“Both. We’re fine in public and when we’re at work, but when we relax, we’re not careful enough. Most of the time that’s just around Tanner’s friends, so it’s not an issue, but it’s too hard to watch what we say all the time. Just a random ‘Yes, Alpha’ will make my mother insane.” Fuck, that wouldn’t be funny.
“Just picture my mother if Jonah accidentally calls Russ or me Master.” That had him snickering.
“That’s even scarier.” He sighed. “How did it get to this point?”
“With the moms?” When he made an agreeing noise, I continued. “Because we never stepped up and told them they were wrong. As kids, we didn’t have an option, but at some point, we were supposed to become real adults and tell them we have other opinions.” I was starting to regret taking the easy way out.
Well, not the easy way.
Leaving Russ out of family events even when he didn’t want to go was still hard, but it’d definitely been the path of least resistance. Just because we thought we’d been making the right decision didn’t mean it was.
“I’m a Dom, not a masochist.” His dry delivery had me nearly dropping the phone as I laughed.
“I don’t like pain that much either. That’s Russ and maybe Jonah.” I was surprised at my oversharing, but it didn’t feel wrong, just weird.
Shane laughed. “Don’t tell your mother that either.”
I groaned as I went back to getting dinner started. “Don’t worry, I’ve already figured that out.”
If my mother had strict ideas about how omegas should be treated, they had nothing on how she thought alphas should behave. An alpha being taken like an omega would not be on her list of acceptable behaviors.
Shane snickered. “Well, we know what to tell them if we get fed up and just want to give them both heart attacks.”
“Yeah, that you’re spanking your omega and make him call you Alpha like a master from the Dark Times.”
Shane barked out a laugh. “Oh no, I’m thinking that you and another alpha have made Jonah your sex slave while you take turns doing unspeakable things to each other.”
His tone said he wasn’t judging, so I forced myself to keep it light and teasing even though he probably didn’t realize how difficult it was. “Don’t knock the unspeakable until you’ve tried it.”
There was no way straitlaced Shane had experimented with that.
He started coughing and choking which just made me laugh harder. “That’s…we got off track.”
Sure, off track.
“You just do your best to distract your mother and I’ll focus on mine, but we’ve both got to run interference for the other because the moms talk too much to think they’re not egging each other on.” That was the best plan I could come up with until I was actually ready to confront everything.
“Deal.” Shane was starting to sound like he could breathe again. “And we downplay talk of marriage or any slip-ups in how we talk to our omegas.”
“Like calling them our omegas. That’s going to make them insane because omegas are not property, remember?” I laughed as he cursed.
“Fuck.” His dramatic groan had me chuckling. “I’m going to royally fuck this up at some point.”
“Yep. Just don’t throw me under the bus to escape the chaos.” If he didn’t fuck it up, I would. Jonah was too cute when he submitted and it was too easy to bring that side of him to the surface. All I’d have to do was grab him just the right way or say something that pushed a button and we’d never be able to hide it.
“Yeah, you either.” Then he perked up. “But I’m free for a while. Once they figure out Jonah’s moving in with you, that’s going to keep them occupied for weeks.”
I groaned again as I went back to the fridge to see what vegetables we had. “Don’t even put that out in the universe. She’s going to hate my having Jonah and Russ here.”
“They both will, and they’re going to drag the rest of the family into the drama.” Shane’s words were calm, but it was like he was predicting the future. It’d always seemed like I had plenty of time to figure out how to address my relationship with Russ and our eventual omega. I wouldn’t trade Jonah for anything, but somehow the future had gotten here faster than I’d expected.
****
“You’ve been off since I got here.” Jonah curled up on my lap as I sat down, tucking his face into my neck. “I’d ask if you need space from me, but I don’t think that’s it.”
“That will never be an issue.” I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight as Russ sat down beside us. “I just had a phone call with my mother earlier and then with Shane and they’ve got me thinking.”
“About me moving in?” Jonah lifted his head, concern clear, but I had a feeling it was more about my emotional state than worry we were going too fast.
