Ariana sits on the floor of the living room, spinning a trophy in her hands. “I guess I’ll go first.”
“You don’t have to.” I hold up my item. “I can.”
“I found mine first, so it should be me. Did Derrick tell you guys anything about when I presented as an Omega?”
“I don’t think so. Only that it happened shortly before Calvin died.” Grant makes a strange face when I mention Calvin. I’ll have to ask him about that.
She hums to herself, looking at the plate on the trophy with an odd expression on her face. “It happened in front of the entire school during the junior debate. My scent spiked, and I slicked through my pants.”
“Holy shit. That’s awful.” Grant took the words right out of my mouth.
“Yeah, it wasn’t great. I still won the debate.”
“Wait.” I hold my hand up, my brain still processing what she said. “You continued? You didn’t run off the stage?”
“It was mortifying. But the debate was about Omega rights, and I figured it would be more impactful if I kept going. I regretted it as soon as I was done. I didn’t want togo back to school the next day, but Calvin convinced me to.”
I don’t blame her for wanting to hide underneath a blanket. Kids can be cruel, and to have a vulnerable moment like that in front of everyone?
“But you won.” Grant leans forward in the reading chair and props his chin on his hand as he gazes upon her with pride. “Despite how uncomfortable you were, you won.”
“I won.”
“No wonder Derrick enjoys arguing with you. You’re a worthy opponent. Not like our Beta over there. He shows his neck every time.”
She rolls her eyes, dismissing my words. “It’s hardly a fair fight. I wipe the floor with him every time.”
I won’t deny that, but I’ll keep to myself that it may be more because she’s our Omega than just her convincing arguments.
“Okay, someone else go. I hope y’all’s are better memories than mine.”
Grant tosses the red disc he’s holding in the air and catches it deftly. “I hooked up with a guy on a disc golf course and got my pants stolen by an alligator.”
Ariana and I go still, staring at our Beta. Then she laughs, hard. Tears spring to her eyes because of the force of it.
“Wait. Back up. How. How does that even happen?”
“The hooking up? Well, when a Beta and an Alpha…”
She tosses a pillow at him, smacking him in the face. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Okay, okay. An Alpha asked me on a date, and he was really into disc golf. I suck at it, but I was trying to impress this guy. I missed the pole hole-”
“It isnotcalled a pole hole!” I’m struggling to breathe at how hard I’m laughing. “I refuse to believe it.”
“Laugh all you want, but that’s what it’s called! Disc pole hole, pole hole, basket. All mean the same thing. Whatever you wanna call it, I missed. The disc went wide and landed a little too close to the marsh. When I went to pick it up, he came up behind me-”
“The gator came up behind you?” Ariana interrupts.
Grant chuckles and shakes his head. “The guy I was on a date with. He wrapped his arms around me and started kissing my neck and chewing on my ear…”
She nods solemnly. “Ah, yes. The ear thing.”
He told her about the ear thing? I waggle my eyebrows at him, and he throws the pillow Ariana had hit him with at me.
“Anyway, my pants were removed hastily, and landed close enough to the marsh that a gator snagged them and took them under. I had to walk back in my boxers.”
“There’s an important detail I believe you may have left out.” His expression is unreadable as he turns to me. “Did you still fuck him?”
