Page 27 of Broken Ice
“I think you meant ‘illiterate.’ ”
That got a chuckle out of Beau. “I’m gonna tell Pav you’re bullying me again.”
“Really? You’re gonna tattle-tell?”
“He’s going to give you the puppy eyes of disappointment, and then you’ll see.” Beau sniffed self-importantly.
Emilio snorted. “Okay…those are pretty bad. Every time I take a stupid penalty—”
“Oh, helovespulling those out after penalties. The day he has children…I think his head’s going to explode.”
Emilio hummed in agreement, peering at Beau steadily. “What about you? You want kids?”
“Okay, that was quite the segue. Uh…yeah. I mean. It’s hard, right? Because of hockey. And I don’t really want to wait until I’m retired. But I’d be okay taking a year off to be pregnant. It’d be cool to adopt, too. It’s hard to think about having less than three children,” Beau admitted truthfully.
“ ’Cause that’s what you grew up with?”
“Yeah. I mean—I don’t know what I’d do without Cleo and Noah, and it makes me sad to think of my kid not having that, you know?” He shrugged. “There’s just a lot to think about.”
Emilio nodded. “Yeah. That makes sense.”
“What about you? I’m guessing you’re searching for the typical blond Omega that can give you two-point-five children.”
“I mean, they don’t have to beblond.”
Beau rolled his eyes.
“I want children, but I’m flexible, honestly…it’d depend on what my partner wanted. They’d be the one getting pregnant.”
Beau nodded, impressed despite himself. “That’s surprisingly thoughtful.”
“Why is that surprising?” Emilio snarked.
“Alphas normally don’t think that way, is all. I mean, trust me, I would know.”
The corners of Emilio’s mouth ticked down. “Sounds like you’ve been around a lot of shitty Alphas.”
Beau sighed, half-amused. “No, dude. I haven’t. Like, I’m not saying there aren’t a fair number of exceptions, but Alphas don’t typically want an Omega in my position. Who has the bodily restrictions I have. Who wouldn’t be able to be the primary caregiver. It’s just more accepted for Alphas to fuck off for weeks and miss birthdays and recitals and, just, general milestones.”
Emilio frowned at his empty placemat. “I mean, sure. But that just means they’re shitty Alphas.”
“I mean…” Beau chuckled. “I don’t know about that, but thanks for the support. I’m not really bothered by it. If I have to work a little harder to find an Alpha who’s right for me, so be it.”
Emilio traced the corner of the table with a finger. For a moment, Beau wondered if he was even listening, but then he looked up and said, “Any Alpha would be lucky to have you.”
Beau’s jaw made a creaking noise as it dropped. “Did Emilio Torres just compliment me?”
The intensity on Emilio’s face vanished, replaced by exasperation.
“No, really. Can you repeat that? I’m just gonna grab my phone real quick,notto record you. Okay, speak into the microphone.”
Emilio pushed Beau’s hand away. “I take it back.”
“I want it on the record that Emilio Torres—”
“Stop saying my full name like that.”
“Just said that I, Beau Lavoie—”
