Taylor snorted, swivelling his head away. “Might have. Didn’t want tiny Jesus judging me while I had my mouth around your cock. I’mdefinitelynot getting into heaven.”
He squeezed Taylor’s bicep, grinning. “It doesn’t work like that, dude.”
Taylor crooned, tangling a leg around Johnny’s. “JP, did you stop going to church because of me?”
Well, out of all the questions Taylor could have asked, that was not the one Johnny had been expecting. Running his tongue over his chapped lips, he said, “Honestly? Yeah, kind of. Our lives were so different when we met, I thought it might freak you out.”
Taylor sniffed, turning his gaze towards the ceiling. “It did a bit. But I wish you wouldn’t have stopped just to save my feelings. I…” His fingers drifted up Johnny’s chest and he touched the silver cross around his neck. “I… I’d like to go with you sometime. With the pack. N-not saying I’m going to become a Christian. Fuck no. No offence, obviously. But… it looks kind of fun.”
Warmth flooded Johnny’s chest—not because he wanted Taylor to become a Christian either, but because it was the first time he’d ever asked. “You just want to go to the buffet afterwards, don’t you?”
Taylor sucked his teeth. “Yeah, busted. But the singing and dancing is sick as hell too.”
Laughing, Johnny turned and nuzzled into Taylor’s chest. “Yeah, African churches are more lively than Anglican, that’s for sure. I, uh—” He hesitated, pressing his tongue to the corner of his mouth. “I’ve been thinking about some other stuff too.”
Taylor snaked an arm around him, pulling him in tighter. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Nervous energy twisted his gut. “I don’t… Just that… I might not want to be in the police forever.”
Taylor’s back went stiff, but Johnny just stroked little circles into his hairline, steeling himself.
“How do I put this? I only joined because of you. I thought—fuck.” He drew in a breath, inhaling Taylor’s scent. “When we turned eighteen I genuinely thought you’d leave. I thought you’d go off, find some pretty omega and that would be it. I wanted… I wanted us to stay together, even if it was only at work. I thought… I wasn’t sure you’d stay with the pack. But now I look at Maman and Papa, and how they aren’t getting any younger. I want to help out at the restaurant more. I want them to be able to spend more time with the kids and each other.”
Taylor’s mouth was in his hair, and Johnny could feel it working furiously. Eventually, he let out an almighty sigh and pulled the sheets over their heads. “Leave you?” Taylor said, cradling Johnny’s face between his hands. “Leaveyou? Are you fucking kidding me, dude? I thought you were going to leave me!” His voice was getting louder, so Johnny shushed him, pulling the blanket tighter around them. “Fuck me, JP. We’re just idiots, aren’t we? Absolute throbbing dickheads.”
Johnny frowned. “Speak for yourself.”
There was a click followed by a creak on the landing, and both their heads popped up from under the sheets. There were soft footsteps as William tiptoed across the landing and into the bathroom.
“Time’s up,” Johnny whispered, running a hand over Taylor’s shoulder. “Time to face the consequences of your actions, mon chéri.”
The morning had been going fairly well, in Johnny’s opinion. William looked happier, smelled better, and they’d even hadtime to order two home testing kits from the sexual health clinic before setting off to the pack house.
Well, he could safely say that his optimism had peaked too soon, and that taking William to the pack house had been a mistake. A terrible, should-not-have-laughed-in-the-face-of-danger kind of mistake. Because even a kilo of sweets couldn’t have prepared them for how wildly territorial two pre-teen female alphas could be.
“Get him out of here!” Gabriella snarled, pacing back and forth across the living room. The effect was ruined a little by her pink bunny pyjamas, Hello Kitty eye mask and silk bonnet flopping all over the place.
Clementine, on the other hand, planted herself in front of Maman with a look of simmering rage.
He and Taylor had William nestled between them, his back ramrod straight and eyes wide as he clutched the sugar hearts to his chest.
“Now, listen—” Taylor began, but was quickly cut off by Gabriella ripping off her bonnet like a knight throwing down a gauntlet.
“I don’t want to listen. I want?—”
“Girls,” Maman sighed, stepping forwards to run her fingers through William’s tangled hair, tipping his face up with her finger. He stood completely still, eyes down and mouth twitching. Betas were good at that—staying still, making the rest of the world forget they were there as everyone else blew up around them.
“Hello, William,” she said encouragingly.
“Hello,” he replied, voice quiet.
“Don’t speak to her!” Gabriella shouted, launching herself across the living room. Johnny threw out his good hand, holding her at arm’s length with a palm to her forehead. She flailed,kicking and grabbing the air. “Get him, Clem!” she cried, baring her teeth so ferociously it made William step back.
Taylor caught him by the shoulder, keeping him in place whilst Clementine stalked around the edge of the living room. “Don’t you start!” he shouted, pulling William under his arm.
“Girls!” Maman snapped, making the two baby alphas stop posturing immediately. It even made Johnny’s skin prickle, because Maman was nothing if not a pack matriarch.
She let out a long sigh and looked William up and down, eyes softening when she saw the way he pressed into Taylor. “How’re you feeling?” she said, reaching for his face again but stopping when he jerked back.
