KEEGAN

Growing up, my family had the tradition of having a barbecue on Sundays. Turns out they had kept the tradition until this day, and today was that day. All the family was gathered in the backyard of the main house, the kids ran around playing in the yard, but all eyes were on me. Especially because of last night. A night that kept playing in my head again and again. I couldn’t stop thinking about Meadow, about his lips against mine, about how his skin felt against mine, about the taste of his skin on my lips. And then, his words. He had called me his alpha, and I had almost claimed him as my omega, but we had been drinking last night. The alcohol was the one speaking. I didn’t want our first time together to be under the influence. 

“Hey. Where did you go last night?” Maverick said with a knowing smile.

“Home.” I answered with a shrug.

“And? Did something happen with Bunny?” Elise, who was next to him, asked with curious eyes.

“Nothing happened.” I shrugged and took a sip of the beer can I was holding.

“Are you sure?” Maverick asked.

“I am.” I said, and then walked away from my brother and his wife.

To avoid all interactions with my other curious brothers and their mates, I decided to play with my niece and nephews. Surprisingly, it had worked, and spending time with the kids was fun. Distracted with the kids, I hadn’t realized Bunny wasn’t in the backyard with the rest of the family until his scent hit my nose. Looking up, I saw him walk up to Emil with a smile as if nothing had happened the night before. He greeted everyone in the yard, but me. Last night had affected him. 

‘You should’ve stayed.’ Keith scolded me with a huff.

‘We drank alcohol last night, I didn’t want to do something we regretted today.’ I explained to my animal self for the 10th time. Keith had been giving me an earful since I left Bunny in his room last night.

‘Well, you did something you regret now. He is barely looking at us.’ Keith huffed. ‘You better try to make things better, Keegan.’

‘I will, but I don’t know how.’ I tried to approach Meadow, but when I was close enough, he would walk away from me. The tension was killing me, and my family was starting to notice.  

“Did you do something to Bunny?” Owen asked with an arched brow.

“No. I didn’t do anything.” I said with a sigh.

“Are you sure? Because he is avoiding you today.” My twin brother said. “I thought you were going to be lovey dovey today after sneaking out last night.”

“Nothing happened, okay?” I said with a huff of frustration, tired of my family getting involved in our business.

“Don’t lie to me. Something went wrong between you.” Owen said with a frown.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” I rolled my eyes and walked away from my brother.

Luckily for me, as soon as the food was ready and everyone sat at the table to eat, I was free from my family’s questions. But through our meal, I noticed curious glances sent my way, and I suspected some plan was forming on their heads. Even though I knew they were scheming something, I still fell for their trap. Soon after we ate all the food, Papa approached me.

“Sweetie, can you take these dishes to the kitchen and wash them?” Papa said with a smile, holding some dirty plates. 

“Sure, Papa.” I said with a smile, holding the dirty dishes he was holding. Something I didn’t expect was finding Meadow in the kitchen, already on dishwashing duty. 

‘This is it. Talk to him. Do it, Keegan.’ Keith said with a demanding huff.

“You can leave them on the counter. I’ll wash them.” Bunny said with a serious but polite tone. Under all that politeness, I knew he was upset and angry with me.

“Papa asked me to. I didn’t know you were here.” I said with a sigh, standing next to him and leaving the plates on the counter.

“He asked me, too.” He said and then let out a deep sigh. “The Beackmans are persistent.”

“Yes, we are.” I said with a chuckle, realizing that they had planned once again for Bunny and me to be alone. And since I was already here, I offered my services. “I can help you.”

“You don’t have to.” He shook his head while he continued to scrub the dishes, more vigorously.

“I want to.” I said. As he had said, we Beackmans are persistent, and I was not going to give up until I solved things with the omega. “Listen, Meadow, about last night—”

“We don’t have to talk about it. You said enough already. It was a mistake.” Bunny interrupted me before I could explain myself. 

“What? No—” I tried again, but Bunny didn’t let me. 

“But unlike you, I don’t regret doing it.” He said, finally looking into my face with a frown. 

