“We having dinner?” Emerson asked brightly.
“We are. Not you,” Harrison spat.
Emerson pouted, a little hurt by the tone in his brother’s voice. His by-the-book brother had just confided in him that he’d finally met his omega, Raimy, and that instead of breaking things off with his longtime beta boyfriend, he was keeping both of them in his life. He couldn’t believe his twin was going to be a part of a throuple.
He also couldn’t believe Harrison had confided in him at all.
It had made him feel guilty about not sharing his secret, but there was a vast difference between a relationship being considered socially inappropriate versus illegal. Out of the two of them, he was the only one who could land in prison for loving another.
“Oh, come on. I wanna meet your omega.”
“Not tonight.” He returned to his call. “Love you.”
“Bye, Cas!” Emerson yelled.
Harrison hung up, eyeing Emerson with a raised brow.
“What?”Emerson asked.
Harrison just shook his head. “Let’s shut it down for the day.”
“We still have a little light left,” Emerson said.
Harrison pointed to the empty paint cans they’d filled with more samples for the lab. “We’ve got about all we’re going to get out of this place. I think we can call it a night.”
They both grabbed a few of the cans each. Emerson followed his brother to the pick-up that was almost identical to their father’s truck. The only difference was it saidFire Investigationinstead ofFire Chief. Harrison loaded the cans into the back, securing them inside an empty cabinet.
“I suppose you need a ride back?”
“Would you rather I walk?” Emerson asked, lifting a brow.
“Get in the truck, asshole,” Harrison said. At least there had been humor in his tone that time.
Emerson moved to the driver’s side, blocking his brother from it. He held out his hand. “New guy drives. Old guy’s exhausted.”
Harrison looked like he was going to argue, but once again shocked Emerson and handed over the keys. “Don’t get used to this.”
Emerson chuckled. “Oh, from what I hear, I’ll be getting one of these of my own.”
His brother rolled his eyes and walked to the passenger side. They drove in mostly silence, winding their way through the rolling hillside. As they neared town, he glanced over and saw Harrison was asleep. When they pulled into the parking garage of the department’s main building, Emerson almost hated to wake Harry up.
As quietly as he could, he opened the door and got out. Taking the keys with him, he unlocked the cabinet in the back and pulled out all the samples. Hands and arms laden, he marched them to the lab.
A tiny omega saw him through a large glass window separating a small reception area from what looked like amad scientist’s laboratory. As he walked out into the vestibule, Emerson sensed something familiar about him.
The omega smiled brightly. “Hey, Harry! What do you have for me?”
“Emerson,” he said. “I’m Harry’s twin brother.”
“Oh, shit, sorry,” the lab rat said, pushing his glasses up his perky nose. He took a step back, as if he didn’t trust non-Harry. If only he knew how much he could trust Emerson not to get too close. “The chief mentioned you were coming on board. It slipped my mind.”
“And you are?”
One more push of the glasses. “Oakley. My friends call me Oak.” He tentatively held out a hand. “Night shift lab tech.”
Harrison stared down at the tiny omega before he sat some of the evidence cans on a nearby counter and carefully shook his hand, keeping as much distance as he could. “Nice to meet you, Oak.”
“What do you have for me?”
