“All's good. I’m probably just tired.” I wanted to believe him, but we barely knew one another. I had no reason to mistrust his words, but something told me it was more than that.
“I’ll get you home then...eventually. This parking lot is not ideal.”
“Thanks. And thank you for the cotton candy. I forgot how much I loved it.”
“That’s all for you.” I clicked on the blinker. “I’m sweet enough.”
“You kind of really are.”
He wasn’t begging me to Take me home and bang me. Or announcing I can’t wait for you to claim me. But it would do.
It had to.
The way he was acting, I needed something to hold on to.
13
Corey
Sitting in my favorite coffee shop waiting for Gabe, I eyed the cakes in the display case. So many to choose from, and I wondered if I ordered one of each whether they’d fill the hole inside me.
I was still staring at cupcakes with swirls of pink icing when a hand waved in front of me. “Earth to Corey. Come in, please.”
“Hi.” I stood awkwardly and hugged him.
“Have you ordered?” Gabe asked.
“Nah, I was waiting for you.”
A waiter took our order and Gabe raised a brow as I asked for a slice of chocolate cake, a brownie, and Irish coffee macaroons along with a large coffee. His eyes darted around the shop and he leaned over. “You’re not…”
He left the unfinished sentence hanging in the air.
“Not what?” But my eyes were on the waiter who was taking his time. I needed a sugar hit and I needed it now.
“Corey, eyes here.” My gaze fell on my best friend, his dancing eyes accompanying a dazzling smile. “You didn’t tell me. Is that what this is about?” He bunched a fist and shoved it in his mouth. “It’s so cute.”
I gulped a mouthful of coffee as soon as the waiter put it in front of me and instantly regretted it as it burned my throat and tongue. “Gabe, I love you dearly, but you’ll have to translate. I’m not in the mood to figure out what you’re saying.” The last few words were muffled as I stuffed a macaroon in my mouth.
“You’re eating for two.”
After wiping my mouth with a napkin, I brushed crumbs off my lap and said, “Huh?”
“You didn’t tell me you’d done the deed.”
“The what?” I slapped the side of my head hoping it’d improve my comprehension.
“Had. Sex,” he mouthed.
“I haven’t had sex in months!” As the other patrons turned their heads to look at me, I cringed, thinking I should have lowered my voice and not announced it to the world.
“Poor you. I have a nephew who’d be perfect for you,” said an elderly woman at the next table.
I mumbled my thanks and turned my attention to Gabe. “What makes you think I’ve slept with anyone… with Bryce?”
“Your pale cheeks and that you invited me for coffee in the middle of a work day.” He picked up the brownie and took a bite.
“Hey,” I grabbed it out of his hands. “Order your own comfort food.” I shoved the rest in my mouth and glared at him, mouth bulging with chocolatey goodness.
“So you’re not pregnant?”
I’d learned my lesson and whispered, “Pregnant? No!”
“Then what is it?” He grabbed my free hand and squeezed it.
“It’s Bryce. Or perhaps it’s me.” After relating our carnival experience, including the cell phone buzzing from his pocket every two minutes, Gabe's response was, “Awww. He’s scared of heights and gets sick on the tilt-a-whirl? Poor Bryce. But did you get a photo on the carousel? I'd love to see it if you did.”
“That’s what you got from what I told you. A pic of us bobbing up and down on pink horses?”
Gabe shrugged. “He’s an expert marksman who shoots wooden ducks and hits a bullseye?”
“Not that. The last part.” I took a bite of the cake without waiting for his answer.
“He’s busy at work. So? Not a big deal. Would you expect him to lounge about all day?”
“No, but…”
“He made a huge sacrifice for you, Corey. Did things that terrified him and made him sick. He wouldn’t do that for just anyone.”
“Exactly, but while he was being spun around on a freaking ride with me, he was neglecting his… claw. How can I ask him to give up that to be with me, to love and to hold, in sickness and in health… and mate with me?”
