Page 2 of Mate Matched: Xavier & Brady
By the time the next day rolled around and Jae’s heat was over, I was cautiously optimistic about the chances of our relationship working out. I didn’t say much to Jae about it, wanting to focus on his thing with Curtis. The way my friend had lit up over the alpha was adorable!
Jae let me avoid the topic of my alphas and my upcoming heat, which only made me love the other omega more. He really was the best friend I’d ever had.
With only around six weeks until my heat, I really had to be planning what I was going to do. Was I willing to be vulnerable with the alphas after what I had found in their apartment? If I could look past that, was I about to go into it without contraception of any sort?
Like Jae, I could pretty much set my watch by my cycle. A heat every one hundred and twenty days, about 4 months give or take. They would arrive like clockwork. Usually, I would use a service or pick someone up at a bar, but I’d met the alphas on ahookup app a month or so ago and quickly developed feelings for them. Was that enough to risk a pregnancy, however unlikely, with them?
I was what was called a recessive omega. My pheromones weren’t particularly strong, meaning I didn’t lure alphas with my scent. I had to use all the tools in my arsenal for that! It also meant I was far less likely to fall pregnant without some kind of intervention. Both Gio and Xavier knew this about me. Part of the reason they were willing to go without protection for my upcoming heat. The plan was to try for a year or two as our feelings for each other settled into something stable, then seek intervention if it wasn’t happening.
The decision about my heat ended up not being mine to make because it was made for me. I felt Gio pull away from me, threatening my relationship with Xavier. Gio became more and more distant as the days turned into weeks. He even backed out of a date to head to a business dinner, leaving me and Xavier alone. The other alpha was sweet. I really liked him. It was obvious he was more invested in our relationship than Gio was.
My heart was torn over what to do. I wanted to keep seeing Xavier, but as a married couple, they came as a pair. If one half of them wasn’t into me anymore, where did that leave me?
Eventually, with only a couple of weeks until my heat, I was hit with more evidence: a lipstick tucked into the couch cushion. I’d been making out with Gio while Xavier was on his knees for his husband. I loved watching Xavier deep-throat his man. When I’d shifted in my seat, trying to get closer to Gio, something had dug into my side. I pulled the tube out but didn’t get the chance to examine it before Gio whisked it out of my hand and threw it under the other couch with a look that told me to keep my mouth shut. Xavier missed the interaction.
That night was the last night I was with the pair. We fucked for hours until both of them completely passed out in their four-poster bed. I’d done it to get them out of my system. I was tired of Gio playing hot and cold with me. If they had someone else, then that person was welcome to them. There was no way I was spending a heat, potentially ending up pregnant however unlikely, with cheaters.
Sure they were out cold, I swept their apartment from top to bottom, finding more and more evidence there was an omega in their lives. Worse, I was pretty sure that omega was pregnant, or about to be. I spotted the same pregnancy vitamins Jae took now he was pregnant with Curtis’ kid. There were hair ties with brunette strands. The lipstick in a pretty shade of pink. Another pair of panties. A used toothbrush in the cabinet.
It was Gio’s planner that sealed it for me. A date marked off in just a few days: scan for Candice, with the time and clinic named. A quick search online pulled up the pricey birthing center.
Not only were my alphas seeing another omega. They’d gotten her pregnant, too.
Two
Xavier
Ignoringyourinstinctswasnever a good course of action, so why had I chosen to hide my head in the sand over Gio’s increasingly concerning behavior? It was something so unlike me that even my best friend was questioning me about it.
“Dude,” Malik groaned. “This is what? The fifth time Gio mysteriously had a late meeting!” My best friend gave a dramatic sigh. “You need to bite the bullet and talk to your husband instead of being here and eating my in-laws’ Moo Shu pork.”
“But it’s the best Moo Shu pork in the city!” I protested weakly, though it wasn’t a lie. Malik’s in-laws ran the best Chinese restaurant I’d ever been to, and since meeting Malik in law school, I’d been to more than my fair share. Malik called it research for his mate’s family.
“Obviously,” he drawled. “It really is a shame Chen didn’t want to take over the restaurant. I would have liked running this place with him.”
“Lies,” I shot back. “You’d have gotten bored within a month and either you, or Chen, would have mouthed off to the wrong customer. The restaurant wouldn’t last a year with you two in charge.”
A chuckle came from behind us. “You tell him, Xavier. My brother-in-law much prefers eating noodles to serving them.”
“Exactly,” I agreed with a grin. I elbowed Malik playfully. We liked to sit at the bar and chat with the staff when we came. “Besides, it’s in expert hands with Hao, and we get to enjoy free food whenever we stop by.”
Hao leaned on his brother-in-law’s shoulder with clear affection. Malik reached up to scent the other omega’s wrist. “Mom just wants to feed you now that you’re carrying her grandbaby!”
Malik’s face glowed with pleasure. “It’s been a long road.” At four months along, there was a gentle swell to his stomach. He and his husband had been trying for years, but as a recessive omega and alpha pairing, they had to undergo several rounds of fertility treatment, which was exhausting and expensive. Luckily, they both had well-paying jobs, not that I would have pointed that out. Both of them would have traded their careers in a heartbeat to have a baby.
“I should probably get going. Gio’s meeting should be over by now.” I pushed away from the bar and made to stand.
Malik’s hand on my arm stopped me. “Are you going to ask him what’s going on?”
My first instinct was to lie and say I was going to hash it out with my husband. There were so many red flags popping up, it was hard to figure out which part I wanted to tackle first. The late-night meetings, the business dinners, work trips that lasteda week… It all added up to something I didn’t want to look too closely at. Then there was Brady. Gio had been into him to start with, yet the closer we got to Brady’s heat, the more that fire in him had cooled.
It left me in a difficult position because, unlike Gio, my feelings for the omega were growing by the day. What had started out as a casual thing with Brady had turned into something much more serious. I wanted to be exclusive, but my husband had asked for more time to “be sure” of what he was feeling. Though it would have helped if he spent any time with Brady.
The rules of our open relationship meant that it was okay for me to date Brady as long as Gio knew about it. We used to discuss everything. Used to. Recently, it was difficult to pin down Gio for a chat about anything. He was always at work. At least that’s where he said he was.
My face pulled into a grimace, and Malik patted my arm. “It’s fine, you aren’t ready. Sorry for pushing… I guess I just want you as happy as I am and—”
“It’s fine, honestly. You’ve always had a big heart. I think I just need to take a minute to really think through what I feel and how I want things to be. It can’t go on like this much longer.”
