Page 71 of Shifter Omegaverse AU

They were determined not to mess up their wonderful, amazing, best first date ever, though, so they merely fetched Rowan a washcloth and took a lightning-fast shower. When they emerged from their room, wrapped in a snuggly t-shirt dress and fuzzy robe, Rowan was sitting hunched over on the couch, frowning down at his phone.

“Do you need to go?” Milo asked, pausing halfway into their living room.

“No,” Rowan said, glancing up and taking in Milo’s ensemble. The lines in his brow smoothed out, and he put his phone down on the makeshift side table. “If you’re still interested, I’d love to watch a movie.”

“Movie night sleepover with pizza, popcorn, and more ice cream?” Milo asked, bouncing up and down on their fuzzy sock-covered feet.

Rowan shook his head, but his small smile couldn’t lie. Milo was pretty sure their gentle, gorgeous ginger giant, their super sexy sweetheart, liked them.

Which was good, seeing as how Milo thought they were well on the way to falling in love with him.

15

Author’s note:

Yesssssss, sexy times are here to stay!

Rowan

“So, when are you taking PTO to mate?” Troy asked, effortlessly keeping up with Rowan no matter how many times he sped up his pace.

Damn him and his long legs.

“I know you know how premature that is to ask, so I’m going to ignore it,” Rowan said, as they rounded a corner and the coffee shop finally came into view.

There was no way Troy would keep pestering him once they were within earshot of Milo…right?

“It’s not premature,” Troy insisted. “You’ve already been on two dates. If you count today’s coffee date as your third, you’re right in line with—”

“The unrealistic pace you and Raina set? Yeah, I don’t think so,” Rowan said, reaching the top speed he could achieve short of jogging.

Troy sped up to match him with a chuckle. “Speaking of keeping pace, now that I know you can walk this fast without breaking a sweat—”

“I can’t breathe,” Rowan huffed, only slightly exaggerating the breathiness of his words.

“You’re fine,” Troy said, flashing Rowan one of his boardroom-winning smiles.

Rowan considered slamming on the brakes, just to see how Troy would react, but they were almost at the cafe.

“I will be soon,” Rowan muttered.

It was actually Troy who slowed down, coming to a stop right outside the cafe. Rowan pulled up short and turned around to face his business partner and only current confidant.

He’d gone back and forth all Monday morning, wearing grooves into his office floor, debating whether to tell Troy about finding his fated mate. He didn’t like asking Troy to keep things from Raina, but since she was still out of town and he desperately needed someone to talk to, Rowan had taken a chance and told him over lunch.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in years! Of course I’m not upset!” Troy had boomed, garnering the attention of every other patron in the small sandwich shop they often frequented. “I have no problem keeping this to myself, so long as you tell Raina, Riley, and your moms as soon as they’re back.”

“Of course,” Rowan had said, making very pointed eye contact with his Caesar salad wrap. He had every intention of telling his family…as soon as he could get past the fact that the group chat had spent the entire weekend fawning over Ray.

Yes, he was adorable, and yes, the date he and Ruben had gone on to an amusement park on Sunday looked like a lot of fun, but Rowan had gone on a canoe ride date with Milo on Sunday, too, and hadn’t been able to share any of the copious number of photos Milo had taken.

He wasn’t even going to try to deny it. He was bitter, which he’d told Troy as they finished their sandwiches on Monday. Troy had tried to reassure him that it was just Ruben being Ruben and Rowan shouldn’t let it affect his honeymoon stage with Milo, but Rowan couldn’t help it. He wanted to gush to Raina about the eclectic collection of antiques in Milo’s apartment, and he wanted to get Riley’s advice on his first therapy session that Friday. He even wanted his moms to pester him the way they were already pestering Ruben about mating-ceremony dates and dress codes.

Well, okay, maybe he didn’t actually want that last one. Not when even just Troy’s joking question had his hawk hopping around in anxious circles.

“Okay, so remind me one more time,” Troy said as several shifters dodged around them to enter the café. “Milo knows that I know, and they know that you haven’t told the family, but they don’t know how upset you are about Ruben telling the family because you don’t want it to get back to Ray and ruin his honeymoon phase?”

“Correct,” Rowan said.