by D. J. Heart
“Aiden and I—” Merchant let out a snort, and Peter started over. “Aiden and I were out and we met him at a bar, and we both came on a little strong. I misjudged the situation. He wasn’t into it at all. If I fire him now it’s going to look like I’m punishing him for rejecting us.”
“So what are you asking me to do?”
It took Peter a few seconds before he realized what Merchant was insinuating.
“Fuck, no. That’s a line we’re not crossing.”
“You’re the boss,” Merchant said, like he didn’t care one way or the other. While Peter appreciated Merchant’s utter lack of morals when it came time to get things done, other times it was just disturbing. More so because there was a tiny part of Peter that was tempted to just let Merchant make the problem go away.
But there were lines Peter hadn’t let himself cross even at the start of his career, and he wasn’t going to start crossing them now.
He had more to lose than ever.
“I’ll keep him where he is for the time being. That should keep him out of trouble, at least until we get a real reason to fire him.”
“Sounds good. Was there anything else?”
Peter sighed. “No, that was it. How are things with you?”
“Can’t complain. Having more fun than you, I’d guess.”
“Watch it,” Peter warned. He could practically hear Merchant smirking.
When the cocky alpha didn’t say anything more, Peter huffed out a laugh and hung up the phone without saying goodbye. One of these days Merchant was going to piss him off for real, and that wouldn’t end well for him.
Staring at the files on his desk, Peter put thoughts of Merchant out of his mind. He wondered if he should track down Chad and apologize, but when he thought it through he couldn’t shake the feeling that doing so would be a mistake.
The best thing was to do nothing. There was every chance that making direct contact with Chad would only make things worse, and worst-case scenario it would give Chad ammunition in an eventual lawsuit against Tank Security.
Peter would just move on and pretend nothing had happened.
Content to let things be, Peter put away the files Merchant had sent him and notified HR that all the new recruits were to be offered extensions of their contracts.
It was for the best.
***
Chapter 5
Chad stroked the gleaming metal of his new bike with a reverent finger, hardly able to believe that the beauty was really his.
After spending three days wallowing and feeling like shit, his mind replaying the encounter with Peter Tank and the other asshole over and over—obsessing over the weird feeling he’d gotten in his stomach when Peter put his hand on his shoulder and wondering what the fuck it meant—Chad had pulled himself together, said fuck it, and bought himself a motorcycle.
He’d had an old Yamaha before he joined the Army, but he’d always wanted a Harley. Now that his first massive Tank Security paycheck had hit his bank account, he decided he might as well splurge.
Who cared if he’d been humiliated by a pair of uber-alpha douchebags? Not him. Riding the powerful bike back to his apartment, the vibrations traveling up his body and making his cock swell in pleasure, Chad felt like he was back to his old self.
Peter Tank could go fuck himself.
Parking his bike on the curb, Chad swung his leg over the seat and removed his helmet. A cold wind hit his face, and Chad pulled his collar up to shield his neck. Walking into the lobby of his building, he yanked off his gloves and shoved them into his helmet as the door closed behind him.
As he walked up the creaky old stairs, trying to avoid a repeat of his first day in the building when the ancient beta woman on the second floor had yelled at him for running up the stairs and making a racket, Chad wondered if he needed to get permission to park his new bike in the building parking lot, or if it was open to all residents.
He’d have to call his landlord and find out.
As he turned the corner and stepped onto the landing between the second and third floor, Chad collided with a figure almost as tall and wide as himself. Managing to stay on his feet, the alpha he’d collided with was not so lucky.
“Wow, sorry man!” Chad said, shifting his helmet to his left hand and reaching out to help the alpha to his feet.
“Fuck you!” the alpha snarled, batting his hand away. Chad growled at the disrespect from what was clearly an inferior alpha. He lifted his shoulders and bared his teeth, taking a step forward so that he was looming over the younger man.
“Excuse me?” he asked, letting his voice drop into an unnatural baritone. The alpha glared up at him and started to get up, only for Chad to push him back down with a hard kick to the chest. The alpha stayed down, his gaze on the floor.
“Look at me,” Chad ordered, pulling himself up to his full height. Knowing that he was outmatched, the alpha did as he was told. Chad crossed his arms. “Did you not hear me fucking apologize?” he asked.
“Whatever,” the alpha mumbled. He sounded embarrassed, and Chad sighed. He wasn’t the kind of alpha who challenged people for no reason, and he wasn’t going to beat up some college kid for being rude to him.
“Get up,” he ordered, stepping back. The kid rose to his feet, his movements wary like he was expecting Chad to attack at any moment. Chad huffed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”
It was the wrong thing to say. The alpha puffed up, furiously indignant, and came at Chad like he actually stood a chance. Chad evaded the attack with ease, pinning the alpha to the wall and twisting his arms behind his back all while holding onto his helmet.
“I’m going to let you go now,” Chad said, his voice pitched low. “But if you keep fighting me, I won’t hold back. Do you understand?”
After a second, the alpha nodded. Chad stepped back, releasing his hold on the alpha.
“Sorry,” the now thoroughly cowed alpha mumbled. He was looking at the ground, and Chad knew from bitter experience how humiliated he felt.
“You having a really shitty day, or are you just suicidal?” Chad asked. He made sure his body language was relaxed and nonthreatening.
“Just… shitty day, I guess.”
