“Uhh…” There Tripp was again, stuck between two thirsty omegas, being stared down and grilled. Give him a few seconds and he’d have sear marks and need flipping.
Rick clicked his tongue and pulled out a pen and notepad from seemingly nowhere. “Okay, standard questions.”
“What?”
“Job?” The cat ran his tongue along his cheek, dislodging a piece of gum that he blew a bubble with.
“I have a consulting and data aggregation—”
“Big words. Good. Employed.” The bear snapped his fingers and Rick nodded, jotting things down.
“Damnit, Kay! Let me do one question alone for once,” Rick huffed and the bear, Kay he assumed, stuck his tongue out. A neat little glistening stud glittered on his tongue.
“I just—” Tripp started, interrupted again by the bear.
“Are you married or in a relationship?” Kay stared Tripp down.
“No, my fiancée left me for another dude months ago.” Tripp hesitated as Kay nodded.
Rick, not wanting to be outdone, made a note and leaned forward. “Do you have your own place?”
“I rent for now, but I’m looking to buy soon. I wanted to make sure I had the full deposit and an emergency fund because—” Tripp silenced as Rick held a hand up and made notes once more.
“Planner. Nice.” Kay stared at his nails.
“Full name?” Kay held up his phone and Tripp rattled off his full name, halted in place with his heart racing.
Rick glanced over with interest until Kay gave a thumbs-up. “Daddy owns a golf course. No record. What’s your private email?”
Tripp coughed and told him, glued to the spot as the omega tapped away on his phone. “Ah, found it. Yeah, nothing sex weird.”
“Hey, wait a second—” Tripp’s cheeks burned as he glanced toward Dray’s work area.
“So, you want to date our boy?” Kay pocketed his phone and leaned back. “And you know about his situation? I didn’t seeanything on your net history to show you had any preggo kinks or things.”
“I— It shouldn’t matter if he is or n— I’m like… If you like someone, does it matter?”
“I dunno if you’re ready to be a dad or not. He’s not getting rid of it or giving it for adoption. There’s no shared custody to give you breaks. It’s a big commitment.” Kay twirled a pen. “I should know.”
“Kay’s done it on his own for a while now.” Rick chewed his bottom lip. “I’m more careful than that.”
Tripp found the balls to butt in. “Be as careful as you like but it could happen to anyone. No two heats are the same. It doesn’t follow a stopwatch, and snakes have a hard time because heat hits hard and fast. It’s not his fault. If anything, the alpha who did it should have had an inkling. Worn a condom, anything.”
“Club Prowl doesn’t exactly have a use-a-condom vibe to it. Everyone tries to just hook up with humans.” Kay sneered and shook his head.
Rick, who’d been snotty just moments prior, dropped part of the façade. “Sorry. I was pushing buttons to see if… Yeah, you pass, bro. Whoever it was, wore so much cologne he couldn’t tell they were an alpha.”
Tripp cleared his throat and stood there like a scolded child, his iced coffee sweating over his pruning fingers. “Could happen to anyone… Club Prowl? When?”
Rick shrugged. “Sometime in October? I forget the day. It was a Tuesday, I know that much. Weekends are too crowded.”
Tripp’s heart clenched. He’d been in that same club after his breakup. Had he worn a condom? Had he even thought about the repercussions of what he did? He’d let alcohol be his guide. With a sickening feeling, he texted his buddy who bartended there and asked him two questions. He’d been off that day partying with Tripp.
Dude, do you have any pics from that night we partied at Prowl?
Tripp sat in silence for an awkward moment before Rick coughed and muttered another apology.
“It’s fine. He can defend himself. But yeah, I will ask him out. I just want to know him better, is all. It’s attraction, definitely, but he’s in no position to fall in love carelessly.”
