Romance Omega Style [Resistant Omegas 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (3 page)

“Do I always make everything all about me?” he whispered after a few moments.

“No, not in the slightest. Who said that?”

“Declan,” he admitted as tears ran down his cheeks. “He didn’t know I was standing there. I made a joke he didn’t take the right way and apparently I make too many of those kinds of jokes, like they need to realize I’m not the man of their dreams or whatnot. It’s a joke, but yeah, I don’t like it when they say that.”

“Because it puts too much pressure on you to constantly be perfect and
exactly
what they need while always being the angel of a mate,” I finished for him, nodding.

“Then you know exactly what I feel,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I get it. I make the same jokes. It’s mushy and a great romantic thing to say when you’re told that but it’s also a lot to take in. My guys don’t say it often but when they do, I feel like it’s just a way to keep me in line. I mean, I went against what Blaine wanted right now and honestly I can’t remember the last time I told him no.”

“Right? I almost never tell my men that. And they hover! God, Declan’s bitching about having to coddle me and everything’s always about me. Fine! Go away then. Let me take a bath or read a book without one of you always there to check on me or join me. I never get a moment alone and he has the balls to say that I’m basically high maintenance?”

“Yeah, right. But I know what you’re feeling, believe me.”

“What did your guys do?”

“Blaine made some comment about my being back in Florida and then Colin joked about hopefully not needing to have to chase me down again because that had been a huge pain in the ass,” I answered. “I let it go and didn’t say anything but I think that’s why I told Blaine no when he wanted to ride with us. I just needed some space.”

Carson nodded as I talked and then gestured to the box that had the bottles of rum. “I think we need to get shitfaced. I mean, really tie one off.”

“What if we get seasick? That would be horrible to be drunk and have to deal with that.”

“Then we pass out?” He shrugged. “I plan on getting so drunk I go puke at Declan’s feet when he comes to find me later anyways.”

“Never really heard that as a goal,” I hedged, worried about my friend. “This isn’t the only thing that’s been going on with you guys, has it?”

“No,” he whispered. “I think Taylor’s having an affair. I don’t have any proof but I saw something in his head. He was kissing another man but it was blurry so it was like he was thinking of a dream and I have no right to intrude on that but he was happy as he was thinking about it, like I would a fond memory.”

“So you think he’s cheating. And then Declan says this shit and wow.” I reached for his hand. “All while trying to keep everyone safe and help Omegas. Jesus, Carson. How are you not having a nervous breakdown?”

“I think I am,” he admitted as I pulled up to the marina. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? I haven’t even talked to Tristan about Taylor and now with Declan, I just can’t deal.”

“Do you know which room I’m staying in?” I asked Carson, waiting for him to nod. “Go head there with your booze and I’ll come find you after we cast off. Take some you time and I’ll keep everyone away.”

“Thanks, buddy. I just need a moment for everything to stop spinning out of control.”

“I know what you mean,” I agreed, my own heart hurting. I mean, not about the cheating but I was having my own trouble with my men… And a lot of it stemmed from the joke Colin made earlier that day. They always were waiting for me to run again. That’s why they hovered. And it was exhausting and if they didn’t cut it out, I might end up running to get some fucking peace.

Carson booked it out of my SUV and made it up the gangplank just as Declan, Ian, Taylor, and my men pulled up. I moved right in front of Declan and whipped about twenty pounds of wrapped steaks at him. “Why don’t you do something helpful instead of hurtful and store that in the freezer hold?”

“Stay out of this, Edric,” he warned. “I love you like a little brother but this doesn’t concern you.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Colin hurt my feelings and I know you’d be all up in his face if I told you what he did,” I blurted out, and then cringed.

“What did I do wrong?” Colin asked me with wide eyes.

“Nothing,” I grumbled, shaking my head. “Just forget it.”

“We need to talk about you running off without us,” Blaine said angrily, ignoring the rest of what was being said.

