“Anyway, my point is, it’s getting more serious between us, and it’d mean a lot to me if you met her. Her lease is up soon, so I asked her if she wanted to find a place together… and I just think, you know. This could be it for me.”
I froze with my glass halfway to my lips. “You did? You do?” He’d never introduced me to anyone he dated before, at least not on purpose. There was one occasion where we were out and we saw their dickhead ex with someone else and I had to get dragged off before I throttled the cunt, but never for a positive reason.
And moving in? That was entirely unheard of.
They nodded. “You know how important you are to me, and I never wanted to introduce you to someone who I didn’t think would last, but I’m sure now, she seems like… y’know.”
I didn’t mean to raise my hackles, but I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t know a ton about the girl Jesse was seeing.
Brunette, big boobs—their assessment, not mine—and an omega. That usually meant alphas. At least one of them. Being lavished with gifts and courting and—usually not quiet little lives with nerdy gamer betas. No matter how hot they were.
“Isn’t she an omega?”
Jesse’s demeanor tightened instantly. “She is. Not that I see why that should matter.”
“Aren’t you concerned about her… wanting a pack?”
They blew out a breath, studying the TV with little interest. “We’ve talked about it. She’s been clear she’s not interested in a pack. It’s too much for her. And though she said she wasn’t interested now, I told her if she ever wanted to consider an alpha I’d be open to it. I’m not dense about her situation. I know this whole Heat Hotel thing sucks for her.”
“I didn’t think you were,” I said easily. “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”
At those words, they softened, their gaze finding me again. “I know. You’ve always looked out for me, but I’m sure about her. She’s special.”
“If she’s this important to you then I definitely need to meet her.”
“I knew you’d want to,” he said happily. “You’re gonna love her. She loves games just as much as we do.”
“I would hope so with the career choice.” Though I’d never spoken to her one on one, we’d played matches of OVWatch together, and she was pretty kickass, for a Nova main at least. “She swear as much in real life as she does in game?”
Jesse laughed. “Nah, that's mostly for the camera. You know how it is, gotta play it up for the viewers. She even puts on this slightly higher voice than normal.”
Curiosity outweighed jealousy momentarily. “How much does she change for the camera?”
There was an almost sheepish quality to Jesse that I didn’t see often at the question, the back of their neck heating bright pink. “I, uh, I actually kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
“What about it?”
“You know how I told you about her SLCK’d page?”
“Not that I’ve ever gone looking for it,” I said with a shrug. They mentioned it the day after they thought she was going to break up with them, but told him she was a spicy streamer instead. It was the first time he talked about her.
“Yeah, well… she’s asked me if I wanted to come on her stream.”
“Oh.” I swallowed hard. “You think you’ll do it?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Jesse asked as they pulled out their phone, bringing up a picture in his camera roll and turning it towards me.
For the second time in my life, Jesse was entirely unaware that he’d made my world shift entirely.
Tara.
His girlfriend Tara.
Was the same girl from the Heat Hotel.
“I-I—” I stammered, feeling the tips of my ears burn.
“I know, right?” Jesse said proudly, looking at the photo with a dreamy smile that meant he was entirely oblivious to the immense amount of emotional turmoil I was enduring. “The thing is, she makes like… alpha/omega fetish porn? So usually she’s pretending to be submissive and that’s just—” they let out a sharp little laugh. “Not her.”