“Can I speak now?” I said with a sigh.

“Go ahead.” He said, going back to the dishes. 

“No. I don’t regret it, and it was not a mistake. I just…” I started explaining myself, and Meadow turned to me.

“Just what?” He asked with an arched brow.

“We were both under the influence, and I didn’t want our first time to be because of the alcohol.” I explained. 

“Mmm…” Meadow rolled his eyes, but before he could go back to the dishes again, I grabbed his chin with my hand, making him look into my eyes.

“If anything, I would do anything to feel your lips on mine again, Bunbun.” I said sincerely. My gaze moved between his lips and eyes. 

“Then do it.” Meadow said, almost as a whisper. A whisper that made me move closer to him until our lips joined in a soft kiss. 

The warm feeling of his lips against mine made sparks go all over my body. I cursed internally at how good it felt and how foolish I had been trying to avoid doing this with Meadow. An idiot is what I was for wanting to ignore our bond. The kiss grew more passionate, my hands moving to the omega's hips. His hands, wet from washing dishes, moved to my shoulders. Our bodies drew closer and closer, until there was no space between us. Our lips clashed in a synchronized dance. We were lost on each other's lips. A sound outside of the kitchen startled us both. Meadow jumped out of my arms, and I moved away from him. We both stared at the kitchen door waiting for someone to come inside, but when no one did, our eyes met again, and we burst into laughter. 

“I think we should finish washing these dishes.” Bunny suggested when the laughing stopped.

“Right, I will help you.” I said with a soft smile, and then, to make sure, I asked. “Are we good?”

“Yes, we are.” He said with a soft smile. “And Kegaan.”

“Yes, Bunbun.” I said.

“We can repeat that all you want.” He said with a wink and then turned to look at the dishes.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Bunbun.” I said with a low growl, holding back from kissing him again.

Washing dishes had never been fun for me, but having the company of Meadow made it all better. Even more now that the flirting between us was back on and he was no longer upset with me. I even stole some kisses from time to time. Soon we were done, and after one last passionate kiss, we went back outside to the backyard with the family. Curious eyes moved our way, and we just smiled. What happened in the kitchen was just between us. Nobody needed to know about it.

“What took you so long, sweetie?” Papa asked with curious eyes after he walked up to me.

“A lot of dishes.” I answered with a shrug. 

“Nothing else?” He asked with curious eyes. From the look he was giving me, I knew he wanted to know if anything had happened in the kitchen. Of course, I was not going to tell him.

“Nope.” 

“Where is the dessert? I want something sweet.” Jeremy said out loud from his chair. Conner sat next to him, caressing his belly. “My cub wants dessert.”

“Dessert time!” The kids screamed excitedly, and soon, dessert was served. The rest of the day went by fast, but it was fun to spend Sunday with my family again. To add to that, Bunny kept sneaking flirty glances at me, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to kiss him again.

THIRD PERSON

Keegan thought their kitchen moment was a secret between them, but little did he know the sound they heard outside had come from one of the Beackmans. And as soon as everyone had gone back to their bedrooms, a message came from a certain group chat.

PROJECT KEENY

Emil                              10:20 PM

OMG! IT WORKED

Owen                              10:21 PM

What worked?

Emil                              10:21 PM

Papa’s dish-washing plan.

Maverick                        10:21 PM

What?

Papa                               10:21 PM

Oh my god/dess. I didn’t think it would.

Jeremy                           10:22 PM

Can someone explain what is happening?

Emil                              10:22 PM

Papa asked Bunny and Keegan to wash the dishes.

Maverick                        10:22 PM

And?

Emil                              10:23 PM

And I went to leave something in the kitchen, but I saw them KISSING!

MY BEST FRIEND AND MY BROTHER KISSING.

Jeremy                           10:23 PM

OH!

Papa                               10:23 PM

I knew they did something. 

Conner                           10:24 PM

They kissed, so what now?

Cecil                               10:24 PM

Now we just wait and see.

And leave it all to Keegan.