Page 12 of All In

My doctor’s appointment and everything that happened this morning replays in my head.

That comfortable breathing room with bills is no longer a guarantee.

My job feels secure because they haven’t had to accommodate heat leave. If I can no longer secure a prescription for suppressants, then it’s highly likely they’ll start looking for any excuse to fire me. They won’t use anything related to me being an omega as the reason, but I’ve seen it happen to other people.

“Earth to Laken,” Lyra says, bumping her shoulder against mine.

I jolt.

She carried in her backpack, duffel bag, and a large suitcase, all while I daydreamed.

This isn’t good.

“Where’s the boyfriend?” she asks, shutting the door for me. “Is he at work?”

“We broke up.”

“I’m sorry.” Lyra tries to pull me in for another hug, but something in her scent is off.

“No, it’s totally fine.” I wrap my sweater tighter around my middle and walk toward the couch. “He’s a dick, anyway.”

“That’s men in general.” Lyra chuckles, coming to check out my makeshift nest on the couch. “Wait, did you quit taking your suppressants?”

My head shakes as I grab the fuzzy blanket that I don’t want corrupted with her scent. “No, they’ve just been working less and less.”

I frown.

It’s hard to talk to Lyra about anything having to do with being an omega. She was devastated when she didn’t present. At almost twenty-five, it’s a statistical improbability that she ever will. Her scent is sweet enough that it convinced all of us she would be an omega, but the hormones that signal presenting is close never showed up in her blood work.

“That sucks,” she says, picking at her thumbnail. “You know there are places you can sell your heat and make absolute fucking bank. Annika, my roommate, works at a club where members can bid on an omega’s heat. The omega sets up all the rules. It seems pretty safe, and I’m sure they’ve got places like that here too.”

Locke’s dimples and long hair instantly come to mind. His muscular chest, stretching his T-shirt to capacity comes next.

Exploring things with him sounds like a much better plan to me, but there’s ultimately no guarantee one alpha would be enough to comfortably ride out my heat.

Or that we’ll truly click.

There’s chemistry there, but I don’t want to jinx myself by counting on him just yet. I think it’s best to see how things go Friday night.

“If it gets bad, I’ll give it some thought, but what about you? You haven’t been back to Chicago in years. Is everything okay?” I twist toward her to study her face, but she refuses to make eye contact.

A fake smile plasters across her face. “I just missed you. So, tell me about William. What happened there?”

“Ugh,” I groan, my head rolling back against the couch cushion. “His personality is shit. Not to mention, he’s into some shady stuff.”

My sister’s head tilts. “Wait, what? I thought he was a businessman.”

I snort, laughing at how naive I was. “Yeah, so did I until…” I go on, filling her in about that disaster. “It was the last straw. That reminds me, I still haven’t bothered giving back his key.” I shrug. “I definitely need to tackle that, eventually.”

Seeing him with Kennedy this morning hammered that point home. Maybe I can give it to Locke this Friday. That way, he can hand it off to Will, and I can finally be done.

“Damn.” She sighs, stretching back against the couch cushion. “I guess that explains why your location is always at work or home. I thought maybe the two of you switched to hanging out here.”

I frown.

I totally forgot about location sharing.

I guess, since I never bother to check hers, I thought she was probably the same. It also explains how she knew I would be at home.

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