Gabe shifted his chair closer to me. “Juggling, Corey. Everyone does it. And if an alpha is unhappy in his personal life, that’s not fair to his claw. And they won’t function as a group, and who knows what the outcome would be if that happened.”
Finishing off my coffee, I tapped my fingers on the table trying to figure out a solution.
“You know what might help?”
“What? I’m all ears.”
“S.E.X.”
I jerked my head at the woman at the next table. “Right then. I’ll get the nephew’s number and we’ll have at it.”
“Stop it, Corey.” Gabe steepled his fingers. “You’ve found your mate, and I figure if you have sex, it’ll release some of the goddamned tension you’ve got bottled inside you.”
“One ride on a carousel as we make eyes at one another doesn’t make for a relationship.”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about sleeping with him.”
“Of course I have. I’ve imagined his cock countless times. I’m sure it’s freaking huge.” Gabe sniggered and took a sip of coffee. Fuck! Did I say that out loud? Really loud? I hunched over and refused to look at the other patrons.
“Go to him. Talk this out.”
Despite being around Brad and other shifters, I was shy about approaching Bryce. I was human and he wasn’t. It might not be possible to bridge the gap.
“Take him something sweet.”
“I’m not enough?”
“To eat, silly.”
“Again, I’m not enough?” I sassed.
Gabe giggled. “You’re so bad.” He got up and inspected the cakes. “The cheesecake looks appetizing, and I have it on good authority you adore cheesecake. Take two large pieces.”
“We might need more. You know how I get when I’m anxious.”
“Two, Corey. You don’t want to throw up on the guy.”
“Good thinking.”
Gabe gave me Bryce’s address and told me to go, he’d pay. But as I raced out the door, Gabe’s voice rose above the chatter in the coffee shop when the waiter presented him with the check. “How much?”
Oops. That chocolate cake was expensive.
Bryce lived on the second floor of an older apartment building. It probably had large rooms, high ceiling, and detailed cornices. But his office was below his home on the first floor, so there would be no need to take the stairs. I hesitated when I reached his office door. What if he considered this a huge invasion of privacy?
Summoning my courage, I pressed the buzzer. The door was flung open and Bryce appeared with a phone in his hand. “Hi.”
“Corey. This is a nice surprise.” He reached out and stroked my arm.
I shoved the box at him. “I bought you something.”
There were greasy fingerprints on the cardboard and the ribbon which the barista had carefully tied around it was in my car. Bryce peered inside. “One half-eaten piece of cheesecake. How thoughtful.”
“I ate the first one on the way over and couldn’t resist starting on the second,” I admitted.
“Is this a human tradition I’m not aware of?”
“Nerves.”
“Good to know. I’ll remember to keep a stash of cheesecake in my fridge for when you’re jittery.”
His words sank in. His fridge in his apartment. He expected me to be in his place. Maybe not just visiting. “Can I come in? We can share what’s left of the cheesecake.”
14
Bryce
I had a great time.
/>
That was my text to Corey. I didn’t know what I was hoping for in return, but a thumbs-up was not it.
I hit speed dial for Iver and two rings in, he picked up. “Alpha.”
“Tell me what to do.” Because I sure as shit didn’t have an idea. Things had been going so well and then poof—not well at all.
“Vacuum the hallway.”
“No, dumbass, I mean about my mate.” Which from the lilt in his voice, he knew. “It’s all your fault I’m in this predicament in the first place.” Which I really owed him on. If it weren’t for him I might not have ever met him. Sure, he was connected to Brad’s mate, but Brad and I weren’t what you’d call friends, our relationship more business than anything else, so the odds of us crossing paths because of him, at least in the near future, were not great.
“You’re welcome,” Smug jerk. “When an alpha and an omega like each other, they show that—” Oh no, he was not having a sex talk with me. Nope. Nope. Nope.
