“Duly noted,” Genesis replied, rubbing her temples. “So, what do I do about it?”
“First, you chill out a tad,” Avery instructed, giving Genesis her ‘stern mom’ look. “You do not need to approach this with Gen V level intensity. These men are literally contracted to please you physically and have no problem executing the hell out of said contract.” Avery lowered her voice to mock Genesis’s husky alto. “Oh no, I’m Genesis and I have three hot alphas who want to give me multiple orgasms every day! I’m actually enjoying myself for once and giving my body what it needs andfeeling things! What do I do?”
Genesis snorted. “You bitch. Okay, fine. I’ll stop being weird and ask for the orgasms, but I’m not happy about the feelings.”
“Color me surprised,” Avery deadpanned. “You’re going to have to learn to accept that you’re not a robot, which means you have to deal with human stuff like emotions and vulnerability and trust. You let me in, then Everett, and now Greyson, and you’re happier with us in your life. Is it such a horrible thing to discover there might be room in your shriveled little heart for a few more people? Are you really surprised to discover that they also have space in their hearts for another omega?”
Genesis scowled, annoyed with her best friend for giving her the blunt honesty she needed and valued. She didn’t want to be vulnerable and trusting, even though Avery was right about how much she loved her small circle. Orlando had already shown some of that same vulnerability, and so had Gabe in smaller ways. Didn’t she owe them a little trust in return?
“That’s not why I’m here,” Genesis protested. “That wasn’t the plan!”
“Fuck the plan!” Avery shot back.
“Swear jar!” screamed a boy’s voice.
“Get away from my room you little gremlin!” Avery yelled. She turned back to Genesis with a groan. “F-bombs are five bucks, thank you very much. You can CashZap me.”
“Your potty mouth isn’t my responsibility,” Genesis grumbled with a halfhearted glare. “But I’ll send you ten if you tell me how to make sense of all this.”
Genesis picked up her phone, fully intending to send Avery the money. Instead, she froze, caught by a text notification. It was from one of her fathers.
“You’re an overachiever in everything, so I shouldn’t be surprised that the very first pack you entertain would be perfect for you—mature, accomplished, intelligent, and hot.” Avery sighed, rolling her eyes. “Could you just try not to worry so much? Take it a day at a time and don’t put pressure on yourself to have all the answers. This really isn’t a disaster, Gen. Or, if it is, it’s a disaster most people would be delighted to have.”
“This is absolutely a disaster,” Genesis said hollowly, looking up from her phone.
Avery’s face screwed up in concern. “It’s really not that bad–”
“No, not that.” Genesis cut her off, holding her cell up to the laptop’s camera.
“Fuck!” Avery exclaimed.
“Swear jar!” chorused Noah and Xavier.
Genesis stared bleakly at Avery’s sympathetic face. “So now I need to communicate to Pack Rossi that I want fast sex and slow intimacy, but if anybody—especially my fathers—asks any questions, they need to give the impression we’re really courting. So, they need to get to know me enough to fake it, but not enough to freak me out. Easy.”
Avery winced. “Yikes. Maybe have the sex first and then discuss the rest. I bet talking will be much easier when you’ve been thoroughly fudged.”
Avery suddenly dropped from the frame. After some giggles and squeals, Avery reappeared with her youngest son in a headlock. He grinned widely at Genesis from beneath his mother’s arm.
“I was hiding under the bed, Auntie Gen!” Noah cackled. “I wasn’t trying to listen to your boring girl talk, but it sounds like youlikelike these new guys. You should tell them. I didn’t know Zoe liked me until she told Samantha to tell Chris to tell me, and now she’s my girlfriend and she gives me her yogurt every day. Her moms buy the good kind with the fruit at the bottom.”
“Girlfriend?” Avery screeched. “You are in elementary school, boy, you don’t have a girlfriend! You better start paying some bills before talking that kind of nonsense.”
“I’ll pay the bills once you put ten bucks in the swear jar!” Noah replied cheekily.
They ended the videochat a few minutes later, Genesis promising to update Avery via text with any new developments. She closed her laptop and immediately began to pace the cottage, her brain kicking into problem solving mode. Sex, feelings, fathers. Which to tackle first?
Genesis looked at her father’s text, bristling at the tone. He wasn’t asking, he was demanding, as if he had some right to her time and attention. She was thirty years old, not a wayward child. They hadn’t bothered visiting her in ages, but expected her to jump at their slightest command? Absolutely the fuck not.
On the other hand, her dads had been pushing for an introduction since she’d met Pack Rossi, and she’d been ignoring their requests for a videochat. They’d been decent during Greyson’s mating ceremony festivities and had hinted at wanting her to come to London for a visit. That was before she’d even considered taking on a temporary pack, so maybe they really did want to see her more. Her fathers weren’t in Smyrna City often, so this was a rare opportunity. Plus, consideringGenesis had never dated any alphas before, or even been in any serious relationships, was it so strange that her parents wanted to meet her new boyfriends?
Genesis suppressed a little thrill at the term. While it was hard to imagine distinguished Orlando or gruff Luke Wyatt being called someone’sboyfriends, it rang truer thantemporary alpha. Which was stupid, since they were temporary alphas and not her boyfriends.
“Grow up and focus, Genesis,” she said aloud, giving herself a little shake. “We can worry about the semantics later.”
Fine. One of the most appealing things about this entire arrangement was the chance to get her fathers off her back about her unmated status. Dinner would be her chance to set them at ease so they could stop worrying and, more importantly, quit bothering her about it.
Still, they didn’t get to control the situation. She typed out a quick reply, then scheduled it to send in a few hours. Regardless of how this went, she didn’t want her dads to start expecting her immediate attention. They hadn’t earned it.
