Page 41 of Pit Stop

“Skye,” Maverick says and then sighs, his words falling away. “Let me take you home.”

“I don’t think I will.”

Maverick’s bones crack, his teeth grinding. “Skye-light.”

“Don’t you Skye-light me.” I shake my finger at him and then huff and puff before laying in on him again. “You don’t even like me. I mean, you barely even look at me when you come over to the house.”

He opens his mouth and then closes it, not interjecting.

“Anyway, it shouldn’t matter who I’m with. We’re nothing. We can’t be anything. You said so yourself.”

Maverick runs a hand down his face. “Please, Skye. Let me take you home.”

“No. I have to fucking survive this next heat. Let me fucking do what I need to.Please.”

He looks forlorn, his face drawn, his hands clenched at his sides. I wait for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t. He just lets me turn around and walk back into the dimly lit bar. My clothes are a little wet from the rain and I end up shivering, but I don’t want anyone to touch me, to help me.

So I just stew in silence until I feel I’ve finally had enough, and I call a rideshare to pick me up. I have several numbers from other alphas who I met while playing pool saved on my phone. I have options for my next heat. And I really shouldn’t be thinking about Maverick. He doesn’t care enough to fight for it, for me.

And it can’t happen anyway.

I’m resigned to it.

Even though those numbers sit on my phone, I still make my way to the local sex shop to buy myself something to help meget through the beginnings of it alone. Maybe I won’t even need those phone numbers. Maybe the toys will be enough.

As soon as I walk into the store, the worker behind the counter clocks me as an omega.

“Hey there! An omega right?” she asks.

I sigh and nod, pushing my glasses up my nose. I’m sure my face is bright red. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be in this position right now. But I am. This is my life. I need to get used to it.

“Yeah. I have a heat coming up. Need things to help me get through it.”

“Oh, no alpha?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Right, got it. So let me get you a basket, you’re gonna need it.”

I follow her around the store while she piles things inside. Several knotted dildos, a pump that expands, several vials of ethically sourced pheromones from alphas, and a fluffy, weighted blanket. Apparently, it helps.

I don’t know. At this point, I’m desperate.

As I make my way from the store, bag in hand, I run right into one of my older brothers, River, who is striding down the sidewalk. His eyes light up when he sees me and a mischievous grin pulls his lips up.

“Skye! What are you doing outside a sex shop?”

Damn him and his keen eyes. He’s the biggest himbo on Earth and yet he notices everything.

“Nothing that I’ll ever tell you.”

His eyes land on the bag dangling from my hand and he grabs for it. I try to wrench it away, but he’s bigger than me and stronger.

“Give it back, River. Gods, you’re so annoying. Have you grown up at all since you moved out?”

He giggles. “No, not really. I just managed to get a good job so I could live apart from Dad. Doesn’t mean I’m mature.”

His eyes twinkle and my own lips quirk. River is a shit, but he’s good-natured. Even so, I don’t want him to look in that damn bag. He’ll never let me live it down.

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