“Shut it.” I sighed. “You know what I mean. I sent him a message and he sent me a thumbs-up and nothing more.”
“Oh,” I could almost feel him going into best friend mode at that one syllable. “Didn’t you say he hates phones?”
“I mean he hated that I used mine our entire first date, sure, but I’m not sure he’s phone averse.” He used one for the app so he didn’t hate hate them—though I couldn’t recall seeing his when we were out. But then again, I wasn’t exactly looking for it either.
“Did you try calling him?” No. Because that would’ve been too simple.
“Not yet.” There was something about calling that had my heart beating faster in my chest. He didn’t like that I ignored him for my phone—shit—the text message...did he think I texted other omegas or maybe he was just part of my random streams of messaging during my coffee time?
“That might be a start, and take him out on a nice date.” Date. I could do that. We had fun at the carnival, or at least I thought we did. In hindsight I wasn’t exactly sure. “Humans like that shit,” Iver agreed.
“How do you know? The only time you spend off shifter land is when you come to my private office. And you don’t socialize with anyone human.” And for someone who wanted me to date regardless of their kind, he was the pot calling the kettle, for sure.
“Because I watch Shifter World.” And by socialize I meant naked fun. He had no problems chilling at the bar with other shifters, but he never took humans home. And Shifter World, sure, that made him an expert on humans. “You should too. It might be stupid, but it is a decent blueprint of what humans think they want from us.” What they think they want from us in a hypothetical ‘we aren’t real’ kind of a way.
“So dinner?” Not that our first dinner date had gone well. Not really.
“I don’t know. Find something romantic to do. Maybe something with flowers.” I picked up my pen and scribbled flowers on the note pad.
“Anything else you can think of?”
“Got a pen?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.” I had it poised and ready to go.
“G. O. O. G.—” Google. He was telling me to look it up. He was worse than my elementary teacher who spelled ‘dictionary’ every time someone asked her how to spell a word.
“You’re the worst friend ever.” I crossed out the beginnings of google.
“Naw, you love me.”
We said our goodbyes and I looked up romantic dates.
Mostly it said things like bring flowers or chocolates, open doors, compliment them, message them just to say you are looking forward to it, and things like that. A few of them were over the top and would only get me in deep water. I was pretty sure jumping straight to the ‘I booked us a week’s vacation at an undisclosed location’ wouldn’t help my case along.
Next I looked up romantic date locations near me and this was where Google started drinking. Sure, five-star restaurants held potential, but strip batting cages? That would only be romantic for the right person, and given what little I knew of Corey, he wasn’t him. By the time someone buzzed at my door, I had a list of shitty ideas and no real plan.
Hope began to grow as his scent hit me a mere second before I opened the door and saw him standing there. “Hi.”
“Corey. This is a nice surprise.” I reached out, needing his touch, grazing his arm gently with my free hand. Why was I still holding the stupid phone?
He shoved the box he was holding at me. “I bought you something.”
There were greasy fingerprints on the cardboard as I opened it to peer inside. “One half-eaten piece of cheesecake. How thoughtful.” Not that I’d turn it down. He brought me something, half-eaten or not. He came here with a gift.
“I ate the first one on the way over and couldn’t resist starting on the second,” he admitted.
“Is this a human tradition I’m not aware of?” Because I was there for it. The aroma of the confection had me wanting to take a bite right then and there, myself.
“Nerves,” he confessed, lowering his eyes slightly.
“Good to know. I’ll remember to keep a stash of cheesecake in my fridge for when you’re jittery.”
“Can I come in? We can share what’s left of the cheesecake.” I stood out of his way and he walked inside. I clicked the app on my phone and the door closed and locked, that was my favorite part of the blasted thing. There were days I kept it off, but when I wanted to be left alone, I turned it on and—locked.
“Your phone works the door?”
“Yeah, it’s a security app—think garage door opener but inside.” I walked over and set the cheesecake and phone on my desk. “You look handsome.” Romantic, just like the interwebs said.
