by Alice Shaw
Summer Love: A Non-Shifter Omegaverse M/M Mpreg Romance
Alice Shaw
Contents
Alice Shaw
Prologue: Riley
1. Holden
2. Riley
3. Holden
4. Riley
5. Holden
6. Riley
7. Holden
8. Riley
9. Holden
10. Riley
11. Holden
12. Riley
13. Holden
14. Riley
15. Holden
16. Riley
17. Holden
18. Riley
19. Holden
20. Riley
21. Holden
Epilogue: Ethan
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22. Piper
23. Cole
24. Piper
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Copyright © 2018 by Alice Shaw
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Alice Shaw
To read more of my novels, click HERE!
Blurb
It started as a fleeting moment, but it turned into the summer of their lives
In every alpha's life there is an omega he'll never forget, and a summer where it all started. For Riley, that began with a young man who was desperate for a change. As soon as Riley saw that omega’s royal blue eyes, pink lips, and smooth skin, he was head over heels.
Alpha Riley was starting over in the freshly built town of Belleview Bay. His criminal past was something he just wanted to leave behind completely. All he aspired to do was open his very own restaurant. To move on. Too bad he didn’t have a cent to his name.
Omega Holden never believed in love, but he sure did believe in fate. At his core, he was a dream chaser. His parents, however, owned a family business, and they weren’t so keen on letting him leave.
Destined for something greater, he placed his things into a bag and left home for good. Within weeks, he was sh*t out of luck. With nowhere to turn, he was ready to give up. That is, until he saw Riley.
They both yearned for the unattainable. Alone, success felt impossible. But together, they could have had it all: Love, adoration, and a darling baby to complete their family.
Summer Love is a full-length gay second chance romance novel. It is 52,000 words. This book contains hot and sexy scenes, emotional moments full of desire, and a beautiful baby to fill your hearts with love. This mpreg book is meant for 18+ readers.
For my grandfather. You inspired me to follow my heart. You taught me how to dream. I’ll always remember the nights we talked for hours.
Alice
Prologue: Riley
“Please answer,” I whispered. “Fuck!”
I paced around my trailer, erratic and full of fear. This can’t be happening. This can’t be fucking happening!
I didn’t want to lose him. No, I couldn’t lose him. Not after all we’ve been through.
I knew what he’d say if he did. He’d tell me never to call him again. His voice would resonate angrily, sending me further into despair.
I thought I was doing the right thing. I believed that Holden would come back. But as soon as my omega left, I knew our Summer love was over.
I couldn’t do it, this love bullshit. It hurt too much. I collapsed against the wall, fists clenched. A furious rage ran through me. Suddenly, I got the urge to break everything in sight. The painful, aching grief seemed to consume my very being.
I wound back and screamed as loud as I could. “FUCK!” I slammed my fist into the wall, breaking right through the wood.
Sure, the pain in my hand was throbbing. But it was nothing in comparison to the pain that I felt inside my heart.
I clicked my phone off. There was no point in talking to him. He despised me. Hell, I couldn’t blame him. I fucked everything up to the point of no return.
I remembered when I first saw him, crying in the parking lot of Belleview Bay. He was leaning against his truck, nearly falling to the curb, the sun beating on down on his silky dark hair.
At that moment, he looked into my eyes. We understood each other, even if the moment was fleeting. I wanted to protect him. I felt the clawing urge to hold him in my arms, even though he was a complete stranger. I knew that I had to help him, but I had no idea how.
But then, things fell into place. Without speaking too many words, we comforted each other. We made life feel normal, even if it was only for one brief moment.
“I need him,” I finally admitted. I needed him more than I thought I would. I thought I was strong, but I was weaker than ever. Without him by my side, I felt completely vulnerable.
It wasn’t him who needed protection. It was me. And in the dead of night, I felt that cold hard truth pulse through me. Now that he was gone, I would have to live with the pain forever.
Now that he was gone…
Did he really leave for good? When he walked out the front door, I thought he might turn back and run into my arms. Of course, he didn’t. That’s why I was strewn across the floor, eyes strained from all the crying.
An alpha should stick by his omega, but I just let him walk away because I knew I wasn’t worth a penny in this place. I couldn’t be his man. I couldn’t even admit to him how much he meant.
So, I let it all go. In the darkness of that horrible night, I allowed the idea of him to fall from my mind. I would move on and forget the moments we shared together.
But I’d remember the feeling he gave me forever.
Chapter One
Holden
The summer wind rushed down my cheeks, shoulders, down my back. Pure grade muscle supported my weight underneath the cold dirt. I was a rider. I would always be a rider. Not professionally. But it was my passion.
The summer wind flowed through my hair, and I felt just happy. I was happy to be alive. To be free.
