Page 5 of Scheme
Eighteen-year-old me wouldn’t have imagined I’d be single at thirty-two, that was for sure.
Happily, intentionally, permanently single.
“Me and Chelsea aren’t going to be like that,” Asher continued. “We’ve made a pact.”
“What kind of pact?”
“We’re going to be unmated omegas, just like you,” Chelsea said, grinning at me. “We’re going to have cool flats in the city and go to yoga class and buy nice shoes and purses, andnotask for a double stroller for our twenty-first birthdays like Layla did.”
That got a genuine laugh from me. “Don’t let Mum hear you say that,” I warned, grinning at them. “You never know what the future will bring, but if youdochoose to follow in the family spinster’s footsteps, I’m here for you every step of the way. I need to send my boss a message, then I’ll get my laptop, and we can watch a movie and order a takeaway. Sound like a plan?”
“And this, Margot, is why you’re our favourite sister,” Asher sighed.
It was dark by the time the buzzer for my flat went off. I left Chelsea and Asher watching the awful horror movie they’d talked me into putting on and jogged down the stairs.
I was steeling myself to confront my dad about the way he’d dropped it on me to tell Asher and Chelsea about Calum, which was something I never did. No matter how much my confidence had grown since leaving home, my dad still made me nervous. But when I opened the front door, I was presented with an entirely different alpha.
He was older, at least in his sixties, and from his wet cardboard scent, unmated. The look on his face when he saw me wasn’t entirely lecherous, but it also wasn’t quite un-lecherous enough to have me relaxing.
“You must be Margot,” he said before I could shut the door in his face. “I’m here to pick up the two little ones.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure we’ve met,” I replied, wondering in what world a fourteen- and sixteen-year-old could be considered little ones.
“That’s Jimmy,” Asher yelled down the stairs, having opened the door impressively quietly to eavesdrop. “He’s dad’s golf buddy.”
“Get your things,” Jimmy instructed, leaning past me. “Your parents are still held up at the station, and they asked me to drive you to Layla’s house since your lovely sister here doesn’t have a car or room to put you up for the night.”
He gave me an appreciative look, and my ovaries curled in on themselves.
Asher and Chelsea grumbled at each other before shutting the door to get their things, probably not enthused at the idea of spending the night at Layla’s house. Something I was rather smug about, though it seemed a little petty and beneath me to admit it, even to myself.
I was the cooler sister though.
“You’ve got a lush pair of tits, you do.”
I startled, finding Jimmy’s gaze firmly fixed on the outline of my breasts in the loose grey blouse I’d been wearing all day for a work call.
“I do. How very forward of you to mention it,” I replied coolly, taking a step back and crossing my arms over my chest. “I’ll be honest, Jimmy, I’m not feeling great about sending my siblings anywhere with you.”
Jimmy laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “That was a bit much, wasn’t it? I’m out of practice at pursuing omegas.”
Pursuing omegas?
No, surely not.
“I’m not interested in being pursued—”
“Your parents wanted us to meet.” He adjusted his stance, exuding the kind of obnoxious confidence that alphas swung around like a weapon. “Your old man said he’d introduce us, but I doubt he’ll have a chance any time soon, circumstances being what they are. Terrible shame about your brother.”
Jimmy gave me an appreciative look that made my skin itch while I was momentarily too stunned to respond. “Your mum mentioned your heat was coming up. She said it’s been real hard on you all alone these years. I had an omega once—she died years ago, may she rest in peace. Took me a while to get to a point where I was ready to find a new mate, but now that I am, well… Your dad has been saying for years that it’d be a good idea, you and I. He called me earlier and said, ‘Jimmy, it’s time. My family is overdue for a bit of good news, Jimmy.’ He’s not wrong about that, is he?”
For a long awkward moment, I just stared at him, baffled by this whole interaction. Was this my parents’ plan? Sell me off to take the heat off Calum’s actions?
I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself—or that this whole conversation was making me feel genuinely ill—but a mixture of alpha wariness and ingrained politeness had me tempering my words.
“I’m not interested in finding a mate.”
Asher and Chelsea were coming down the stairs behind me, bickering with each other about who would sleep on Layla’s couch and who’d be stuck in the nursery with the six kids.
