He typed furiously and I hid my grin behind my hand. Competitive Ben was equal parts adorable and sexy.
With a huff, he fell back into his chair, mumbling something about “just wait until next time.”
Ben met my gaze and held his arms out to me. “You’re too far away,” he pouted.
Before I could respond, Theo and Cam entered the library.Shit. My window for getting Ben on board first had closed.
Theo set the takeout bags on the coffee table and leaned over to kiss me. He tasted so good that my greedy hands reached out to grab him, pulling him down beside me. He was dressed uncharacteristically in a t-shirt and sweatpants, and I wondered if it was because I mentioned liking sweatpants yesterday. The outline of his cock was visible, especially as I ran my hand down his chest. Theo grunted, shifting in his seat but not doing anything to stop me.
Cam leaned over Ben’s chair, looking at the laptop screen. He must have felt my eyes on him because he glanced up with a panty-melting smile. His hair was tied back in a half-up top knot like I’d shown him after his shower yesterday. He winked, eyes smoldering, before turning back towards Ben.
“You got it?” Cam asked, clasping his hand on Ben’s shoulder.
“I think we got everything we were looking for,” Ben said. “I’ll talk with Charlie later to confirm, but I grabbed close to ten thousand emails.”
“Shit,” Cam said. “Great job. Hopefully, something in there will give us information about the kidnapped omegas.”
Ben’s cheeks pinkened as he tried to hide how happy Cam’s approval made him.
Cam started pulling the food containers out of the bag, and my mouth watered at the stacks of waffles, pancakes, and hash browns.
“I thought we could get in the hot tub after we ate,” he said, his eyes dark and heated.
Yes, please.
Wait, no.
“I need to go to Jewel’s today at 1 pm,” I blurted out.
Cam raised his eyebrows, the waffle he was plating hovering in midair.
“Why’s that?” Theo asked, tugging me closer to his side.
I took a deep breath.Just rip off the band-aid.
“Umm, okay. So, when we were there for the meeting, Jewel told me that the serum to disable the device is ready. They think it can also have a long-term effect of making omegas not susceptible to alpha barks, even once the device is removed. The Alliance got the serum, and Angie will be at Jewel’s to give it to me today.”
A silence fell in the room as my alphas processed my explanation.
“What?” Theo furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” I said. “They’re not sure if it will work. Not many people have taken it yet.”
“How many is not many?” Cam asked, his jaw set in a way that told me his alpha was pushing through.
“I’m not sure of the exact number,” I hedged.
I looked at Ben for help, but his arms were crossed and brow furrowed.
“Okay, I think I might be like the second person. But the first person was the omega who made the serum, and she’s fine.” I bit my lip, realizing Jewel hadn’tspecificallysaid that the omega was fine after the serum. Maybe I should have asked more questions.
“What’s in the serum? What are the side effects?” Theo asked as he played with my hair.
“I’m sure they’ll tell us when we get there,” I said. My face heated with embarrassment at how little I knew. Was I being an idiot? How had I agreed to this without getting more information?
“Hey,” Theo said, pulling me close. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t understand why I felt so ashamed right now, why I had the urge to push myself out of Theo’s arms and run and hide in the nest.
