“Oh, Pem, you off?” Leo said, walking towards him with open arms. Maya lingered behind, chin tipped as she waited for Ru to rejoin them. “So nice to meet you. Come out with us again soon, okay?”
Pember nodded but kept his eyes on Ru. “Uh-huh. Nice to meet you too.”
Then, Leo pulled him into a tight embrace. “Take care of yourself,” he said, nuzzling his face into Pember’s neck.
Which was when he felt it. A swelling over Leo’s abdomen.
Pember’s gaze slipped to the other omega, and without thinking he wrapped his arms around him. Leo drunkenly clung to him, snaking his arms around Pember’s neck and pulling him closer. “Hey, Pem, you’re honestly so fucking cute, do you want to?—”
“Mercury,” Pember whispered in his ear. “Sushi contains high levels of mercury and should be avoided during pregnancy.”
Leo blurted out a laugh, pressing a wet kiss to the side of Pember’s mouth. “Oh, honey, sushi’s the least of my worries.”
He abruptly released him, letting Pember go and pushing him gently away. “Well go on then! Go and catch whatever carriage is waiting for you, Lord Pemberton!”
Sparing one final glance at Ru, Pember turned on his heel and ran towards the bus station.
CHAPTER 19
SEARCH PARTY
Pember
It took lessthan ten minutes to jog to the station, but Pember was already breathing hard and had to stop to lean against a shopfront.
What the fuck? What. The. Fuck.
Dropping onto the doorstep, he held his head in his hands. He’d thought Maya was nice, and Sal, so why did he feel like a lone guppy waiting to be devoured by a group of piranhas? He’d seen them in the aquarium when he was a kid, their grey skin covered in gold flecks, waiting.Waitingwith menacing stillness for something to cross their path.
Mayaknewabout his past, sheknewhe was isolated and alone, so why was she belittling him like that? Forcing him to look a certain way?Herway, that fitted in withherfriend group. He could see it in Ru too, in the way he looked so fucking miserable, but unable to say no.
Had Leo ‘given him a night to remember’ too? Why? To make him more amenable? Sucking in a breath, Pember massaged his temples.
He may not have known Maya as well as he thought, but he definitely recognised the sensation she created deep in his gut. The queasiness that left him feeling unmoored, worthless and unsure in his own mind. He had thought the feeling was reserved solely for his mum.
Shaking his head, he pushed his hair out of his face.
He gripped the handrail next to the door and pulled himself up. A few weeks ago, the uncertainty would have floored him; it nearly did tonight. But Blake was right. Hewassurviving on his own, hewasholding down a house and a job, he wasliving.He didn’t need someone,anyonemaking him feel like that.
Taking a breath, he turned in the direction of the bus station. Blake was waiting for him. He’d come to get him, no questions asked.
The alpha’s black SUV was already parked under the glass awning, all the buses stowed away in the garages for the night. The light from the little corner shop flickered next door, shining light through the driver’s side window.
Pember nearly tripped over a drain cover as he ran down the hill towards it. Skidding a little, he grabbed the handle and flung open the door to the passenger seat. Blake jumped, mouth halfway to a takeaway cup. His glasses were still pushed back in his hair, and he had a new black trench coat slung over a grey T-shirt and jogging bottoms.
“Is someone chasing you?” he said, leaning to look out of the passenger window.
Pember pressed his head back into the seat and let out a breathy laugh. “No.”
Blake’s expression darkened, and he touched the back of a hand to Pember’s forehead. “Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?”
“No,” he repeated, tugging Blake’s hand away. “No, I just… I don’t think I like Maya as much as I thought.”
Blake studied his face, running his eyes over his tense jaw. “What happened?”
Letting out a breath, Pember slouched into the heated seat and kicked off his boots in the footwell. “Can we just go? I’ll explain on the way home.”
Blake nodded, reaching across Pember’s lap and clipping his seat belt into place. “Coffee?” he said, tapping another takeaway cup that was nestled in the centre console. “I got it from the machine in the shop whilst I waited. It was only twenty pence, so it probably tastes like tar.”
