Page 11 of Tempting Frey
My friend smiled fondly, gazing through the glass wall at the rainy forest. “He’s just nervous about me giving birth. And there are only two ways he can relieve the stress—running in fur and working.”
I grinned. “What about sex?”
Calvin blushed. “That, too.”
“I’ve heard it’s especially nice when you’re pregnant.”
“Oh, yeah.” He bit his lip, his grin growing mischievous. “We do it at least twice a day. I can barely move but can’t get enough of him. Some days it feels like heat. You know, the insane need and then the amazing relief.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been in heat yet.”
He looked stunned. “No? But you’re twenty-two. You should have had at least one.”
“I’m a shifter omega. I won’t have heats until I meet my fated mate. And even then, I have to spend some time with him for the pheromones to affect us and the hormones to kick in.”
“Really? I had no idea. I thought it was like with humans, that you have regular heats, but then the fated mates thing can kick in at any time.”
“Nope. I have to wait. But once we’re mated, it goes fast. All bear shifter omegas have kids early because the urge to breed during the first heat is too powerful to resist.”
Calvin looked down at his big belly, smiling softly. “I remember that.”
He was quiet for a moment. He adjusted the pillow behind his lower back and folded his legs to the side. The move made his belly appear bigger and rounder. When he seemed settled more comfortably, he picked up his tea mug from the coffee table.
“In a way, it must be nice,” he said. “You don’t have to rely on some random alpha to help you through it until you find the perfect man for you.”
“I guess.”
“And you’ve never met someone that you thought might be the one?”
Calvin gazed at me patiently. He’d only moved in with Barclay before Christmas, which was when I first met him. Over the winter and spring break, he and I spent a lot of time together and even began calling each other when I was away. We were almost the same age, he worked for my omega dad at the preschool, and I figured he didn’t have that many friends in Beauville yet, aside from Monty, Jordy, and Hunter. He needed omega friends.
I liked Calvin a lot. He was sociable but never pushy. We had fun together, but I could also tell him serious things, and he’d listen. He always told me what he thought, but in that mild, kind way of his. We’d grown close over the short months we’d known each other.
I must have hesitated too long because he backpedaled. “You don’t have to answer.”
If there was anyone I could talk about Frey with, it was Calvin.
“Nobody knows.”
He reached over his huge stomach to pat my forearm. “It’s fine if you’d rather not talk about it. I get it.”
“Actually, I think I want to.”
He smiled encouragingly.
“I’ve had a thing for Frey since forever,” I said.
“Mayor Frey?”
Calvin’s innocent eyes got big, and I chuckled at his reaction.
“The very one.”
“He’s terrifying!” Calvin put a hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry. Sorry. It’s just that he’s even bigger than Barclay, and I barely ever speak to him. He’s as scary as your dad, and I mean that in the best way possible, I promise.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “No offense taken. He and my alpha dad have been friends ever since Frey moved here two decades ago. He used to be a frequent guest in our house. I always liked him, but then I hit puberty, and… well. He’s the only alpha I’ve ever looked at twice, you know?”
“Doesheknow?”