“I didn’t
run
,” I growled, shooting them both a dirty look. “I wanted a fucking minute alone with my friend. You knew exactly where we were going to be and what we were doing. Hell, you were in the SUV behind us. How is that running?”

“Fine, bad choice of words. You didn’t listen to me.”

“Sure, Dad. I’ll make sure to do everything you want like a good obedient son but that means you don’t get fucking laid anymore because obviously we’re not partners,” I shot right back. I threw what I had in my hands at him. “Fuck this. You unload everything. I like Carson’s idea better about getting shitfaced. And no, you’re not invited, don’t bother hovering, because we’ll be on the boat, I can’t run, and I can’t get in any kind of trouble.”

“Getting shitfaced seems like a lot of potential trouble actually,” Colin snickered and I flipped him off as I tossed Rowan the keys. They could suck it.

“You too?” Tristan asked me with a sigh, when I was on board.

“Yup. I’m going to go get drunk with Carson and let him vent some more,” I answered. “Unless there’s something else we need to do before we get going.”

“No, we’re all ready as soon as the last of the food you guys got is loaded. Go ahead and then I’ll be joining you.”

“Uh-oh. What happened?” I asked as I eyed my friend over.

“They’re still pissed at me that I went with the Council guards willingly,” he answered with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They can’t let it go and it’s killing my mating. They think I have some latent death wish or something.”

“Are all of our mates morons?” I asked, shocked that they thought that of Tristan. The man had a fire and passion for life that I was jealous of sometimes and here they were treating him like the exact opposite.

“Hell if I know,” he bitched.

“We’re going to be in my room. Come get drunk when you’re ready.”

“Yeah, cool. You’d better head after Carson, I don’t like him being alone when he’s so upset like this.”

“Fuck you, Marlow!” Vencentio shouted as he stormed towards us. “Just go fuck her and get it over with.”

“I’m not cheating,” Marlow growled.

“No, you just eye fuck every good-looking woman you see. You miss tits and pussy that much then go right ahead!”

“We’re getting drunk in my room,” I offered.

“Fan-fucking-tastic because I need it!” He kept going as Marlow stared after him. Tristan and I stared him down and the man turned away, shaking his head.

“Did I hear something about getting drunk?” Lennox asked as he came out onto the deck. “I’m so there.”

“Baby, you don’t have a tolerance,” Hugo said gently as he tried to hug Lennox. “You know you get seasick and—”

“No I don’t,” Lennox argued. “I got sick
once
because we pulled up sick fish from our lines and the smell was horrible. That’s not the same as getting seasick. God, Hugo. I am an adult, you know. I know what I can handle or not.”

“We’re not saying you don’t,” Blair said gently. “We just mean
—”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I groaned and then cupped my hands around my mouth. “Omegas to the Upper Deck for drinks and gambling, everyone else to the Sun and Sky Decks for driving and moving around with your heads up your asses.” Everyone just blinked at me in shock. “
Now
! Or we’re leaving without people. Load it up and let’s go. It’s a nine-hour trip!”

“We’re all loaded, the vehicles are locked in the marina, and we’re ready to go,” Brody said as he eyed Tristan and me over carefully. “But I’m thinking a list head count would be good to make sure none dumped their mates overboard.”

“Don’t judge. You just got claimed and haven’t even mated your men yet. Wait a year before you think we’re nuts for getting pissy with them.”

“Amen to that,” Lennox agreed before climbing the stairs to the upper level. “Can we get the Sun Deck? That has the pool.”

“And all our men are going to fit on the Sky Deck with Lief driving?” Brody chuckled. “I’d say let’s get drunk then we can move up to the Sun Deck so we can ignore them when we’re slurring.”

“Good call. Why do you want to ignore your inner circle?”

“They’re hovering a bit and I think it’s because they know I want to tell them something this trip but after seeing everyone fighting I’m not sure I want to say it anymore,” he mumbled, nervously.

“Yeah, we need to get drunk,” I said again.

