Also, how could someone do that? Not just take someone’s vacation that they paid for, but go with a whole other omega?
Oh! That must be why Marilyn said we were activity partners. This was an,I just had a massively messy break up and need a distractionfavor. We were a distraction for Kai. The aunties probably thought they’d like to do something with people their own age.
We could absolutely do that.
“I hope you’re taking pictures of everything and posting them on your social media with hashtags like #whoneedstoxicalphas and shit like that,” Steven agreed.
Kai nodded,with a sly look. “Oh, I am.”
“You should absolutely take a picture with us tonight. Tomorrow, when we go out, we’ll do it again. I don’t know how long you’re in town for, but if you're around, maybe you can come to one of our final games and make people really jealous. Not everyone gets to go to hockey finals,” he added.
“Did you get a picture with Jackson?” I asked. “That’s probably fun for your socials.”
“Jackson? He’s something?” Kai blinked and took another sip of drink.
“Yeah, he’s a country music singer.” Oh. Kai didn’t know country music. That was probably why they wanted us to save them from whatever the aunties were doing tomorrow.
“I was wondering why he looked familiar. I was sitting alone and Claire, the blonde, saved me from an alpha. She started talking to me and then Jackson came over. I guess he was taking her out or something,” Kai said.
“That makes sense.” I nodded, putting together why he was in a hotel bar. Not that it was any of my business.
“I’m up for just about anything. Yeah, I’m safe. One of the first things Auntie did was have my uncles and cousins move all my stuff into her house. We were in campus housing, so I don’t have to worry about breaking some expensive lease. Auntie’s is free and I have a car so it should be fine. There’s not that much of the semester left.” Kai’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
Steven looked like he was trying to stop himself from hugging Kai.
But the omega did look like they could use a hug.
“What are you studying? You said that you’ll graduate soon?” I asked. “Steven and I didn’t finish college. He was drafted, then signed, and I went free agent as soon as I was old enough. The team that signed me ended up trading me to the Scorpions after just a couple of games.”
“Are you going to go back and finish? I guess they weren’t able to wait until you completed your degree?” Concern flashed in Kai’s eyes.
“We basically were in college playing for our collegiate hockey teams to help develop our skills a little better. I don’t know, I might finish.” Steven shrugged. “I was studying sports science, like you might study to be a PE teacher. I really haven’t thought much as to what I want to do after hockey, other than be with Ash.”
Kai put a hand to their heart. “Awww.”
“I’d like to finish. I don’t have much left. I’d like to go to business school. My family has a logging business in Washington,” I explained.
“Oh?” Kai’s look went cautious.
“It’s a small business, and sometimes we struggle. My dad has moved the family business to a sustainable, ethical logging model. It’s why I wanted to study business, so I could understand things better. My sister and my cousin are in environmental science and one of my brothers is an environmental lawyer. We all kind of work together to keep things going, especially as other family members are all,Your sustainability is hurting our profits.” I made a face.
“I think it’s really great that your family is trying so hard to be sustainable and you want to help.” Kai looked thoughtful.
“Thanks. Some people think that maybe we should just sell, but I like our little family business.” My great-grandfather had started it. Also, selling would probably mean someone would strip the area, instead of protecting it.
Our business wasn’t perfect, but we were trying.
“I’m studying ethnobotany. It’s sort of a combination of botany and anthropology. My specialty is conservation–and that intersection between heritage and biodiversity. Though originally, I got into it in high school because we did a lot of work with invasive plants and the environmental concerns that are being raised by them.” Kai toyed with their glass.
“Oh, invasive species. Though I understand it more as insects that affect the trees,” I replied. That sounded like an interesting major.
“I like plants. What would you do with that?” Steven finished off his drink and reached for mine.
I let him, signaling the server for another round.
“I’m going into a PhD program in the fall at my current university. Eventually, I’d like to work at a botanical garden or a conservation organization. Either in Hawai’i or back in California. Maybe up north in the redwoods.” Kai started showing us pictures of plants and projects. “I’m doing a big conservation project with fish ponds right now.”
The server brought us another round, and we ordered some snacks to help absorb the alcohol. We talked a lot about plants. Even Steven had some knowledge since he grew up in farm country, and he’d spent a lot of time with his grandma who had a prize-winning garden.