That’s the way it was at the ranch with my horse, Sonny. I was free. We were.
But then I grew up. I lost grips on myself. I spent too much time thinking there’d be someone special. I wanted to find a different me.
There’s nothing as special as a cool summer breeze rushing down your back. And the way it makes you feel is freer than eve—
“Sir.” The sound of an old man’s voice pried my eyes open. When I saw the man peering above me, I had to react quickly. He was wearing a navy blue outfit, but it was entirely unlike the ones they sell at the department stores all around Middle America.
“Sorry,” I immediately said, finally focusing in on his silver badge. Then, eyeing the torn fabric of the inside of my truck, I sighed.
“You can’t sleep here. Didn’t you read the signs?”
Yeah, I read them. Right before I fell asleep, I read those fucking signs. I was tired of the damned signs. I was tired of having no place to go.
The signs were propped up into the grass all around me. But I was miles away from nowhere. And honestly, the view of the bay wasn’t half bad during the sunset. I was wandering away from the town I once loved and cherished, but that seemed okay.
For me, it was a necessity. I needed to see the world, needed to experience all that it could offer me. Once I did that, I could figure out what I was going to do with my life. I c
ouldn’t rely on my family forever. I was already in my mid-twenties.
I could become something different. I could be somebody or in somebody’s arms or lost in a city or… who cares where I ended up? Does it even matter? I’d be somewhere else, and that would be good enough.
Nowhere to go. Nothing to lose. All I had was my truck and the desire to start something new.
With no money and no direction, I had one destination. Outward. To find my omega self. But I missed my family. I missed my friends. I really missed my horse at the ranch. Sonny…
I looked at the officer earnestly and apologized. I wasn’t trying to break the rules. I was being an ass. I should have known better.
“Sorry. The rules were clear. I’ll try to do better next time,” I said, hanging my head. I prayed that he wouldn’t give me a ticket, but I assumed he would.
The emotions pushed against the inside of my chest. I barely had the strength to keep moving, but every so often, something carried me forward. Maybe it was my grandmother. Maybe it was just the wind. She always understood me. In so many ways, she raised me better than my actual parents.
“What is the point of all this?” I thought to myself. I glanced at the officer’s eyes. They were dark and cold, and lacking any empathy at all. I knew there was something there, but he wouldn’t lower himself down to my level. He was supposed to be above that. Beyond what kind of a person I was.
“We have rules for a reason. Vagrants like you devalue the area. If I were you, I’d find another city to sleep in,” he said.
I tried not to break down because I knew there were good people out there. There had to be people who were charitable and kind.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t met any of those people on this trip. I thought it was going to be different on the road, but I quickly realized just how harsh people could be when given the chance.
“Thanks,” I replied, dusting my jeans off and scrunching my hair with my palm. The sun was hot here. I was burning up. And the way this cop looked at me made me sweat even harder.
The officer made no reply, but I didn’t expect him to say anything. I was a pathetic omega. I was scrawny and forgiving. Fuck him.
He just scribbled on that multi-layered piece of paper. The one that’s firmly rooted in a dirty case that’s been used for far too long. Finally, he swiped the paper in the air as if it were a magic trick. He handed me the ticket.
“Hundred and fifty dollar fine,” he said, without evening blinking. Fuck.
There was no more explanation. Though, I began pleading for him to drop the charges. “You don’t know where this puts me. Please, I can leave. I’ll go anywhere. A hotel, a different city… I’ll go.”
I begged, tears slowly falling down my cheeks. “You don’t know what this is going to do to me.”
Ruined. Broken. Angry. Confused, but not lost. I knew where I was going. I was going home. I failed.
“Son, are you as dense as a hunk of metal? Do you need me to take you in? Now, I told you. There are signs up and down this whole block. You see here?” He pointed fiercely with his pen at a sign that was clearly marked.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Okay, I understand.”
He didn’t need to explain anything further. I was screwed. Got it. I would have to drive back home, and maybe panhandle for some extra change to buy some gas. Maybe, if I was lucky, I could sneak a candy bar. I hated feeling like a vagrant because my father taught me better. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like one.
I walked for miles in the bay’s city, if you could call it a city. There wasn’t much besides a few empty buildings. The small concrete caskets loomed over the people that walked with a slow pace. The smell of fragrances leaked out from the department stores. Precious people posed with their designer bags, aptly avoiding any uncertain interaction.
I didn’t fit in here. But why would I try to?
After about an hour, I made my way back to my truck. I smiled at the thought of being away. Even with that jerkoff’s ticket, I felt happy in that single moment.
Except, when I got there, I felt the weight of the world hit me straight in the throat. On the wheel of my truck, a yellow clasp, forced onto the wheel. The gut-wrenching anger and sadness pulsed through me until finally, I exploded.
