Not that I blame him. Any time we go out, it’s not long before a camera finds him. I’ve slowly adapted to them, but they still make my skin crawl.
Marcus purses his lips. “We were thinking about keeping it a surprise for him. I’ve talked with Johnathan, and he’s more than happy to help pay for it all if we’re interested.”
Nerves settle in my stomach. A… surprise? I lower the mug to the counter and cross my arms. I hate surprises, the lack of control they give. What if he wants more time? What if he doesn’t realize what we’re up to you and hates that we’ve sprung it on him? What if he had a specific dream for how signing his paperwork would look and we mess it up because we didn’t talk to him about it?
Marcus leans a hip against the counter and palms the nape of Charlotte’s neck.
“What are you thinking, Megs?” he asks. “I can see the gears turning over there.”
“Are you sure a surprise is the right choice? We haven’t discussed any of the particulars about finalization with him. Some Omegas wait their whole lives to do it.” I grab the mug of coffee and take another long drink. “I don’t want him to hate what we come up with.”
Charlotte’s smile is soft and supportive. “He won’t. Marcus came up with an idea, and his dads think he’ll love it.”
Hurt slices through me. “I’m… the last person to know?”
Her cheeks flush, but it’s Marcus who answers.
“It was an impulse thing while we were out last night. By the time we got home, you were already asleep. We didn’t mean to keep you out of the loop.”
“You’re sure he won’t mind being left out of the discussion? Surprises aren’t for everyone.”
Marcus nods. “I think he’ll love it.”
I push down my own unease and trust Marcus on this. He’s the one with a direct link to Cole, after all. My stomach clenches with the need to go back upstairs and bond him, too, so I can know him as intimately as Marcus does.
“All right. What were you thinking of doing for him?”
If we’re doing this, I want to be part of every step. He’sminejust as much as he is theirs.
“Johnathan’s put me in contact with a local acquaintance of his,” Marcus says, pulling out his phone. “We thought we could recreate the yacht experience over in Seattle.”
Yes, please.
My scent explodes out from me, and Charlotte laughs. “He’ll have the yacht available early Saturday morning for us. Hethinks we’ll be able to find a pod or two of minke whales if we’re patient.”
“Saturday means we won’t be able to actually file the paperwork until Monday.”
Marcus nods. “Right. I figured I could file it before heading into the office early Monday morning. Or we could drop it off after everything on Saturday at their after hours office down in the Financial District. It won’t be officially filed until Monday morning, but at least it’ll be in the pile.”
I nodded. “I like that idea way more. If we’re going to do it early, there’s no reason to hold onto it for a couple extra days.” I poured a bit more of the cold brew into the mug and took another long drink. I needed to eat something before all the coffee made my stomach hurt. “Let’s grab rings tomorrow, then. I have a couple ideas. Did you want to go with that jeweler we talked about last week?”
We’d had a lot of time last week before Cole moved out here to go over potential ideas. When Marcus nods, some of the tension loosens from my shoulders. I’m still not in love with surprising Cole, but that’s probably just my own preferences bleeding through.
“You’re still going toHadestownwith him Sunday?” I ask Charlotte.
Then I force myself to put the mug down and head to the fridge so I’ll eat something. Much longer, and my hands are going to get jittery.
“Yep!” She’s all excited giggles and flushes.
“They’re getting him a matching present,” Marcus murmurs as I pull out eggs and then grab bread from the pantry. He sets a mixing bowl in front of me, knowing what I’m going to make.
“They?” I crack the eggs into the bowl and then turn on one of the stove burners. “You both want some?”
Charlotte nods, as does Marcus. Then he answers my question.
“His fathers. They said they’ve done it for each of their children, gotten them something to celebrate the finalization.” He tucks his hands into the pockets of his warm ups and leans beside the sink. After a moment, he grabs my half-finished second mug of his cold brew and drinks it. “I gave them permission to deliver it while we’re out on the yacht Saturday morning. I’ll get everything arranged in the front room tomorrow night.”
I start to ask what it is that it’ll need furniture rearranged, but before I manage to, the stairs creak. Cole walks down the hallway a minute later, his chest still bare, the warm ups he’d been wearing yesterday slung low on his hips. There’s faint bruising on his wrists from the rope. God, seeing them makes me want to ride him again. Raspberry bleeds out from me.
