“And you answered?”
“I guess I was just curious if I still had feelings for him.”
There was silence on the line.
“Do you?”
Eric opened his eyes, frowning. Did Hugh sound a little off? “No. There was nothing.”
Hugh was quiet for a moment.
“Then why are you upset?” he said at last.
Eric stared at the ceiling. “It just feels… so damn pointless, you know? That my feelings for the guy who ruined my life weren’t even deep enough, apparently, so why the hell did I send him that photograph? I feel so annoyed with myself. It feels like I ruined my life for nothing.”
“Do you want me to disagree with you?”
Eric blinked. “What?”
“I could baby you and tell you that making mistakes is part of growing up. Or I could join you in kicking you while you’re down. It’s your choice. I’m up for anything.”
A laugh left Eric’s lips. “You suck at comforting,” he said, grinning. It wasn’t true. Hugh always seemed to know exactly what to say to make him smile. “But I don’t want you to kick me. Baby me.”
“All right, I can do that.” Eric could tell Hugh was smiling. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Eri. It’s normal for people your age to have fleeting infatuations.”
Eric rolled his eyes. “I’m not that young. Many omegas already have several kids at my age.” He hesitated before bringing up something he’d been curious about. “You’ve been married for a decade but you don’t have kids.”
Hugh’s sigh sounded so close to his ear Eric could almost believe he was right there with him. “I’ve always wanted kids, but children shouldn’t grow up in a toxic environment to parents who abhor each other. We were on birth control every time we were forced to spend our mating cycles together.”
“Oh,” Eric said softly, hoping it wasn’t obvious how much he hated thinking about Hugh spending ruts and heats with another omega. With his mate. The mere thought made him nauseated.
There were faint murmurs in the background before Hugh said, “I have to get back to work.”
Eric’s heart sank. Rationally, he understood, but...
“I’ll call you after work,” Hugh said, as if reading his thoughts.
Quashing the urge to say Promise? like a child, Eric said, “Okay.”
He hugged his pillow hard to his chest after he hung up.
Then, he jerked off, because hearing Hugh’s voice always worked him up.
Gods, he really had it bad.
Eric consoled himself that at least he was keeping physical distance from Hugh. That was something, right?
***
But then Hugh showed up on the weekend and took him shopping.
“Why?” Eric said, looking around the huge shopping center in bewilderment. It wasn’t crowded and Eric had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of the high-end luxury brands and ridiculous price tags.
“I’ve noticed that your clothes don’t fit well,” Hugh said. “Is your family alpha not providing for you?”
Eric flushed, yanking his sleeves down self-consciously. He hadn’t thought it was obvious. “Of course he is,” he said defensively. “I’ve just had a late growth spurt after moving to Kadar.”
Hugh frowned, steering him forward with a hand on his back. The gesture surprised Eric a little. Lucien had told him that Kadarian alphas generally didn’t do stuff like that in order not to seem like traditionalists.
“And you didn’t tell him that you needed funds for your wardrobe update why?” Hugh said.
Eric shrugged. “I didn’t need it. It wasn’t like I was going out much anyway. Anthony does give me a very generous allowance.”
“Let me guess: you spend it on upgrading your computer,” Hugh said, his lips twisting into a wry smile.
Eric grinned. “Guilty as charged. I’ll have you know my computer is state of the art!”
Shaking his head with a smile, Hugh steered him into a store.
“Um,” Eric said, swallowing as he glanced at the brand name. “Not that I don’t appreciate you taking me shopping, but this place is a bit out of my price range, Hugh.” Or a lot. “Those computer upgrades aren’t exactly cheap.”
Hugh looked unconcerned. “I’ll pay,” he said. “Just pick whatever you like.”
Blinking at him in bewilderment, Eric wasn’t sure what to say. This was… weird, to say the least. It wasn’t weird for alphas to pay for omegas—if those omegas were related to him. Or were his mate. Even in Pelugia the most non-relative alphas bought omegas were tickets to a match or theater. In Kadar it generally just wasn’t done, because Kadarian society in the last decade was all about omega rights and independence from alphas.
Before Eric could decide what to say, a smiling store attendant was whisking him away and asking him what he wanted.
It was nearly an hour before a very ruffled Eric was finally able to escape the store—but not before the very helpful store attendants had cajoled him into buying what felt like half of the store.
“It’s too much, Hugh,” he hissed, grabbing Hugh’s arm and looking with a frown at the countless bags being loaded into Hugh’s helicopter. “We really should return them.”