Huh?
I wasn’t going to ask, but Austin didn’t have a filter. He leaned forward so far he almost fell off Silas’s lap. “That’s a thing?”
They were so strange.
Simon rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you have to go under fetishes and then pairings.”
“Fetishes?” Austin did fall off that time. “Where’s that?”
As Simon explained to Austin the finer points of which hidden icon to click to bring up the dirty porn that was hidden from the censors, we all stared in horror. Simon finally noticed and gave us all a skeptical look. “There’s no way you guys are as vanilla as you’ve been pretending. Your omegas are sitting on your laps and Tanner keeps calling ShaneAlphalike it’s something dirty. And don’t get me started on Austin.”
I wasn’t touching that one with a ten-foot pole, but again, Austin to the rescue.
“What is this word ‘vanilla’? I’m not sure I’ve heard of it.” That had the room in stitches again. Thankfully, Simon didn’t ask what we were up to, and Silas kept Austin from getting too nosy. I didn’t care what Simon was into, but I had a feeling I was the only one who wasn’t curious. Even Russ kept whispering dirty guesses to Jonah who was fighting back more laughter.
Trying to get us back on track, I focused on Shane. “Do you really think she’d be open to having us at dinner next week?”
“At this point, I’m not sure of anything. She took your situation better than I expected.” He ran his hand over Tanner’s leg like it was some kind of worry stone. “I think we take it at face value and just be yourself when you come over. No hiding and don’t downplay anything. She needs to see what letting an omega make their own decisions really looks like.”
Nodding, I glanced between them. “What are you going to do?”
Shane glanced at Simon, who was pretending not to listen, and shrugged. “I think we’re going to play it by ear depending on how things go with you. Tanner’s got a lot to lose if Mom goes nuts and starts posting shit on the internet.”
“Agreed. And our life is already out there, so no point in drawing fire if you don’t have to.”
Simon laughed. “She already thinks they’re weird. She just hasn’t figured out what they’re doing.”
Shane groaned. “You need a hobby. You talk to her entirely too often.”
Simon nodded. “I know. But she needs a hobby too.”
“What’s your dad got to say about all this?” Keeping those two on track was a full-time job. “Did she say?”
“She said he thinks it’s all interesting but didn’t want to have burgers when you guys came over so I’m supposed to ask if chicken is okay.” Simon nodded, smirking as everyone just stared. “Yep, he doesn’t care; he’s just tired of burgers.”
Jonah leaned in close, whispering quietly. “You realize your family is more insane than mine, right?”
I hated it when he was right too.
Russ was never going to let me live this down, either.
Chapter 18
Russ
“I’m not taking off my clothes, Austin.” Clay’s firm words should have sounded crazy, but unfortunately, thanks to the insanity with Graham’s mother and aunt, they were not the weirdest things said in our house that afternoon.
“But they have a pool and privacy and there's no paparazzi.” Austin was wiggling against Silas, gazing longingly at the pool. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
According to Jonah, lately there’d been drones taking pictures over Austin’s house. He was in the process of getting the neighborhood declared as some kind of no-fly zone, but until that went through some government agency, he was avoiding his pool. He said it was his choice to appear naked on camera and no one else’s.
“No.” Clay folded his arms across his chest, giving Austin a stern glare. “I washed the car yesterday. That’s all you get.”
“Nobody has swimsuits; skinny-dipping will be fun.” Austin batted his eyelashes at Clay, still convinced he could get his way.
I kept expecting Silas to step in, but that didn’t seem to be happening. Clay finally walked back in the house as Austin huffed and flounced off to convince Wade to take off his clothes. I wasn’t sure when we’d lost control of our house, but it seemed to be as soon as that flirty omega walked in the door.
Wade didn’t see the point in arguing with Austin, so he just started stripping. When they were down to a pair of briefs and panties respectively, I turned around. Finding Jonah or Graham seemed to be pointless among the mass of people who just seemed to keep multiplying.
