Once we were done unloading the cart, I straightened, and thank Urs that there was no boner in sight.
“Hey, Mr. Hal—”
“What did I tell you about calling me that? It’s Gabe, okay?”
“Sorry, old habits.” Naomi’s smile was apologetic, but she added, “Wow, we never get you out here.”
I recognized her, of course, like I did almost every member of my den. I made it a point to do so.
“Hi, Naomi, how are you? How’s school?” I asked.
“Great. But we’re done for the summer. I can’t thank you enough for your help,” she said.
I smiled. “We’re all very proud. You’re the one that did all the work.”
“Well, I still only managed a partial scholarship, so without you, I wouldn’t have been able to start immediately,” she said. “Thank you so much, Mister—I mean Gabe.”
“I know you’ll make us proud,” I said. She was studying to be a nurse and midwife, and we always needed those around here. Even though we could use human hospitals, we made sure ours was always fully staffed with doctors that specialized in both omega and female obstetrics. We also had a surgeon and a family medicine doctor.
I looked at my mate and saw confusion written all over his face, and I felt bad. I couldn’t exactly say the den had scholarship for kids that wanted to go to college or trade schools and had maintained their grades.
“Naomi’s parents are friends of my parents,” I explained to Kian, hating to make him feel left out. Hating to lie even more. Although, it wasn’t technically a lie. Still, it didn’t feel good. I wanted to share everything with him.
“Ohhh, and you—” He looked between her and me. “Wow…that’s amazing. I don’t know many people that would help pay for college, even for a friend’s kid.”
Naomi’s eyes had narrowed at my explanation. Then I watched as she discreetly scented Kian. Her eyes popped wide, and her mouth formed anO.
I sighed. Yup, the grapevine would definitely be buzzing.
When Naomi was done scanning, and Kian put the last bag in the cart, I slipped out my card and handed it to her while Kian made sure everything was organized to his satisfaction.
She smiled and put it in the card reader. She held it out for my pin right as Kian asked, “How much is that, please?”
The moment he saw I was paying, he hurried to my side and nudged me. “No, you can’t pay.” He looked at Naomi. “Cancel that, please.”
She shook her head, and I could see she was fighting a smile. “I’m sorry. It’s already gone through.” She cut the receipt and was about to hand it to him, but I snatched it before he could get his hands on it, before he tried paying me back.
“This is my treat,” I said.
Kian folded his hands, and a determined look was on his face. “No. I told you Rhys won’t even let me help out. If you pay for this, then I’m not contributing.”
I could swear he was about to stamp his feet.
“Well, how about you treat me to lunch? I’ll even let you pay,” I said.
I could tell Naomi was paying close attention even though she pretended not to. Luckily, seeing as it was a Tuesday, there weren’t that many people in the store, so we weren’t holding anyone up.
Kian’s mouth opened and closed, and he looked over at Naomi, then back at me.
“Are you… You’re asking me—”
“To lunch,” I finished for him. I didn’t think saying a date was the way to go right now. My mate was not ready for that.
“Lunch,” he mouthed.
I waited as he seemed to consider it. Gods, please let him say yes.
“The cold stuff will melt. And the meat could go bad.” Did Kian sound relieved at coming up with that reason?
