She hefts the strap of one of the duffel bags over her shoulder and follows me through the apartment door. The guard can grab the last two suitcases before I lock up.
“And how, exactly, would I benefit from you getting knocked up by alphas you know next to nothing about and aren’t evenyours?”
“Did you miss the part of how much money they’re paying me? I can pay off your student loans. Even buy you a new car.”
“What the hell is wrong with my car?” she says as she tosses the duffel into the hatchback and waits as I settle the box beside it.
The guard is coming back with the last two suitcases, but I still need to go lock up before we can leave.
“Other than the fact it’s over twenty years old, the paint is fading, and that check engine light has become a permanent fixture?”
I’m not even a car guy, but even I’ll be the first to say my girl needs to upgrade.
“Whatever. I’ll follow you guys,” she says, pulling her keys from inside her purse and swinging them around on her finger with a snarky grin.
She can be as stubborn as she wants. I think with the first payment deposited into my account I’m definitely buying Ella a new car.
Ella helpedme put away my belongings, then stood outside my nest peering inside.
“You are going to change it up, aren’t you?”
We haven’t been inside each other’s nests, but not like we haven’t seen inside. And Ella knows me better than any single person on this planet.
“Planning on it, I just don’t know exactly what’s unsettling me.”
She turns a frown on me. “You’re feeling unsettled? About the situation or the nest?”
“Okay, you sounded way too hopeful with those questions. The nest, asshole. Something isn’t quite right in here,” I say as I stand in the center of the closed in space and turn in a circle.
The answer hits me square in the chest, but I decide to keep it to myself.
It smells…empty. Your nest should smell like safety. Comfort. Home.
This one doesn’t. Not yet.
“It’ll be fine once I arrange my blankets and pillows the way I like,” I say dismissively, turning off the dim light and stepping out before pulling the door shut behind me.
Last thing I need is another omega’s scent permeating the space so close to my heat.
I’m actually surprised Ella is able to be in my room if she’s riding the preheat emotional rollercoaster, though it’s not like she’s wallowing face first on my bed.
“You hungry or anything?” I ask her as we settle in the sitting room.
“You going to ring a bell and have the servants bring you something?”
“Ha. Ha. Actually, there is this really cool beta who makes some killer breakfast, but I don’t know if she makes any of the other meals yet. I just know she lives in a guest house out back somewhere and is their full-time housekeeper.”
“For fuck’s sake. What kind of lawyers are they?” she blurts out, turning wide eyes to me.
Same question I had when I saw the house and learned how much they were willing to invest in me simply for trying to get pregnant.
My face gets a little warm as I shrug then pick up the remote to find something for the two of us to binge. Fun thing about Ella as a best friend is she doesn’t require every moment to be filled with chatter. She’s just as content watching movies or binging seasons of one of our favorite shows.
“I actually don’t know yet.”
She turns her upper half to look at me. It’s actually almost more of a flop with the way she whips around so quickly, shaking the couch below me.
“Let me get this straight – you don’t know what kind of law they practice, you’ve known them for all of two days, yet you’ve agreed to move in here, fuck them nonstop until you get pregnant, then what? Simply hand the baby over with a wave thrown over your shoulder?”
