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I rubbed a hand along the back of my neck, shrugging my shoulders. I answered in a sheepish voice. “I kind of did…”
Jason placed his knife down and wiped his hands on his apron. He turned towards me, his stare unblinking. “Do you have another omega?”
“No!” I loudly protested. I yelped as Jason struck, lightning fast, flicking the center of my forehead as he hissed, his face reddened with annoyance.
“Then why the fuck wouldn’t you just say that over text, Elias?!”
“Because there’s a long explanation as to why I don’t have one and it’s not easy to—” Jason's snores interrupted me.
“Oh. Sorry!” He yawned loudly, smacking his lips together, and rubbing his eyes. “Were you done launching into the world's longest way of just saying ‘No, man I won’t stop talking about, even to my friends who don’t know you, I don’t have an omega’? Or were you beginning to process just how detrimental societal expectations have been to you due to your upbringing?”
“You attend therapy one time, Jay, and you come out with a degree.” I muttered.
Jason tapped a forefinger to his temple. “I retain what’s important.”
I rolled my eyes. Giving in to the mounting panic, I frantically sought advice. “What am I going to do?!”
“Tell him the truth.” Jason returned to dicing vegetables, believing the conversation to be done.
“The truth is…” I trailed off grimacing. “What if he thinks it’s odd?”
Jason muttered under his breath. “Guess I’m not getting prep done today.” He turned to face me, gently questioning, “Do you think it’s odd?”
“I didn’t, I mean I still don’t. But how do I explain to him that it started as a rebellious phase?”
Jason squinted, the pitch in his voice creeping up insanely high. “Was it though? Your parents say that, but you’ve always been attracted to any presentation—omegas, alphas, betas—no matter the gender, so when was this ‘phase’, Eli?”
“I can’t tell him that. Not yet.” I stared down at my phone, a soft smile blooming as I exhaled. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know who I am. And that’s nice for a change.” Once again, all of the activity in the kitchen came to a screeching halt. Confused, I looked up to see all of the staff staring at me, their eyes wide with incredulity.
Jason was the one to break the silence. “What do you mean, Elias?” He placed his hands on his hips, staring with intense focus. His face went from a light raspberry to a deeper shade of red, his chestnut brown freckles standing out in contrast.
Fuck.
“I mean, he doesn’t seem to know who I am. But maybe he’s playing dumb?”
“Does he strike you as the type?”
“No…”
“So, let us”—Jason gestured between himself and the mostly quiet, but highly nosey staff—“get this straight. You meet an omega, for the first time you date an omega, really take him on a date, tell him you like him, but you haven’t told him who you are?! What do you think life is? A drama?!”
“If it’s a drama, the OST sucks,” one of the sauciers griped, breaking the tension.
I chuckled loudly, the staff doing the same as they slowly got back to work. I avoided Jason’s gaze as I responded. “You know how this goes. You’ve seen it. Every time I like someone, and they find out who I am, it’s no longer about me as a person. It’s about my family and what I can do for them. Is it so wrong to pretend for a little while?”
“Omitting the truth is a lie.”
“Not when he’s never asked to know the truth.”
Jason used his knife to point at my phone. “He’s asking for a simple truth now. Either give it to him or ghost him.”
I weighed telling a half-truth against leaving Delaney completely in the dark and decided a half-truth was better than a lie. “Can you manage on your own for a while?”
Jason flippantly replied, “I always do.”
I ignored his petulant attitude, heading through the kitchen and into my office. I paced the floor, trying to decide what was acceptable to tell Delaney and what was better left unsaid. Ultimately, I still didn’t feel comfortable telling him a partial truth over text, but I concluded that Jason was right. Answering now and offering to explain in detail later would be best.
Eli:
