“Finished,” Annie confirmed. “You’ve been magically bonded to two of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen. I don’t even feel a little bit sorry for you.”
Dylan laughed, grabbing his phone and putting on his jacket. He sat down on his bed to put on his shoes.
“I guess that’s fair.”
“I’m going to go get my coat,” Annie said, opening the door and turning toward him. She still looked a little worried, but she was doing a good job of trying to hide it. “I’ll meet you downstairs?”
Dylan nodded. “See you in a minute.”
Annie left, and Dylan finished putting on his shoes. He grabbed his phone and stared at the message from Ryker. After a minute of indecision, he texted back a simple thank you.
18
AUGUST
August left his office and headed home, climbing behind the wheel of his car and sending off a message to Ryker that he was on his way home.
It had been three days since August last saw his favorite human, and though they’d exchanged a few messages since, they hadn’t seen each other in person.
August wondered if he was feeling the effects of his new dietary requirement yet.
Feeling antsy, almost like he was the one with an addiction, the first thing August did when he arrived back at the penthouse was seek out his mate in the living room. He sat down next to Ryker on the sofa, close enough that their shoulders touched, and put his feet up on the coffee table.
“I want to call him.”
“Dylan?” Ryker asked. He was still dressed from work, wearing a well-tailored gray suit, though he’d removed his jacket and tie and unbuttoned the top button on his shirt. He was reading the news on his iPad.
“Who else?” August said, impatient.
“Steve?” Ryker suggested, grinning. He put down his iPad and wrapped his arm over his shoulder. “We could see if he wants to come over for dinner?”
“I want Dylan.”
August knew that he sounded petulant, but he couldn’t help it. He missed Dylan, but more than that, he wanted to see for himself how he was doing. He kept remembering the trapped look in Dylan’s eyes when they’d told him he was an omega, and it was making him feel soguilty.
“You don’t think we should give him some more time?”
Ryker sounded so reasonable, it was infuriating.
“I think we can ask him and he can decide for himself if he needs more time.”
“All right.”
August blinked, surprised at the capitulation.
“It is?”
“You’re right, it should be Dylan’s choice.” Ryker grinned. “We can invite both of them.”
“Steve too?”
Ryker nodded. “I want to see how he and Dylan get along.”
August turned his head, narrowing his eyes at Ryker and shooting him a suspicious look.
“We know how they get along. They’refriends.”
“How they get along when you and I are there, too.” Ryker reached over and put his hand on August’s lap, stroking up and down over the relaxed muscle.
