Page 34 of A Baby for the Firefighter
Laughing, I let her down, where she started crawling across the floor behind the puppy. She knew how to walk, of course, but apparently it was more fun to imitate the doggy. Shane joined me in my laughter, and then, so did Conner.
I had a feeling it was going to be a good day.
Until Griff called me.
15
Griffin
My Sunday started out peacefully. I went to my brother’s place to talk to him. He lived in this beautiful house at the outskirts of the town—as removed from everything as you could be while still being part of civilization. It sure paid to marry a rich alpha, I thought to myself as I knocked on the door. Only a second later, I found myself face to face with said alpha, carrying a little baby girl in his arms as he opened the door to me.
“Hey, Matt,” I greeted my brother-in-law. “Hey, Livvy.” I tapped my niece’s adorable little nose.
“Hey, Griff. Eli’s in the living room,” he informed me. “And if you’re not careful, Jake’s going to barrel into you and force you to play cops and robbers. I’ve already been shot three times today.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the warning.” Although I wouldn’t have minded playing with my nephew instead of doing what I’d actually come here for. I needed to tell my brother about what a creep Eric had turned out to be. Because I sure as hell wasn’t going back to work with him.
I walked into the living room, only a little sad that Jake didn’t try to abduct me on my way.
“Oh, hey Griff!” Eli greeted me as I entered. He was sitting on the couch with a heavy book open in his lap. Some textbook for school probably. He was really serious about that, as well he should be. My brother was going to be a veterinarian, finally, and I was proud of him. Not many omegas managed to become doctors. He was a trailblazer, even if he got delayed by a few years.
I sat next to him. “Studying hard?”
“You know it.” He put the book aside and stifled a yawn. “Just wish some of these books could be written a little more clearly.”
“Maybe you can rewrite them some day.”
Eli snorted. “Yeah, right. I want to save animals, not write books. Speaking of animals, isn’t today the day Conner’s getting his puppy?”
“Yeah.” I’d told Eli all about that. Only Jake didn’t know, because he would have ruined the surprise. “I hope it goes well. I’m going to go over there later and check.”
“Check, right.” My brother shot me a knowing look. “What you really want is to play with the puppy.”
“Busted.” I poked my tongue out of him. “Like you’re not becoming a vet to play with dogs all day.”
“Please,” Eli drawled. “It’s serious business.” He stretched. “Anyway, you said you had something to talk about?”
“Yeah, actually.” I pulled my lower lip between my teeth. How best to approach this subject? “You know the theater teacher? Eric? I think he might have been in your year in school…”
“Yeah, I know him. Of course I do. I’m making some of the costumes, remember?”
Right. “I was at the school Friday night trying to be a good uncle and work on the props, and… well, he was there as well.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed slightly as he switched into older-brother mode. “Did something happen between you and Eric?”
“Not exactly, but I got the feeling he wanted something to happen, you know? He was really kind of creepy about it. I had to call Dean to pick me up so he would see that I have a boyfriend. Since he didn’t want to believe me when I told him. I’ve never known betas to be so fucking creepy.” I shuddered at the memory.
Eli rested a hand on my back, between my shoulder blades. “I’m sorry he was such a creep. I swear he was never like that with me.”
“It’s alright,” I said. “In the end, nothing happened. I’m just not sure I want to go back there. I mean, I still want to help.” Especially now that I knew who I was replacing. “But he creeps me out.”
“No, I get that.” Eli’s brows furrowed. “I’ll talk to him, tell him to back off if he wants those props done.” He took a deep breath. My brother actually sounded pissed, and that didn’t happen very often. “You’re not going to the school by yourself anymore, either. I’ll come with you next time.”
“Thank you.” I leaned back into the couch, feeling a little better now I had this off my chest and a solution in sight. I glanced at the TV, which wasn’t on. “Any good cartoons this morning?”
Eli shook his head. “Like you don’t know the TV schedule inside and out.”
“Can’t fool you, can I?” I reached for the remote—and that was when we first heard the sirens.
