Teal hoped he’d done enough to lay the foundation of a friendship with this man he already felt connected to.What that smile had done to him.He pulled his arm back. “I need to head to work now, but I hope to see you later.”
As he turned to leave, Sorcha called out, “Hey, Teal?”
“Yes?”
“I know what you’re doing, like, being a famous lawyer and all.” He dragged a foot across the cement floor. “I think it’s great. Really great. Important.”
“Thank you for saying that. It means a lot.”
An undercurrent flowed between them as their eyes met again.Did Sorcha sense it too?
With effort, Teal broke the spell and returned to his unit.
The memory of Sorcha's grin sat with him for the rest of the day. He needed tell Ronan. Teal couldn’t explain it exactly, but he knew that his world—their world—had just gotten bigger.
Chapter Four
Niall
Niall waved to some parents as he waited in the pickup line at Garin and Kino’s school. The omega daddies he ran into were especially effusive in their hellos. They knew who he worked for. Ronan, the progressive alpha, and Teal, who was paving the way for future generations of omega professionals.
Zayne held his hand in a tight grip as they watched the older children exit the building. “Niley, you know I wanna go to school too,” he said longingly. “Kino’s been teaching me numbers.”
Niall smiled down at the only person he’d ever allow to address him as ‘Niley.’
“I know you do, little gent. That’s why you and I read every day and practice writing your letters. So you’ll be ready for kindergarten next year.”
“I guess.” Zayne gazed wistfully at the red brick building with colorful art projects taped up in the windows.
Unfortunately, public schools only provided Pre-K for alphas and betas. Ronan and Teal had tried to enroll Zayne in a privateprogram, but he would have been the only omega, and putting their four-year-old at the mercy of the judgmental parents of other students hadn’t seemed wise.
That was the type of institutionalized bias against omegas Teal fought so hard against as a lawyer. Just as Ronan’s hiring of omegas for physically-demanding jobs subverted long-held norms.
They were an incredible pair. If it weren’t for that, Niall would have left his position the moment Jax asked to be exclusive.
Because being around the husbands without being able to touch them felt like torture sometimes.
He loved Jax. He truly did. Eight months ago, he’d crashed into Jax’s cart at the grocery store. They’d laughed and apologized in unison before Niall looked up into the most intense blue eyes he’d ever seen. The proverbial thunderbolt hit him. He ran into Jax a second time as they reached for the same red bell pepper, then again when Jax grabbed a box of cereal off a tall shelf for him. When they ended up next to each other in the check-out line, they’d exchanged numbers and arranged a coffee date. By the time Jax followed him to his car to help him unload his groceries into the trunk, Niall knew he would fall in love with the other beta.
Two months later, when they’d decided to be exclusive two months later, Niall was honest with Jax about the fact that he’d never been in a monogamous relationship.
But he hadn’t revealed his intimate activities with Ronan and Teal. It didn’t seem necessary to relay those details because, from the day he’d met Jax, he’d stayed clear of the couple’s bed. Since Niall was still the boys’ nanny, he didn’t want to cause Jax undue concern.
Niall believed he and Jax were building a solid future. They were both twenty-eight and had interests and life goals in common. Importantly, they shared the same progressive beliefsabout society and omega rights. The only thing they’d had to slightly compromise on was in the bedroom. While Niall didn’t feel like anything was missing from their sex life, he sometimes wished Jax was amenable to playing with others. Jax agreed to think about it, but also said he’d never been comfortable with non-monogamy. And if that was what Jax needed, Niall would give it to him. Because he’d never loved anyone the way he loved Jax.
But his commitment to fidelity didn’t stop Niall’s attraction to Ronan and Teal. Or erase the memories. Niall still felt the strength of their connection, built through years of conversation and pleasure and trust, and he knew the couple did too. Sometimes he thought if Jax could see them together, he would understand. For some couples, being with others didn’t diminish the love. It enhanced it.
Niall’s sexual relationship with the husbands hadn’t been cheap or tawdry. Ronan and Teal had been clear that they weren’t seeking a permanent third, and even more clear that their arrangement could never be out in the open.
Beginning shortly after Zayne’s birth, their affair hadn’t been only about getting off. It had been about meeting all their needs. They were complicated men, with complex desires. Being together in pairs, or usually as a threesome, fulfilled each of them in different ways.
For a long time, it had suited Niall. He’d been twenty-two when he began working for Ronan and Teal, carefree and not ready to be tied down. Once they started sleeping together, he’d gotten to have mind-blowing sex with beautiful, amazing men, and feel like part of a loving family, all without having to make a lifelong commitment.
When he met Jax, Niall was ready for that type of relationship, mature enough to be accountable to a partner. Jax was someone he could be affectionate with in public, someone he could growwith, maybe even have children of his own with someday. They were creating a life together, and if his continuing attraction to the husbands buzzed like a pesky gnat in the background, he could live with it. Since he couldn’t have both, he’d chosen the man who could offer him tomorrow. And he had no regrets.
Jax had recently broached the topic of moving in together. Niall wasn’t the McGinns’ live-in nanny. Even though he occasionally spent the night at their house, he’d always kept his own apartment. But lately he’d been spending most nights at Jax’s, and paying rent for a place he rarely saw didn’t make much sense.
Perhaps living with Jax would help dull his recollections of being with Ronan and Teal. Of how good they’d been together in bed.