“I look like a ball of nerves wrapped in—I’m sorry.” He bit his bottom lip—like I wasn’t already hard enough as it was. I wanted to close the distance between us and nibble on it myself.
“You never need to be nervous around me.” I wanted to wrap my arms around him, let him feel the comfort in my touch, the comfort that comes from a mate’s warmth, but he was human and I’d already messed things up enough for one lifetime, not that I wasn’t going to mess up again.
“Even when I’m the one in the wrong?” His eyes fell. What could he possibly think he’d done?
“I’m not sure what you were wrong about, but given I’ve messed up pretty much everything since we met, trust me, you’re good.”
“That’s just it...our date. It was fun and then I got all in my head when I saw your phone and—people count on you. They need you. Where does that leave me? But really that’s selfish and wrong and I’m sorry I ruined the end of our night.” He was talking a mile a minute in hushed tones, and as his explanation started to make sense, I finally got it—finally understood what had him so off on our way home. He thought I didn’t have a place for him in my life—not a real one, one he was worthy of. My heart broke a little. This was my fault and I needed to make it right.
“I almost killed a man—you’re good.” I tried to lighten the mood, confident it wasn’t close to enough to make things better, but unsure how else to begin. “Promise, I was worse,” he looked up at me with a weak smile. It was something. “And besides—I gave you every reason to think they were more important than anything, and I won’t lie, my claw is important but never more important than you.” And truer words were never spoken. Did we have things to figure out? Absolutely. Did I for even one second question his place by my side? Absolutely not.
“But they need you to be. You’re their Alpha.”
“And if you let me, I’ll be yours too.” I opened my arms and he took a step, not completely closing the distance but close.
“I see what you did there.” He leaned into me. “The whole uppercase-lowercase A thing with your title. You’re their uppercase Alpha but if I let you in, you’ll be my lowercase alpha.” I loved the way he put it. Never thought of it like that. Never had the opportunity.
He reached over and picked up the cheesecake box and knocked the
pad of paper I was writing on on the floor.
“I got it.” He shoved the cheesecake at me, mumbling something about it being his fault and beat me to the paper.
“Romantic ideas?” he asked as he righted himself.
“I was going to woo you and all that human stuff.” I half shrugged.
“I think we can consider that accomplished just by this,” he tapped the paper. “I think that all that’s left is one of those kisses that takes my breath away and has me lifting my back foot up like in the old movies.”
“If I kiss you, that’s not the only thing that’s going to be up,” I sassed as I set the cheesecake on the desk.
“That ship has sailed,” he teased back as he threw himself at me, his lips crashing into mine, and all was right in my world.
15
Corey
Bryce’s tongue flicked at mine, and I returned the favor by curling around his like two mythical serpents battling to the death. Little death, or petit mort as the French referred to an orgasm, was appropriate.
His hands were squeezing my ass, stroking my hip, pulling me close toward him while his fingers trailed over my arm. My head was buzzing, and it was as though he was doing all those things at once. How many hands does this guy have?
We were generating so much heat, sweat trickled down my spine and into my briefs, mingling with the slick that was already coating my ass. If we didn’t fuck, I’d have to jerk off as soon as I got outside. More than once as pent-up passion had my body aching.
Bryce pulled away, and his eyes went to my crotch. The bulge in my pants mirrored the one in his. His kiss and the frenzied groping had squeezed the oxygen out of my lungs, and I gulped mouthfuls of air.
“Corey…”
“Bryce, I’m so turned on I don’t want to hear anything other than you want to fuck me.” My words smacked him in the face and he raised one brow. And he grinned. Nah, that was a smirk. The smirk of a guy who wanted to fuck and was now certain I wanted to follow through. And I was and did. And that was the face of a man who knew what was coming. Was my self-satisfied expression the same as his? Because my dick was begging to be let out.
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