“Fuck!” I screamed, punching in the front of the vehicle. I fell to the sidewalk, tears in my eyes. The metal was dented, but barely visible. My hand, on the other hand, throbbed with pain. A small amount of blood spilled onto the pavement.
It was over. This trip was finished. I’d have to move back home for sure now. I’d have to leave my truck here too. There was no way I could afford the payment for the ticket and the clasp. That cop had done sealed the deal. Game fucking over.
If I came back home, I’d be back in that house with my parents again. Without a doubt, I’d get the standard lecture about how I screwed-up. They’d be subtle, but they would resort to worse words over time. My older brother would give me that long glare, the one that reeked of disappointment.
I was disappointing. But I didn’t care. I played by a different set of rules. The rules of the ‘I’m screwed, and I need to call my parents for help’ game.
A certain light glowed. I felt the wind shift. Heard it too. Seemingly out of nowhere, I felt a warm hand press calmly against my shoulder. I gave into the touch, falling backwards against a man, clearly an alpha’s weight.
“Hey, are you okay?” I saw his eyes. His deep and mysterious eyes. The eyes that say, “I’ve done something before. Forgive me.”
I could only look so long, so I turned away. My embarrassment and guilt got the best of me. I turned around, tears drying around my cheeks and upper lip.
I looked like a total wreck, but the man in front of me was like a rugged beast that cared. I gulped down, trying my hardest to feel normal. I nodded my head, robotically.
“Yes, I’m okay. Sorry, I normally don’t cry.” I cleared my throat, anxiously. I only cried sometimes. Lately… well, I cried a little every night.
Our eyes locked together for what felt like minutes. I felt my body turn way too hot. From the angle I was looking at, I felt small. Maybe a little vulnerable, but mostly just dumb. I didn’t dare move, but the man simply lifted me up, practically into his arms.
“There you go. It’s okay. I promise. Everything is going upward,” he said. His voice was deep, but it wasn’t booming. It was calming and creamy, and as raw as you’d ever want it to be. He was someone I felt I could know for a while.
“Upward?” I mumbled the question. Everything is going upward.
“Up. Like the sky. Shit. I mean good, okay? Everything is going to be alright. Like that song,” he said.
“The song…” I held my head in my hands, but I kept my eye on him.
“Bob Dyl-“
“Marley,” I jumped in to save him from embarrassment.
“What?” he asked.
“It’s Bob Marley. Don’t worry ‘bout a thing. That’s Bob Marley,” I said.
“That’s what I said,” he muttered
“Fuck,” I whispered, shaking my head. I had to laugh a little. I didn’t want to feel good yet. I wanted to ease into the addiction of pain.
Life had been hard these three weeks, and I had a feeling it was only going to get harder from here.
I was a target, in heat and far too ready. I never wanted to shout that out to the world. I wanted to keep that side of me locked away for good. I didn’t need to fall into someone, or lock our bodies. I couldn’t be a father. For fuck’s sake. No one could these days.
I think the man could sense it. The trembling in my voice, the redness in my cheeks – I just reeked of an omega. Did I want him to know? Did I want to know more about his, well, alpha.
Luckily, he was the most handsome alpha I had ever seen, even if he was a complete stranger. That was the first thing that I noticed about him. He had deep and penetrating eyes. Unwavering eyes. Eyes you could get lost in forever.
My clot
hes were torn, my bags were covered with dirt, but this man didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t look away from my face. I knew he was listening, or at the very least, offering me some support.
My eyes wandered toward the crook of his neck, trailing down to his clavicle. He was more than good looking. He was built to last. Or maybe he was a criminal. He could have been a hero too. Both scenarios made me wonder: what was he doing here?
The man glanced back at the idle police vehicle. The cop was still eyeing both of us, but his demeanor changed. The man turned and ignored him. He kneeled down in front of me with an empathetic look in his eyes.
“Whatever it is that you’re going through, it can clear up. You can make it through this,” he said, still looking at the cop.
They were cheesy lines, but he sold them. In a way, I needed to be told what to do. I thought I knew it all, but I needed some guidance. “But how?” I asked.
I made a choice, so I left. Ever since I leaned into my twenties, they had been waiting for me to help with the family business. The ranch. The cattle. Being an outsider.
I couldn’t do it. I never wanted that type of life. I watched too many movies, and I knew there was someone out there that would push me and show me a better path. The only problem was that I was never given a chance to figure out who I actually was.
“Real people” had normal families. They sat down during the holidays and smiled, cutting the turkey while discussing their hopes and dreams, or maybe some football. People gather together and bask in the beautiful memories that shaped their growth.