“And you?” I ask Piper.
Charlotte snorts, and Piper lightly pushes her friend.
“It took me a lot longer to realize I wanted Alexi and Owen in that way, but once I did, there was no stopping that train.”
The word “train” has Charlotte laughing, clearly the one cocktail hitting her already.
“Oh my God, Charles, grow up.”
“Well, we’re all adults who’ve been through a heat before,” she says.
That has me leaning down and taking a sip of my own drink.
“Wait, really?” Charlotte asks, and I shake my head.
“Not yet. But I know it’s going to be sooner than later.”
“I told you to come by the clinic,” Piper scolds.
“I know, I’ve been meaning to. I just… I’m not sure how to go about this whole thing.”
“You have Alphas in mind?” Piper says with a raise of a dark brow.
I nod my head. Well, Bram. I know I want Bram for my heat. There’s this nagging in the back of my head about Max, but we’re just friends. It’s what Max needs, and Bram has already told me he doesn’t like him.
I’ve already asked so much of Bram, I can’t ask to have Max too.
“Write up a heat contract. Have them sign it for your peace of mind. They also need to be aware of everything beforehand, Sloane,” Piper says in her no bullshit Alpha voice.
“What am I missing?” Charlotte asks, holding up her drink for her Alpha to fetch her another.
“Well, I have a lot of particular rules I’d like followed,” I say, and Piper gives me a look that reads I’m full of shit. “And I’m not on birth control.”
“We could do the implant next week,” Piper says, and I shake my head.
“I’ve tried going on all the forms. It makes me depressed. I gain weight. I don’t feel like myself.”
“Get a diaphragm,” Charlotte says.
“What? Are those still a thing?” I ask in shock.
“Yes, they’re still a thing. Anders and Eli got the snip snip. Mikael, well, we haven’t decided yet. So we live life on the edge, but I wear one of those during my heat since that’s when I’m most likely to get pregnant anyway,” Charlotte says as Anders drops off her drink. “Thanks, honey,” she singsongs.
“Diaphragms are like eighty percent effective,” Piper says. “The Beta should wear condoms too.”
“Why not the Alphas?” I ask, and Charlotte laughs.
“Because their big fat knots rip those little bitches anyway,” Charlotte says.
“Christ,” Anders hisses from the corner, and Charlotte laughs.
“She’s knot wrong,” Piper says, and we all begin laughing like a bunch of idiots as we take our seats as the game starts.
Piper leans down to whisper to me. “Seriously, if you need any preheat planning, you’ll come and see me. You can’t put this off any longer, Sloane.”
I nod my head, knowing that time is really running out.
“I will. I promise.”
