My quirked brow started to twitch a little. “Don’t you think you’d need to alreadybefriends with benefits before you approached someone with that idea?”
Myke laughed. “I thought maybe I could buy you a beer and you could tell me how to convince them to give me a shot? Maybe some tips on how to ace it?” My second brow shot up and Myke rushed on, “Not the sex shit,” he laughed. “I’ve got that, but I overheard a conversation awhile back about how there’s other shit you have to do if you want them to want you again, you know?”
I stared at my friend while I tried to untangle that thought process. “So, you want me to tell you what the extra stuff is to take care of your partner during their heat to make it good for them?” Hell if I was going to put Shelly in the middle of this hypothetical situation.
“Exactly,” Myke agreed, sounding relieved.
“Don’t you think it would be better for you to find out from the Omega directly?” I suggested. “It might seem, well, contrived otherwise?”
Myke shook his head and grinned. “Naw, I just want to expand my horizons enough to make a good impression if the opportunity arises. Maybe get a few tips on how to hint that I want to be more than a one and done so I even get the chance, ya know?”
“Uh-huh.” I stopped from shaking my head at the absurdity of the conversation and sighed instead. “Yeah, sure. I guess I can,” I agreed hesitantly, “but it won’t be about Shelly. It’ll just be general information,” I warned. “Besides, I actually learned the basics from my ex when we were married.”
“Sure,” Myke agreed eagerly. “That sounds great. When do you have time to get together? I’ll buy you a beer and you can teach me Omega 101.”
I gave in and shook my head. “I have a couple of students coming in for counseling this afternoon. Tomorrow?”
“Thanks, man,” Myke walked around the desk and clapped me on the shoulder before heading for the door. “I’ll touch base with you tomorrow, then.”
“Yeah, okay.” I stared after Myke as the door swung closed behind him and then dropped my head to bang lightly on the desk through the light padding of the stack of essays. How the hell did I end up agreeing to offer lessons in the care and coddling of Omegas?
Before I could suss it out, a knock on the closed door announced the arrival of my first counseling appointment, so I shoved the thought to the back corner of my mind and smiled a greeting.
“Hey, there, Melanie. Come on in and let’s get started.”
ChapterSeven
Two weeks later
Mitchel
“You busy?”
I looked up from the adoption applications I was pouring over to find Taylor standing in the doorway to my office. “Hey. Not really. Come on in. What’s up?”
Taylor grinned. “I can’t stay but I’m looking for a favor.”
I quirked a brow and Taylor laughed. “It’s not a bad one, I swear.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not seeing anyone, right?”
“Why is everyone suddenly so interested in my love life?” I felt my eyes narrow. “You’re the third person to ask my relationship status this week and it’s only Tuesday.”
Taylor shrugged. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m hoping you can fill in the fourth spot on a double date tonight.”
“Tonight? That’s pretty last minute,” I said slowly, mentally thumbing through my schedule and coming up available. “And since when do you double date?”
Taylor smirked. “When I meet a gorgeous tourist who will only have dinner with me if the cousin he’s traveling with can come too.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right,” I teased.
“So, can I count on you?”
“Sure. I was just going to work late on the applications from the puppy adoption event last weekend, but they won’t be ready to go to their new homes for another two weeks, so I can catch up on them later. Where and when?”
“I’m picking Marcel and Terry up at their hotel at six, so I can swing by and pick you up after?”