Ten minutes later we were cast off and on our way. I got Carson from my room, promising that everyone else was upstairs besides the Omegas and it was time to let off a little steam. We all sat at the back of the boat in the open area, enjoying the sun, and the speed of the boat. It really was impressive how fast that big of a boat could go.

“They suped up the engine,” Lennox said with a smile, as if knowing my unasked question. He was the group’s mechanical guy since he was a licensed contractor and could do furnaces and stuff. I heard he’d branched out into cars and trucks to keep busy since his men wouldn’t let him off the property… Like the rest of ours.

“I didn’t think boats this big could go this fast,” Tristan replied with a nod. “Can you give us the short and easy version of what they did?”

“Yeah, they added two massive engines that I would think go on planes,” he chuckled. “It’s all legal and nothing duct-taped together, the builder did it and adjusted the basic yacht plans for it but it’s still really cool.”

“I think we need drinks,” I said as we all glanced around as if not knowing what to do yet.

“Good, because I was waiting for you to start,” Carson agreed.

“Can I be the bartender? I’ve always thought it would be a badass job,” Sampson asked quietly as he glanced at us.

“You don’t have to ask, Sampson,” Tristan said gently with a soft smile. “You’re free now.”

“Yeah, right,” he snickered. “None of us are ever free really. All you guys are upset for various reasons and mostly because it seems like you feel trapped. We’re Omegas. We don’t get to know what freedom truly ever is.” He stood and walked over to the bar, checking to see what was there.

“Damn. He’s right,” I muttered after a few moments. “I thought I was over feeling trapped but he’s right. We’ll never truly be free. We’ll always have one form of a leash or another.”

“We need lots of booze and some gambling before we all curl into balls and cry,” Wesley said in a determined voice. “Personally I don’t know how to gamble besides blackjack and even those rules confuse me when you play the real way with doubling down and all that shit.”

“We’ve got a roulette wheel over there,” I said with a smile, an idea forming. This was going to be good.

* * * *

Lennox

“Oh shit, Edric’s got a plan,” I snickered, shaking my head. He had that evil grin on his face that made me think he was mentally rubbing his hands together in glee.

“Can we get the roulette wheel over here or is the thing bolted down? I think we should stay out in the sun,” he said instead of addressing my comment.

“I’ll go check,” Tristan said as he stood up.

“Okay, someone wanted to make lots of mojitos because the bar is stocked with the ingredients,” Sampson chuckled as he started pulling stuff out. “We’re starting with a pitcher or three of them.”

“Works for me,” I agreed with a shrug. I glanced over at Vencentio, who kept looking at Sampson and then, as if shaking himself out of it, focusing anywhere but at the man. Yeah, I felt for him. He was having a problem with one mate and then someone who had slept with his other mate was right here in front of him when Vencentio was already upset.

“Okay, I got the table with the wheel,” Tristan grunted as he heaved the thing over. We quickly moved the other table out of the way and I stared at him as he set down the very heavy, very big, and very awkward-size table.

“So not fair that you got huge,” I grumbled as we moved the chairs back and sat down.

“You got a gorgeous house on the ocean and I’m in Denver,” he chuckled. “Trade you for my size.”

“You don’t like Denver?” Carson asked with wide eyes.

“I really did always love that house,” Sampson said quietly before shaking up the pitcher. “I miss it. You’re lucky, Lennox.”

“Thanks, yeah,” I mumbled, feeling awkward… And guilty which was stupid because it wasn’t like I stole the guy’s house out from under him. We just took over his old, messed-up pack and got the house that came with it.

“It’s not that I don’t like Denver,” Tristan answered carefully as he spun the ball around the roulette wheel. “It’s just that—”

“Wait, we’re not starting this yet,” Edric ordered. “Everyone get a drink, not having any yet, and I’ll be right back. We’re going to do the adult version of spin the bottle without the making out.” He darted away after announcing that and we just stared after him.