Instead of answering the overly nosyquestion, I went back to staring at Wade. “How is he doing? The last time I sawhim was with a group of guys from the station and he…he told one of the otherguys that we shouldn’t come around anymore because it was too hard.”
Austin sighed. “It was bad. And thatexplains some questions we had, but he’s doing better now. Happy and finallyable to see the future.”
When I nodded, he continued withoutprompting. “That’s what this is about. He hadn’t subbed for anyone sinceMatthew died, and I think this was his way of proving to himself that he wasalive and ready to live again…because unfortunately those are two differentthings.”
“I’m glad he’s doing better.” I’d felt sohelpless before; this was a blessing even if someone else was helping him findthat happiness again.
“It was the depression talking before. Hedidn’t really mean to push everyone away.” Austin’s words made sense, but theywere still hard to take in.
Thankfully, he fell silent as we watchedthe scene unfold for several minutes. When the alpha finally slowed to a stop,Austin gave Silas’s arm a pat and stepped away from him. “It’s time to go grabWade. Bring him over to the—”
“No.” I hadn’t meant to say the word, butonce it was out of my mouth, I refused to back down. “I’ll take care of him.”
Both men gave me stern looks like they weretrying to decide where to hide my body. Wade had always had the strangestfriends, and it was interesting to see that hadn’t changed. After severalmoments that seemed to drag on forever, Austin nodded. “Tell Tristan I said itwas okay.”
“Will you tell whoever is in charge ofthis…maybe some guy named Shane…that I had to step out of the kitchen for a fewminutes and where to find me if they need something?” I ignored his odd grinand focused on the nod.
“No problem.” He seemed confident that hecould handle the situation, so I assumed he knew the owner. He wouldn’t havecome if he had any doubt about who was in charge.
He’d always seemed like a bit of a controlfreak, honestly.
Just an insane one.
Heading toward the stage, I weaved betweengroups of people who’d started to wander away now that the demo was over. The alpha—Tristan,I was assuming—was stroking their backs and whispering slowly as he glancedback at Silas. He was probably wondering what was taking so long.
“Austin said to tell you it’s okay to letme take care of Wade.” The man’s face tightened and he glanced behind me,probably looking at Austin. Whatever he saw must have had him relaxing becausehe shifted his gaze to me.
“Does he know you? I don’t like changingthings when he’s not expecting it.” Tristan’s expression said his feelings weremore than simple dislike.
“He’s known me for years, but it’s been awhile since we’ve talked. I was a friend of Matthew’s.” Those seemed to be themagic words.
Tristan’s face softened. “He’s flying andyou’ll need to stay with him until he’s okay. But if he’s pissed you’re the oneholding him, I’ll help Austin hide your body.”
They were the strangest people.
“Fine.” I wasn’t going to entertain theirdrama by responding to it any more than that.
Moving over to the spanking bench, Igathered Wade up in my arms. He made a small happy moan and cuddled into mebefore relaxing completely again. As Tristan gathered the other omega in hisarms, he nodded toward a small room. “It’s quiet in there.”
Following him, I carried the cuddly omegainto the dimly lit recovery room. The room had several seating areas that wereseparated by low walls. There was a surprising amount of privacy as I moved toone corner and sat down with Wade still in my arms.
As I relaxed back and held the still-out-of-itWade, another familiar face popped around the corner. I couldn’t remember hisname, but he was Wade’s friend who liked to paint. He smiled and whisperedquietly, “It’s good to see you again. Here you go.”
He set down a bottle of water beside me onthe couch and spread a soft blanket over Wade. “It’s been a while, so I don’tknow how long he’ll be out.”
Nodding, I returned his smile and smoothedthe blanket over Wade. “Thanks. It’s good to see you.”
He’d always been nice and I was glad thathe and Wade were still friends.
The omega…James…Jessie…Jonah…yes, Jonah,smiled. “He’s going to be surprised to see you. Just make sure to remind himthat if you’re here, that means you’re in the lifestyle too.”
I chuckled quietly. “Good idea.”
That was not going to be Wade’s firstthought. “I’ll take good care of him.”
Jonah gave me a funny smile. “I know.”
Shit. Had they all known?