Chapter Three
Dex
When the door closed behind Otto, the bar was the quietest I’d ever heard it and I had been there after some truly terrible karaoke numbers.
I shoved my lemonade away and started to get to my feet, but Myke caught my wrist gently.
“Wait for a bit, okay?”
“Everybody is staring,” I choked out. “I want to go home.”
“They are and I know you do,” Myke acknowledged gently, “but if you leave now, that’s going to be the part of the drama that everyone remembers. If you sit here and finish your lemonade while they all discuss Otto’s outbursts, his behavior is going to be what they gossip about instead of you.”
“Okay,” I agreed weakly, settling back onto my stool. “I am so sorry about all of that.”
Myke shrugged. “None of it was your fault.”
“I..” My words faltered as the impact of Otto’s shouting hit me. “Oh, hell. Myke, everyone is going to think you’re the father. We have to clear that up!”
Myke surprised me by laughing lightly and patting my knee. “Does it bother you that people might think we’re sleeping together?”
“Um, no. Not really,” I said slowly, “but surely you don’t want people thinking you knocked me up?”
Myke shrugged. “Since you didn’t set Otto straight while he was winding himself up, I’m guessing you don’t want him to know who the father is?”
I huffed a breath, my mind racing while I tried to decide how much to tell Myke. Granted, he stepped in to help me when it counted, but we were still only casually acquainted.
“You don’t have to tell me,” he said quietly, “but it isn’t going to matter to me if people think the baby is mine.”
All I could do was stare. “But youknowwhat people will think. What about when you find an Omega and he thinks you’re a, well, abadAlpha for knocking me up?”
Myke shrugged again but there was a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. “I’ve already found my Omega and he isn’t interested in a relationship with me,” he said, the matter-of-factness of his tone belied by the pain in his eyes as he chuckled lightly. “Honestly, I love kids and it’s pretty unlikely I’ll ever have any of my own, so there’s no reason I can’t be an honorary Uncle, if your kiddo needs one.”
“That’s..wow,” I finally said. “I mean, that’s incredibly generous of you.”
“Just think about it,” Myke suggested. "I won’t be hurt if you want to correct Otto’s confusion, but I also don’t have any reason to think that my life will be negatively impacted by the town thinking the baby is mine.” He drained his glass and looked at my nearly empty lemonade. “The gossip should have died down. Should we head out?”
“Gods, yes,” I said with feeling, shrugging when Myke laughed at my eagerness. “I already said I wanted to go home,” I reminded him with a small smile.
“So, you did,” Myke agreed easily, shifting to his feet and offering me a hand. “Come on, Dex. Let’s get you home.”
“Yes, please.”
Myke kept up light, casual chatter as we made our way out the door and to the parking lot, following slightly behind me as I wound through the puddles and parked cars to the corner space where my moped waited. He stopped suddenly and caught my wrist. “Is that what you drive?”
I nodded, unsure what he objected to.
“It’s cute,” Myke said, a slight hesitation in his voice, “but it rained pretty heavily earlier and there’s a lot of water on the road.” He glanced over his shoulder to the wet pavement and looked back at me. “Would you consider taking my truck home?” Before I could answer, he continued, “I’ll drive your moped back so you have it, but I’ll just feel better with you in a safer vehicle in this weather. Please?”
My heart twitched a little and I nodded. “Myke?”
“Yeah, Dex?”
“I, um, you should know that the baby is Otto’s.”
Myke flashed me a smile, not concerned with the abrupt admission. “I’d guessed that from your reaction when he walked into the bar. Now, how about I help you up into my truck and I’ll follow you home to reclaim my baby?” He snorted. “The truck, I mean.”
“Okay.” Impulsively, I leaned up and kissed Myke’s cheek. “That sounds like a plan.”
