Page 13 of Faking It with the Omega

Jed laughs softly, taking a step closer and looking so unbothered it sort of pisses me off. It’s also ridiculously, frustratingly attractive. “Am I being weird?”

“No,” I answer truthfully, because he’s not being weird in the slightest. Which feels weird.

“Good. You’re being weird, but that’s nothing new.”

I roll my eyes, picking up the dumbbells again but not doing anything with them. “Okay, thanks for that.”

Jed tilts his head. “Aiden, if getting a mind-blowing blowjob five minutes before an important social event is enough to ruin a friendship, then I’ve been doing friendships wrong for a long time. It’s no big deal. We’re beyond cool.”

I breathe a small sigh of relief even as something small and dissatisfied niggles at the back of my mind. Because maybe I wouldn’t have minded if Jed was slightly more bothered. Just a fraction. Just enough that the words friendship and no big deal weren’t reverberating around my head like he’s just screamed them through a megaphone.

But that’s just Jed, I guess. It was kind of a big deal for me because I haven’t had any action in three years, but Jed is probably picking up omegas left, right and center. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s hot, funny, easygoing, and as has become painfully obvious since I joined The Foundry—he doesn’t do dating. So of course a quick hook-up wasn’t a big deal for him. It was probably no different to any other Saturday night.

I was probably no different to any other omega.

The main thing is that we’re cool. I’m cool. Totally cool. I don’t have to find a new trainer, or another new gym. No awkward client/trainer interactions here, oh no.

We can just forget this whole thing ever happened, and carry on with business as usual.

“Which is just as well—we don’t want anyone picking up on any awkward vibes at the wedding,” Jed continues, breaking my train of thought as he fiddles idly with a stray thread on his t-shirt.

It takes me a long moment to process what he’s just said. “What?”

“The wedding. It’s next month, right?”

I frown, my shoulders aching from holding the weights at my sides. “Yeah. What’s that got to do with you?”

“Lucie invited me,” Jed says, giving me a wide, easy smile. “I couldn’t exactly say no. Are you going to do something with those weights or just let them hang?”

The blood drains from my face so fast I nearly drop the weights on my toes. “Jed, no,” I say quickly. “No way. The engagement party was… messy. I got hammered, we nearly got caught out every time someone asked us a question, my dad was an asshole, and I am not dragging you through a whole weekend of family bullshit. I’ll tell her you’re busy.”

The thought of Jed having to put up with another evening of passive aggressive family conversation makes me cringe all the way down to my toes. Sure, he fended my dad off last time, but it’s entirely possible that Dad might turn his ire on Jed instead of me now that another alpha has threatened his usually unshakable sense of self-importance. Although underneath the anxiety, a quiet, chaotic little voice in the back of my head whispers how good it felt to have him standing next to me all night. To pretend that someone like Jed could want someone like me.

Jed takes the weights out of my hands and puts them back on the rack. “Sure,” he says cheerfully. “Let them believe you’ve got yourself an alpha who abandons you at important family events. Because that won’t give your dad any more ammunition to be a total douche-nozzle.”

I stare at him blankly. “How about you leave the sarcasm to me?”

“You know I’m right. And I’ll look fucking great in the wedding photos.”

And fuck, I do know he’s right. On both counts. I ignore the stupid spark of relief that flickers in my chest, even as I scowl.

“You’re the worst,” I say instead, and Jed barks a warm laugh.

“Is that a yes?”

I run my hands through my hair. “If we’re doing this, this time we actually need a game plan.”

“What do you mean? I think we did great.”

I give him a flat stare. “We fucking sucked, Jed. Every time someone asked us a question about our ‘relationship’ we both gave different answers.”

“Okay, you may have a point,” he concedes. “But our physical chemistry was—,” he mimes a chef’s kiss.

Heat fizzes in my chest at the memory of how good it felt being close to him all night; how naturally all the intimate little touches you’d usually see between an alpha and omega seemed to come to us.

“Sure,” I concede gruffly. “But we’re going to have to talk to people. Unfortunately, we can’t just hold hands all night.”

Jed quirks an amused eyebrow at me.