What had I done? I couldn’t even blame it on the alcohol, because as I left the bar, it sat almost untouched. No, I had foolishly flung my card at him as he went to leave, shocked that he gave me his in return. It was as if I was on a mission to crush my soul. Nothing good could come of that. Nothing.

After driving around aimlessly, stuck in my thoughts, I arrived home, or at least the place I called home for now, with only a few minutes to spare. No doubt my dad was pacing, grumpy, as my father tried to pretend everything was fine, which it was. At least I would give the impression it was.

Our house was nice enough, in some ways, too nice. I remembered, as a teen, always wanting to go across the street to my friend Jace’s house instead of hanging out here. My mother loved pretty and breakable things, and Jace and I were like bulls in a china shop. We loved to wrestle and goof off. I let my mind wander to where he might be now. Was he mated yet? Or was my friend still determined to not fall into the role he felt was expected of an omega? We were kind of the same in that, even if we took different routes. I tried to prove everyone wrong and become a lawyer, and he skipped school altogether.

I was so lost in my revelry, I failed to notice an unfamiliar car sitting outside the house. Had I, I could have surprised the shock on my face when I walked into the living room.

“Hello, honey. So glad you are here. You know your dad’s friend, Andrew.”

Kill me now. As if running out of the office with a lame excuse, one dad knew was a lie, wasn’t enough to let him know I held no interest in Andrew.

“Yes. We met at the office. Give me a minute to get ready for dinner?” I needed to pull it together before I lost my ability to sound civil. As much as I wanted to tell Andrew to get out of the house, he was my dad’s client, and I needed to be at least sort of polite. I dropped my suit coat in my room and washed up quickly. If I dawdled too much, I would reconsider not bolting out of the house and getting the heck out of dodge.

“Sweetie, dinner is ready.” My father’s hand came to my shoulder as I exited the bathroom. “Andrew seems nice.” I knew my father meant well, but that didn’t stop my eyes from rolling.

“I’m sure he is. Out of state client?” Please for the love of all that is good, let him be from the other side of the country.

“No, silly. He’s here for you.” She smiled far too widely before adding, “Blind date.” As if I wasn’t aware by the he being there for me after checking out my ass more than once.

Had we just fallen back into another era in history, where omegas were still traded off without their consent?

“That’s a shame,” I said. “You will need to politely decline his pursuit.” I sounded like a freaking historical romance. How had this become my life? I mean, I knew my fathers had been set up by their folks, but I had always assumed it was an aww, wouldn’t they be cute together kind of thing. But now? Now I wasn’t so sure.

“Absolutely not. We gave you plenty of time to do this on your own. You failed. You came back for help.” Mother turned me by my shoulders before giving me a little push toward the dining room. “Now get in there and be polite. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.” Her long running joke wasn’t amusing this time. I had to make it through this dinner somehow, or I was out of a place to stay. It couldn’t be any harder than running back here for help, which Father was so kind to remind me of.

Dinner was what awkwardness aspires to be. My parents sang my praises as I nodded and smiled and Andrew leered at me. He was thankfully into listening tonight, so I didn’t have to hear much from him. Until dessert, at least.

“Excellent pie, Mother.” I hoped we were officially done with showing what a great catch I was, which was about double what it had been when I’d actually been practicing law, before a group of alphaholes got me fired. My parents were grateful I had gotten beyond that “stage.”

“Why don’t you and Andrew enjoy another piece of pie on the deck? Maybe get to know each other?” There was no request in my dad’s voice.

“That sounds like a magnificent idea,” Andrew said. “I was hoping to discuss the Omega Rights Gala with Miles. Maybe the four of us could all go together.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Mother clapped her hands together, staring at Andrew as if he’d just promised her the moon. “We all have tickets already, of course. It would just make it even better if you could go together!”

Presumptuous much? And even if I would go out with him, a double date with my parents? Who would think that was anything less than creepy. The Omega Rights Gala was the event of the year, complete with press. Nope. That was so not going to happen.

“I don’t think that would be appropriate.” I sucked in a breath waiting for shit to hit the fan. “I already have a date for the gala.”

“Your what?” my parents spit out.

“A date.” The words simply feel from my lips. I was so going to pay for this lie. But I was desperate. “Thank you so much for your interest, Andrew. Perhaps next time?” I hoped that bold-faced lie would soothe Andrew’s hurt feelings. Not because I cared about him, but I didn’t want my dad to have something else to throw on my list of failings: lost major client.

“You… you just got a boyfriend, out of the blue?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mother. I have a date for the gala. We shall see how it goes from there.” I scraped about for something that could possibly make her get off my back. “He runs an international manufacturing and shipping company.” I winced, realizing I was echoing Parker’s description of what he did, by Mother’s eyes lit up. Apparently, she didn’t care who I was attached to as long as I was attached to someone acceptable.

“Well, it looks like I am interrupting. Nice to see you all again.” Andrew’s fury at my dad was close to the surface. I felt bad, but not bad enough to be alone with him for even a second. Something was just off about him.

“I apologize for the confusion. If I had realized this wasn’t work related earlier—” The lies were rolling off my tongue.

“No need to apologize, son, it was my fault.” My mother shouldered the blame, as was her habit when it came to my dad. She was constantly doing all she could to make him look better even when it hurt her. For whatever reason, that worked for them. That was so not how I planned to handle my mating. Not that that was in the works.

Andrew left, and I finished my pie, waiting for the other foot to drop. Because no matter how interested my mother might be in this mysterious date of mine, she wouldn’t accept me embarrassing my father.

Just once, I wished my parents would choose what I wanted over what they wanted.