Page 57 of Scheme
Kit gave me a long look. “You could have all those things with the right alpha. The way Nico and Violet do.”
“Yes, well, with the benefit of hindsight, they’re the exception rather than the rule.” I thought of Michelle, constantly scrambling to keep the alpha she’d mated and his family happy. “For a lot of the omegas I knew, it seems more as though their heat was approaching, and they were at a point where they were ready to settle down, and whichever alpha they were seeing, they invited into their nest. It was more right place, right time than rightperson.”
“I don’t think you’d ever be at risk of making that mistake. You know exactly what you want and would never settle for less,” Kit said with quiet, steady confidence, never breaking eye contact.
“You have too much faith in me,” I murmured, my mind flashing back to being that wildly naïve eighteen-year-old who’d thought there was nothing more important than locking down an alpha. Who was so flattered to be the centre of someone’s attention.
“Not too much, I don’t think.” Kit glanced at me through ridiculously thick black eyelashes before returning his focus to his meal.
Oof.
Between the showering with me and the cooking for me, and thelooks, I desperately needed to steer this ship back to safer waters.
“Obviously, I don’t need to ask you why you’re single,” I teased. “Your lifestyle doesn’t suit it.”
“I’m pretty sure I never said that,” Kit said, a touch defensive.
“My career isn’t compatible with having an omega mate,” I recited, dropping my voice lower in an attempt to sound more like him.
“I don’t think I said thoseexactwords—”
“You did. That first time you came over with coffee and propositioned me.” I winked. “I went to law school. I have excellent recall.”
Kit shifted in his seat. “The travelling around, never having a base, a nest… That’s not exactly omega-friendly.”
“No,” I agreed, a little more sadly than I’d intended. There was no need to pity Kit. I didn’t like when people pitied me.
“But I won’t travel around forever. Alphas like having a home base, too, it’s just not as necessary for us.”
“Oh. I guess I thought… well, you’re atravelphotographer.”
Kit’s lips curved ever so slightly. “So I am. Tell me more about this school Asher is trying to get into.”
We finished dinner, and I insisted on washing up because it really seemed like the least I could do after Kit had cooked.
It had taken me an embarrassingly long moment to remember that the stockpot he’d used to cook the chicken was mine. It had been one of those optimistic, I-will-definitely-use-this purchases that had lived at the back of the cupboard since I’d bought it.
“Sorry there’s nowhere else for you to sit,” I told Kit apologetically over my shoulder. The dining chairs weren’t exactly comfortable, but the sofa was soaking wet.
“I’m pretty sure I should be the one apologising for that,” he deadpanned, his phone buzzing before he could say anything else.
“Hey,” Kit said, seemingly more interested in watching me wash up than his phone call.
“Did I catch you mid-fuck?”Coleman laughed, his booming voice coming through loud and clear despite the fact that he wasn’t on speakerphone.“Oh no, I forget you’re tied down these days. Or did you kick her to the curb already?”
This guy was theworst. If I was looking for an alpha to mate—which I wasn’t—Kit would truly have been the perfect candidate if not for his giant-red-flag taste in friends.
“No, of course not.” Kit looked immediately annoyed, which was somewhat gratifying. “Surely, being tied down, you’d be more likely to catch me mid-fuck, if anything?”
“I suppose,”Coleman agreed, not sounding particularly convinced. Probably because he didn’t see me as an attractive prospect, though there was always the possibility that he and his omega hadn’t slept together during the courtship. Some omegas preferred for the first time to happen during heat.“Anyway, I’m calling to see if you’re still coming to Brighton this weekend.”
Ah, the infamous Brighton trip.
“You don’t need to worry about accommodation—Beckett’s mate, Sal, inherited a fancy house there. We thought we’d head down on Friday night after work, back on Sunday. There’s plenty of room. I’ve even messaged Nico, asking if he and his omega want to come with. He usually says no, but he might deign to join us if you’re going.”
There was that grating snideness again. Did Kit not hear it? He might be used to it, I supposed. Maybe Coleman was like a worn-out pair of socks that weren’t actually that comfortable to wear, but he’d just never got around to disposing of.
“Margot would be coming with me, of course.”
