“My mom literally took a photo of it and still has it hanging in our house. I mean, yeah, my dads were there to clean me up and take me to ER and whatever, but she was more interested in getting a selfie with my freaking teeth.”
Ollie’s still silent, but I’ve found my stride now. There’s more crinkling behind her, and I want to imagine she’s lying down somewhere comfy. I’ve thought about what her nest would be like, and all I can see is her punk aesthetic. I’ll have to wait until she trusts me enough to show me her real nest.
I’ll have to apologize to my mom for sharing that story before she’s even met my omega.
“Yeah, I had fake teeth until I was fifteen, but it wasn’t like I could hide it. I had to take them out every time I put my mouth guard in when I was playing because one time I swallowed them mid-game and they had to give me the Heimlich to get them out of my throat. Imagine being seven and the coach is doing that not just in front of the whole team, but the guys we were playing,andeveryone’s parents?” I’m making it a touch more dramatic, but I want her to be more curious about how lame I was as a kid, rather than my skit on the treadmill.
“Oh man, they bullied me so hard. Christmas was the worst, you know?All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,” I sing to her, and I catch her quiet sigh. “I was easy pickings. Why do you think I became so handsome? It was revenge, dear Watson. I was never going to let them get away with that! I had to be so hot that the ground burned up as I walked.”
Her tiny chuckle is the best gift I’ve ever had, and I carry right on.
The smile on my face keeps growing as I spew out nonsense. I’ve been waiting for this for years. I don’t just want to eat her out when she’s horny, though that’s great, too. If I’m going to be her alpha, I have to be trustworthy, someone she can rely on, someone who doesn’t brag about how many Ks they can run in an hour. If she needs a rock to lean on, I’ll be her mountain as long as we can be a pack in the end.
“Plus, the school I went to is a pipeline for the NHL. Half the guys go out to farm teams, but anyone from Missouri who’s in the big leagues knows about my teeth. I’m going to have to protect you when you come to our games, and my old teammates start talking trash. But you don’t need to worry, these two beauties are welded in there permanently now. So it doesn’tmatter how hard you kiss me, they won’t budge. That’s me giving you free rein to go as hard as you want.”
“How kind of you,” she says sarcastically, and my heart stops, because she sounds like my Ollie. So I must be making a difference somehow.
“You know you can do whatever you want and whenever. I’m always going to be in your corner,” I say softly. I told her when I first met her that if I ever found my omega, I was all in. I’d fall in love with her and get to know her afterward. And I meant it.
But I need her to be with Timber as well. I’m not so noble that I won’t stretch the truth or push them both to get them together. As long as she believes me now, when she needs comfort the most, that’s what matters.
She stays quiet, and it’s killing me. I want to be beside her so I can hold her and tell her that, whatever it is, it’s okay.
“How far do you think is too far?” she asks quietly, and I go still. It’s my chance to get her to open up to me, but I have to take it seriously and not drop the ball like I did with Timber.
I draw in a slow breath, thinking of the best way to get her to talk.
“Is it hurting anyone?” I ask.
“Probably,” she says after a beat.
“Do you want to hurt them?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Then can you stop?”
The silence comes again, and I suspect I know what she’s talking about.
It’s exactly like me to put my foot in it, no matter how hard I try not to, but I’m so desperate for her to share herself with me that I keep bulldozing ahead.
“Will you tell me what happened, sweetness?” I ask.
“Is that my new nickname now? Can’t you think of anything better?”
“Are you saying you hate it?”
There’s a small chuckle, and it’s like a firework goes off inside me because she has to be smiling, so it means I’m not a complete failure.
She goes quiet again, and the tension builds between us.
“I’m going to take that as a no, alright? You’ve got five seconds to tell me to never call you that again. Five. Four. Three…” I pause, giving her a chance because her replies have been so stilted since she phoned. “Twoooooo. One?” Still nothing. My grin is wide in my voice as I carry on. “Okay, sweetness, you better be ready. I might end up saying it more than ‘Ollie’ because you’re just so delectable. Now I need to think of one for myself.”
“You’re not meant to choose your own nickname,” she says.
“Oh, really? I didn’t know there was a rule. Because I quite like ‘Hot Cock’ or ‘Spotted Dick’ or anything that says how amazing my piece is.”
“I’m not calling you either of those when I haven’t touched your cock,” she says, and I hope she’s pouting.
