“I’m not saying I don’t agree, but we’re obviously upset about the idea of losing our chance with Princess. So we either do nothing about it, let her move on with her life, and we do the same, or we at least try and take baby steps or some shit.”
“And what if we open ourselves up and she doesn’t feel the same way? Then we’ll lose our twelve-year friendship with her.”
“Maybe that’s a risk we have to take. If we do nothing, she’s going to stay the friend behind the screen. We’re going to find an Omega, start a pack, a life, and a family. We’re just getting started in our careers. At some point, we’re going to have to let go.”
“I don’t want to let go,” I grumble and look away. It’s been hard enough not getting to talk to Princess much in the last six years, I don’t think I can go without talking to her ever again. It feels like I’d be giving up a big part of my life.
“And what about Death? He’s part of our group, too. One of our best friends. Where does he play a part in this?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I like the guy, he’s chill. But we don’t know him. It’s been you and me our entire life. You are what matters. And Princess.”
“Shouldn’t we at least see what his feelings are for her, too? If everything works out, maybe we can all meet, and maybe he could join our pack. You never know.”
“I don’t know.” I grab my water bottle, taking a big drink. “I just don’t know.”
“Why don’t we think about it when you’re not hungover as hell, okay?”
“Fine.” I look over to him. “We should shower. You smell like ass.”
His lips twitch up. “You don’t smell any better.”
Reid and I grew up next door to one another and became instant best friends, meeting in kindergarten and keeping that friendship ever since.
He’s like a brother to me. As we got older, I knew I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it. When we both presented as Alphas, we agreed that we’d form our own pack.
We went to college together, played on the same college hockey team, and when we got drafted for the KP, we pushed hard for the same team. The universe seemed to agree because we both were selected by the Scented Scorpions.
Life has been amazing ever since. We get to play our favorite sport for a living, travel together, and live together. It’s perfect.
As fun as it’s been, though, meaningless hookups just don’t do it for us anymore.
Yes, we have a job that takes up a lot of our time, and maybe it’s not the best time to find an Omega currently, but we still find ourselves searching for that special person. The one we come home to when we’re done with work. The one we spend our time off with. The one who sits in the crowd, cheering us on.
We want that, crave it even.
The only thing is, we both have had feelings for one of our best friends, PastelPrincess. An Omega we’ve been playing online with for years. Even after all this time, we’ve maintained these feelings for her. Are we in love with her? No. Now that she’s started gaming more, what we feel toward her has sparked back to life, even grown.
I get where Reid is coming from. How do we know if it’s going to work out if we don’t try? If we don’t at least try pushing things beyond just chatting and playing online?
My hesitation is due to this whole image of her that I’ve built in my head. I’m afraid that if we pull off the blanket, I might be crushed by what's underneath, shattering the fantasy I have.
Last night, she was online, playing with us. She filled us in on her mother’s meddling, pushing an uptight pack on her with all these dates, and it’s caused me to panic.
She doesn’t want to be with them. She’s made that known enough, but what if she does end up with them by some chance? And if not them, another pack that her mom sets her up with?
I know she’s streaming to make money and move out on her own. I’ve been so damn tempted to make a Streampunk account and throw my money at her to speed up the process.
I haven’t yet because what if she found out? It could cause issues if she knows we were interfering.
She’s not my Omega. It’s not my job to take care of her. Yet, I find myself really wanting to. I know Reid does too.
We’re just finishing up in the locker room, freshly showered and ready to go home for a few days off, when we see Marilyn, our PR manager, waiting outside.
“Just the Alphas I was looking for.”
I give Reid a look. He glares at me, warning me to bite my tongue.
I know what she wants, and we’ve been dreading it.
