Gage had lingered at the cafe a little longer, ordering dinner to take home for Sean and himself. The memory of Luke's lips tingled on his own. It had been so hard to end the evening, but it was for the best. Luke had to get to his mom's, and Gage still had a lot of work to do before he could call this job done.

Sean wolfed down the sandwich and chips Gage brought him before disappearing to his room. Gage took his to his office and ate half of it while he reviewed his task list and got back into a coding mindset. He didn't hear his phone the first two times it buzzed, but the third time, he picked it up and was pleased to see he had three texts from Luke.

Thanks again. I had a great time.

How are you doing tonight?

I'm sorry, I know you said you had a lot of work. Let me know if I'm bothering you.

Gage's fingers flew as he typed back.

Sorry, I was deep in work. But you're not bothering me. And I had a great time.

Almost instantaneously, Luke sent a response.

What are you working on?

Gage started to type back, then laughed. What were they, fourteen? He hit the call button and waited.

"I'm serious, if I'm bothering you, feel free to tell me to take a chill pill."

"If you were bothering me, I'd just stuff my phone under a pillow and ignore you, trust me."

"Trust you, huh? My, my, so early in our relationship. You do move fast, Mr. Carpenter. I expect a full meal first before I truly put my trust in you."

Gage could hear the smile in Luke's voice. "You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Sawyer. But I think I can meet your terms."

There was a rustling on the other end. "So what are you working on?"

"Oh, I've got this client project for an internal tracking application. Nothing terribly exciting. I'll be done with it Saturday if I have to pull all-nighters the rest of the week."

Luke groaned. "I haven't pulled an all-nighter since college. You couldn't pay me to repeat that schedule. I need my sleep."

"Oh, I think I might be able to convince you to pull at least one all-nighter." Gage hoped he wasn't crossing any lines. His humor had always leaned to the raunchier, more innuendo-laden side.

"I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I sure wouldn't be against those odds," Luke returned.

"So are you still at your mom's house?" Gage asked, returning to a lighter topic.

"No, I'm back home already. Like I said, I need my sleep. I have to be up at the school by seven every morning, and if I'm not on my A-game, those kids run all over me."

Gage scoffed. "I can't imagine that. Those boys jump on your every word."

"Ah, but you forget, I'm also the science teacher. You haven't seen what a cut-throat group those science nerds are."

"Hey, I resemble that remark," Gage said. "Though, if you're the science teacher, I suppose you resemble that remark as well."

"That I do," Luke agreed.

"So science geek and jock? How did that work out in high school?"

"Not too bad, honestly. I went to school here, and it helps that we wolves have a bit of a physical advantage over the humans, but there's enough people around who are in the same situation as you that you never really feel alone or left out."

That sounded... well, amazing. Gage had been home schooled, like everyone else in Cherry Creek. But he never felt like he quite fit in with the other wolves, and he certainly had never fit in with the human kids around. He'd finally gotten his feet under him in college, but then he'd returned home, and his parents had died... it had been a while since he'd really felt like he belonged anywhere outside of his family.

"Sean actually reminds me of myself," Luke interrupted his thoughts. "Omega, smart, on the football team."

"That's Sean alright. I really think being in school will be better for him in the long run. Especially with having lost our parents so recently."

"How did that happen?" Luke asked softly. 

"A car accident," Gage said plainly. That's what the official records said, anyway. "Thankfully, the rest of us were home, but it was wet, and it seems like they just skidded off the road and down a cliff."

"That's awful," Luke said. "I'm so sorry."

"It sucks," Gage admitted. He rarely said as much, even to Jess. Perhaps especially to Jess. He didn't want her worrying about him and Sean, especially newly mated and with a pup on the way. It was nice to open up to Luke. "But we make it work."

"Well, I'm really glad Sean's on my team. He seems like a really good kid."

"He is. And he likes you a lot."

There was a long pause, and then Luke said, "I know you've got a lot of work, and we could probably talk all night. So rather than turn into a high school girl and insist you hang up first, I'm going to say good bye and go. But can we talk for a bit tomorrow, if you're not busy?"

Gage smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great. Good night, Gage."

"Good night."

Gage set his phone down and leaned back in his seat. The last thing on his mind right now was work. Sean popped his head in. "Was that Lu-uke?" he teased. 

"Ye-es," Gage said. 

Sean bounced in and plopped into a spare swivel chair. "So when are you getting mated?"

"Jeez-louise, Sean. Not everyone decides to get hitched as fast as Cole and Jess."

Sean shrugged. "I don't see why not. I've seen that you guys end up together. It's disgusting, by the way. If you could cut down on the lovey-doviness on the future, I'd appreciate it."

"Does that work at all? Trying to guide the future? You've already seen it. Doesn't it mean that it's going to happen no matter what?"

Sean's face fell a little. "I don't know. I don't know if what I see is set in stone, or if it's just a possibility and I can change it. Most of the time it’s not even clear what or when I’m seeing. And it's not like there's anyone I can ask or books I can read." His shoulders hunched in as he spoke.

"Hey, buddy, it's okay, we're figuring this out." Gage pulled Sean into a hug and felt the boy's tension ease slightly.

"Do you think... maybe someone in White Falls has the same gift as me? Do you think we can ask Luke?"

Gage froze at the idea of revealing Sean's secret to anyone, even as much as he liked Luke. "I don't know, buddy. I don't think that's such a good idea, yet."

"But you like Luke."

"I do. I like him a lot. But I don't know if we can trust him yet."

"We can," Sean said.

"But how do you know, Sean? You just said you're not really sure how this all works. I want to trust Luke, I really do, but there's nothing more important in my life than you, right now. And I need to be one hundred and ten percent sure before I trust anyone with you. You understand?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Fine. But we can trust Luke."

"I sure hope so, buddy."