning to Ryder.
“We’re keeping him.”
If Ryder was at all surprised by the declaration, he didn’t show it. He only cocked his head with a mild, “Are we?”
“We are. I’m right about this, I know I am. You, me, Spencer. It’s a total thing.”
Ryder crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall thoughtfully. “Noah complicates things.”
“I don’t give a shit. I love my brother, but he has Eli now. He doesn’t get Spencer too.” Ash rubbed his chest when thewords came out harsher than he’d wanted. Fucking possessive bullshit omega hormones. For the first time in his life, he really understood claiming bites. If Ash could just, like, gnaw the shit out of Ryder and Spencer’s necks, they wouldn’t have to worry about the rest, would they? They’d be his. Permanently. Fuck everyone else.
Oblivious to Ash’s slightly sociopathic thoughts, Ryder cocked his head. “He’s notoriously hard to catch.”
“Well, the people who tried before weren’tus, were they? We’ll woo the fuck out of him if we have to.”
Ryder’s lips twitched, like he was fighting a smile. But Ash knew him too well to be fooled—Ryder was so fucking on board it was ridiculous. “A subtler approach might be more effective.”
“Fine. But we’re doing it,” Ash pressed. He wanted verbal fucking confirmation. “The three of us.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Ash wasn’t. Everything about this felt right. Good. Maybe even perfect.
Ryder arched a brow, and Ash grinned, leaning in close, his nose millimeters away from Ryder’s strong jaw. “Aw,” he crooned, his breath ghosting over Ryder’s stubbled skin. “Do I need to woo you, too, Ryder? Should I be out buying you flowers instead of pulling you into an impulsive, heat-induced throuple?”
Ash pulled back, and Ryder gave him a hard, unimpressed stare. Ash waited him out—contrary to popular belief, he could be patient when he needed to be—and Ryder’s stare slowly morphed into a small, perfect smirk. “No, bright eyes. You don’t need to woo me.”
Fuck yes. Ash grinned fiercely. They were doing this.
