Page 26 of The Devil Takes

I knew I’d have to give something away if I was going to get what I wanted, though I didn’t know what it was. Hopefully not my last bottle of Mountain Dew. I’d learned from a young age nothing was ever free, especially if you wanted it.

“I was wondering if you could help me?” I asked, biting back my pride as the words rattled out like shattered glass. I tried to play it cool, I really did. But I’d never liked asking for help. Ever. I made a point not to, actually, just like I’d made a point to never beg—unless I was with Haden. I was stubborn as hell and the last thing I needed was to drop the only shield I had between me and the rest of humanity.

Pride.

I didn’t want to ask for help.

But now I needed to.

“So, my dad is coming to town, and he kinda doesn’t know where I live,” I said quietly because Brett’s big brown eyes were all scrunched up like he didn’t know what the hell I was smoking. He nodded, clearly waiting for more. When the words got all choked up inside me and the silence grew cloying, he took pity on me.

I tried not to stare at his thick thighs or the fact that he had this cute little dimple on his chin. Tried not to think about much of anything, really. My bond mark throbbed, but I shrugged the pain off as psychosomatic.

“Okay?” Yeah, he threw me a bone, but it wasn’t much of one.

“I need to pretend like I moved in here already. That I already live here, I mean.” I blinked, the choked up feeling still squashing away inside my throat. Felt like talking around a mouthful of dirt, a feeling I was all too familiar with. This was awkward. Brett knew it. I knew it. God, his shoulders were nice.

My cheeks were hot, and I shuffled awkwardly, suddenly wishing I hadn’t decided to wear my usual pair of ratty sweatpants. Should’ve broken out those jeans Tommy had gotten me for Christmas last year. But they were uncomfortable. And I knew my ass looked amazing in them. Didn’t really want to be ogled more than I was at the moment. The attention made me feel naked. Not that dressing up for this would’ve done me any good.

“Why doesn’t your dad know where you live?” Brett asked. And the question should’ve been an easy enough one to answer. Honestly—most fucking kids didn’t have to hide simple shit like this from their parents. But most kids weren’t me, and most dads weren’t mine.

He was his own breed.

Pieced together with laughter and hatred, and I was tired of being nothing but a good excuse to let loose that bottled up anger. Being an omega was bad enough, but disappointing him too? I couldn’t stomach it. Couldn’t stomach the consequences either. Honestly, I was more afraid of losing his rationed laughter than I was frightened of his fists.

Bruises healed.

The idea of losing the last part of him I loved, though? God. He was my fucking dad. I couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t.

So I gave in.

I gave up.

“I’m uh…” The words didn’t want to come out. I’d made the decision, but my body wasn’t ready as I chewed on my lip and felt Brett’s gaze grow heavier, darker. He was annoyed. Starting to be anyway. I couldn’t blame him either. Soldier onward, I reminded myself. Don’t be a little bitch. “I’m an omega. He’s kinda—” I spoke quicker, ripping the bandaid off, so to speak, then starting over again. “I’m in the omega dorm. And I’m…yeah. I’m not supposed to be.”

Actually, what I was saying made no fucking sense. The fact that I was an omega should’ve meant I was supposed to be in the omega dorm. It was my place, beside all the other “breeders”. But honestly, I fit in there even less than I fit in here, surrounded by dirty socks and pheromones I was blind to.

“That’s fucked up.” I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to come out of Brett’s mouth, but it hadn’t been that. I relaxed, the tension bleeding away as a sharp exhale caught in my throat. Okay. So he pitied me at least. I wasn’t above using that against him to get what I wanted, even if that was kinda fucked up of me.

I was fighting a war, though, and even if Brett didn’t know it, I was going to win.

I wasn’t sure how to respond since he hadn’t mentioned what part of that statement was fucked up. The fact that I was an omega trying to move into an alpha house? Or the fact that my dad didn’t approve of me living where I was supposed to live. Where I was supposed to be safe. Either way, it didn’t really matter. So long as I got what I wanted.

Donning my best dude-bro smile I grinned at him. “Right?” I blinked. “So, yeah. I was hoping you could let me pretend I live here next week. Just for like an hour. It won’t take long, then I swear I’ll be out of your hair.

His face scrunched up as he debated what to do. His t-shirt had ridden up, and I tried not to stare too hard at the happy trail that disappeared inside his jeans. He was bigger than Haden was. But somehow, he didn’t light the fire inside me that the purple-demon-thing did. He was just…nice. Pretty. But without substance. Like looking at a McDonald’s ad.

Haden was a full-blown buffet.

“Sure dude,” Brett grinned back, popping his neck as he leaned forward, his eyes wicked. “But you gotta do something for me in return.”

I shouldn’t have given Brett Tommy’s number.

I realized that about twenty minutes later as I was making the drive back across campus, my palms sweaty, and the realization of what I’d just done fresh in my mind. It had been a betrayal, however small, because I knew how Tommy would respond if he knew. And he would know. There was no getting around it.

But I’d been desperate.

I tried to wave off the guilt because it wouldn’t change what I’d done.

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