“Thanks,” Stan nodded, not meeting either of our eyes. “If you’re okay, I think I’d rather go home and find some quiet, you know?”
Dex snorted inelegantly. “Oh, I know.”
Stan gave a small laugh and, nodding in my general direction, saw himself out the open door.
“Well, that was weird.”
I nodded my agreement with Dex’s declaration. “You didn’t know Stan and Corbin knew each other?”
Dex scowled at me. “Did itseemlike I knew? Corbin didn’t even want to admit he knew Stan, in case you missed it before he ran like a cat on fire.”
Okay, that was fair.
The ambulance left, followed closely by Corbin in Taylor’s car. After slipping into the bathroom to exchange the borrowed clothes for my jeans and henley, Dex and I sat in silence until the deputy came in to tell us he was leaving. Then, Dex and I were alone, the cabin’s front door still open wide in the fading light.
“Are you hungry?” Dex broke the uncomfortable silence after a while.
“I could eat,” I admitted, “but you probably need to rest, yeah? Why don’t you let me throw something together from the stuff Stan packed?”
Dex’s brow furrowed but instead of the argument I expected, he nodded. “I’d appreciate that, thanks.”
Standing up, I hesitated for a second and then reached for a plaid blanket folded neatly on the back of the couch. Shaking it out, I held it in front of me. “Do you want to lie down while I put something together?”
Instead of lying down and letting me cover him as I expected, Dex reached for the blanket and slipped it from my fingers.
“Maybe in a minute,” he said with a sigh. ‘First, I need to pee. Again.” He dropped the blanket on the couch next to him and rose, bracing his weight on the arm of the couch when he stood.
“Are you okay?” I asked, worried.
“I’m fine, Otto,” Dex said, sounding tired. “I’m pregnant, which throws my center of gravity off a bit and makes it harder to do some things.” Detouring past me to close the front door, Dex disappeared down the short hall that led from the living area.
My brain turned that nugget of information over and over while I sliced the cheese and an apple with a knife from one of the drawers and laid it out on a paper plate with a stack of crackers.
Between being an only child and having spent my early adulthood -the period when my committed friends were having kids- incarcerated, I’d never been around a pregnant person, regardless of gender. Those few words as he walked out of the room made me realize just how little I knew about how to care for a pregnant Omega.
Obviously, that wasn’t going to do, so after refilling Dex’s ice water and setting the glass and paper plate down on the table in front of where he’d been sitting, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and waited for the Google screen to load.
ChapterFifteen
Dex
“You can do this,” I huffed silently, staring at my reflection in the mirror. “All you have to do is keep from horning out for a couple of hours and by then Otto will get bored and leave.”
I was able to completely control my physical reaction to being around Otto while I was in crisis mode, but when heoffered to make me a snack, my control started to slip. And when he held a blanket out for me, looking like he actually cared if I was okay? My stupid biological urges took over, my temperature started to rise, and that familiar faint thrum of arousal began deep in my gut.
So, responsible adult that I am, I fled to the bathroom in a desperate attempt to get myself under control. Not that I was making any progress.
I was still staring at my reflection when there was a light knock on the door.
“Dex? Are you okay? You’ve been in there awhile.”
I gave a deep sigh. “I’m fine. I’ll be right out.”
I splashed some cold water on my face, willing my body to stop reacting and made my way back out to the living room. Sitting down in front of my snack, I cocked my head at Otto who was leaning back against the cushions without a plate, his eyes trained on his phone screen. Maybe he was ordering a ride? My stupid body refused to find that thought as comforting as my mind did.
“Are you heading out?”
Otto’s head jerked up and I could swear he looked hurt for a split second. “What? No, I told you that I wasn’t going to leave.” He paused for a second and his chest deflated a little. “I can stay outside, though, if you want to be alone.”
