Page 50 of One Wild Omega

“Who in their right minds get married on a Sunday? That’s a Saturday event. And a dinner, too? Sunday dinner for a wedding? It’s not right,” Pops said, chattering on. He turned back to Fitz. “At least I’ll have my Fitz here.”

Fitz swallowed back a comment. How the hell was he going to tell his family he might be moving? “Where’s Dad?”

“Out back, grilling the meats,” Pops said. “We’re going easy on me and Luke today. I guess we’ll have to do that next month, too, since I won’t have my assistant in the kitchen.”

Luke gave Fitz a look before rolling his eyes.

“How about I help next month?” Fitz asked, assuming any possible promotion would likely still be in the works by then.

Pops pinched Fitz’s cheek. “See? At least one of my boys cares about me.” His papa glanced at two of his grandchildren racing past, and spun toward them. “How many times have I told you boys not to run through my kitchen? We’ve got knives and hot pans in here! You could get hurt!”

Fitz chuckled and went in search of his other parent. He found his father holding court with Harrison, Cassidy, and Emerson over the outdoor grill. “Hey, everyone.”

They all turned to eye him. Harrison, Cassidy, and Emerson gave him a quick “hello” in reply.

“Hey, son,” his father said, offering a quick side hug, all while continuing to baste the meat.

“Smells great,” Fitz remarked before grabbing a longneck bottle of beer from the iced crate on the patio. He popped it open.

“Your father makes the best steaks I’ve ever had,” Cassidy said. “I can’t wait.”

“Steaks?” Fitz asked. The family was doing better in recent years, but feeding twenty or so people steaks was a bit much even for them. “When did steaks go on the menu for a family dinner?”

“Our freezer went up on us,” Cassidy said. “And everything we had thawed. I hadjustbought a huge pack of steaks, and another of pork chops, along with a few other things. We didn’t want to lose them, so Harrison figured this was the best way to take care of them.”

“We appreciate the donation to the cause,” Emerson said, saluting with his beer.

“We’ve even got some chicken and fish on there,” Harrison said. “So, everyone’s going to get what they want tonight.”

“Sounds great. Anything I can do to help, Dad?”

“No, not right now,” their father said, in his element. Their dad loved to grill out. There seemed to be something primal in his appreciation of fire. But then, he’d been on the department for many years, which had led so many of them in his footsteps. “I might need all hands once things start getting done.”

Fitz leaned a hip against the brick knee wall that edged behind the outdoor kitchen his parents had built a few years before—a shrine to his dad’s grilling abilities.

“What’s with the long face?” Harrison asked him.

Fitz shook his head, still struggling with theshould heorshouldn’t hein regards of telling his family about the possible promotion. He hadn’t even told his boss he was interested yet, and there was a chance he was too inexperienced to get the job—so why upset them for nothing? But at the same time, he hated keeping news like that from them. His brothers were his best friends, besides Bellamy.

But he no longer had Bellamy to talk things out with, so… “Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Emerson said. “That’s the bad news face, if I’ve ever seen it.”

Fitz frowned and smiled at the same time. “No bad news,” he fibbed.

“Yeah, he’s holding onto something,” Harrison said.

“My gods, what kind of looks am I giving away that you all seem to read so easily?”

His father turned to eye him a moment before returning his gaze to the grill. “Leave him be. If he has news, he’ll tell us in his own time.”

Fitz sighed, his shoulders slumping. He could never keep a secret in his house growing up. He didn’t know why he thought he could get away with one now. “There’s an opportunity for advancement in the company. My boss wants to recommend me for it.”

His father eyed him, a half smile on his lips. “That would be a good thing, right? So why do I feel there’s abutcoming?”

Fitz hedged a moment. “It’s in the Port Sacrementi office.”

Silence fell. The only sound was the sizzling of the food on the grill. All eyes were on him.

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