talk to Dad for a minute, though. Do you know when he has a break?”
She turned to the computer and tapped a few keys. “He’s with a patient now. They should be finishing up soon. Probably ten minutes or so?”
“Perfect,” Ollie said. “We’ll wait in his office.”
Ollie grabbed Toby’s hand again and dragged him through the clinic toward a closed door. Inside, Toby didn’t find the typical office he’d expected. Instead, this room had a big couch and a couple of chairs. A standing desk was positioned beneath the only window with a closed laptop on it.
“I’m sure your dad is busy,” Toby said.
“Dad’s never too busy for us.”
Toby gulped again, then blew out a breath. “I’m scared,” he confessed softly.
Ollie smiled. “I know.” He tapped his nose.
Toby blinked. “Wait, you can smell fear? Oh right, shifter. When will I get used to this stuff?”
“One day. But yes, I have an excellent sniffer. I have ever since I was a kid. Have I told you how I found Papa when I was super little?”
Toby shook his head.
“Oh man. It’s a terrible but awesome story. Happy ending, though!”
Ollie guided Toby onto one of the couches and then launched into a story that shouldn’t have been real, involving kidnapped children, evil magic users, and then an epic rescue.
When the door opened a few minutes later, Toby wanted to wave Dr. Jerrick away so he could hear the rest. Ollie simply beamed, though, and Toby realized he’d been tricked once more.
He hadn’t sat nervously waiting for Ollie’s dad to arrive after all. He’d been too engrossed in the tale.
“You’re evil,” Toby said with a glare.
It earned him a laugh from Vaughn Jerrick. “Finally, someone sees who you really are.”
Ollie grinned. “That’s not true. Everyone knows I’m evil.”
“Sure they do,” Vaughn said. He carried a folder over to the desk and opened the laptop. “What’s up?”
“I need to ask you a few questions. Well, Toby does. But I’m moral support.”
Vaughn set the folder down and turned to face them. “Dad questions or doctor questions?”
Ollie frowned and turned to Toby. “Both?”
“Maybe?” Toby said.
He blew out a nervous breath.
Vaughn’s face smoothed out as he walked over to one of the chairs beside them. “Tell me what’s going on.”
And Toby suddenly got it. He really did. This was an alpha.
Nick had the same kind of power too. The same strength of character. He was different from Vaughn, but the same. Toby sucked in a breath and reached for Ollie’s hand again. He didn’t know when he’d become such a toucher, but he suddenly needed it more than ever.
“I’m bad at sex,” Toby blurted out. His face flamed again. He stared at this knees, unable to look up and see what Vaughn thought of his statement, praying the alpha wasn’t laughing at him.
“Bad is a bit generic. Did something happen you didn’t want to happen?”
Toby lifted his head. “No. I just… I couldn’t… make my partners… you know.”
“Have an orgasm?” Vaughn asked.
Toby nodded.
“And now he’s afraid he’s going to disappoint Brooks,” Ollie added quietly.
“I tried to figure it out. I did. But all the internet seems to have on the subject is either porn or dissertations.”
“And you were hoping for more of an instruction manual?” Vaughn asked delicately.
Toby groaned and dropped his head onto his hand. “I’m a teacher. I know better than this. I was desperate.”
“Sex is tough, especially when you’re a gay man without resources. Luckily for you, you no longer have that problem.”
Ollie squeezed his hand. “See, I told you.”
“Tell me a little more about what happened, Toby. Maybe I can help.”
Toby swallowed and raised his head once more. “I’ve never really been able to… date. I mean, I graduated high school at fifteen, which meant I wasn’t exactly legal for most of my early college years. And anyone actually interested ended up being perverted because I looked even younger than I was.”
“That does make things more difficult.”
Ollie snorted. “Yeah, try living with a pack. Everyone’s your family. Talk about limited options.”
Toby chuckled and bumped his shoulder against Ollie’s. “Okay, you had it worse.”
“Right?”
Toby leaned further into Ollie, needing the comfort even if he didn’t understand it. “So I graduate from college with what amounted to a triple major, so it wasn’t like I was available a lot anyway. But then I realized I was going to start teaching and I had zero experience. I… wanted some. Experience, that is.”