“Well, I hope it gets better. I’m Chad, by the way.” Chad held out his hand for a shake. The alpha stared at it for a second, then hesitantly reached out and grasped it.
“I’m Topher.”
“Nice to meet you, Topher. Do you live here in the building?”
Topher blinked, then nodded. “Yeah, on the second floor. You?”
“Just moved in a week ago,” Chad said. He let go of Topher’s hand and walked around him, figuring he should end things on a good note. He looked over his shoulder as he started walking up the stairs. “It was nice to meet you, Topher.”
The look on Topher’s face said that he didn’t quite believe that, but he didn’t argue. Chad turned back around, and was almost at the top when Topher called out.
“Hey Chad!”
Chad turned around, where Topher was looking up at him. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about… you know. Thanks for being cool about it.”
Chad couldn’t be more than two years the other alpha’s senior, but he felt older. Experienced. It was a nice contrast to how he’d felt a few nights ago.
“No problem. I appreciate the apology.”
Chad was about to turn around, thinking their interaction was over, when Topher spoke again.
“So you’re new in town?”
Chad nodded, then walked down a few steps so that Topher wouldn’t have to crane his neck so much. “Yeah. I just started working for Tank Security, and they’re headquartered here. What about you?”
“I’m finishing up my first year of grad school. I’m studying computer science.”
“That’s cool. You like it?”
Topher shrugged. “Usually. I’m having some trouble getting an internship for the summer. It kind of sucks, hence the shitty mood.�
�
Chad was a little surprised. Topher looked like a total jock, and not at all what Chad pictured when he thought computer science. He reminded himself that he shouldn’t be so quick to stereotype people.
“Well, good luck with that.” Chad said. He had no experience landing a job. He’d joined the Army and then been recruited to Tank Security.
“I’m heading out to meet some of my friends from school. You’re welcome to join us?” Topher phrased it like a question. “I’d like to buy you a beer, you know, to apologize.”
Chad studied Topher, wondering if the other alpha was coming on to him. It never would have occurred to him before meeting Peter Tank, but now he couldn’t help but wonder.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“That would be cool. Let me just put away my helmet and move my bike,” Chad said, interrupting Topher’s embarrassed apology. “Hey, do you know if I’m allowed to park my bike in the parking lot? I don’t want to get towed.”
Topher blinked, processing Chad’s acceptance of his invitation, and then he grinned. “You can, sure. Every apartment comes with a designated space. Just make sure you have a valid parking sticker.”
Chad frowned. He wondered where the hell he was supposed to get that. He’d rented the apartment via an ad online, and he’d picked up the key at the airport. Maybe the property manager had the parking sticker?
“You can borrow mine, if you don’t have one. I don’t drive,” Topher offered. Chad brightened. That would work.
“Thanks, Topher. How about you get that and meet me in the parking lot and then we’ll head out?”
Whether he was coming on to him or not, Topher was nothing Chad couldn’t deal with. And honestly, he didn’t think Topher was coming on to him. He was probably just trying to make up for his awful first impression.
“Sure. I’ll see you in a minute!” Topher took off. Chad jogged up to his apartment and put away his gloves and helmet, and then made his way down to the curb to move his bike. As he rode into the parking lot, Topher was standing there waiting for him, sticker in hand.
Once he had his bike securely parked, he and Topher headed off.
***
Topher was meeting his friends at a bar a few blocks away from the university, close enough that he and Chad could walk there. As they stepped inside, Topher shot him a nervous glance out of the corner of his eye.
Chad could see why. This wasn’t his crowd at all. Everyone from the alphas crowded around the pool table in the back to the bespectacled betas sitting at the table by the window were obviously college students, and Chad stood out like a sore thumb. Four years in the military had left their mark, both in terms of his overall bulk and in his bearing.
“The beer here is actually pretty good,” Topher said, leading Chad past the bar and toward the back. “And it’s cheap, so you get a lot of students here.”
“It’s nice,” Chad said, not commenting on the fact that the pool tables looked like they had been placed there ironically more than anything else. He hated pretentious irony.
“Topher, you made it,” one of the alphas said, stepping away from the table and coming to stand between Chad and Topher and the rest of the group. He was obviously the leader of the little gang, and Chad hoped he wasn’t going to start anything.
“Yeah, sorry I’m late. This is Chad. He just moved into my building. Chad, this is Blake, Noah, Spike, and David. They’re all in my graduate program, except Blake. He’s in the police academy.”
“Nice to meet you, Chad,” Blake said. They shook hands, both of them gripping too tight as they maintained eye contact. As far as Chad could tell, he and Blake were about equally dominant, and they were both in excellent shape.
“You too. So you’re training to be a cop?” Chad crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring how nervous Topher suddenly looked.
“Yes. What about you?”
“Private contractor,” Chad said.
Blake nodded, a tense silence overtaking the group as the two of them continued staring at each other. Chad was startled when a sarcastic voice piped up from behind Blake.
“Would it hurry things along if you both got your dicks out to see whose knot was bigger?”
“Noah!” With a furious glare, Blake rounded on the man who’d spoken.
“What? Did I misread that? I’m sorry,” Noah ducked his head, looking anything but.
Chad couldn’t help but laugh. Noah was a ballsy little fucker. Chad could respect that. Blake turned away from Noah and leveled Chad with a flat look, but the aggression and tension from a second ago was gone.
“I’m going to get us some beers,” Topher piped up, obviously relieved that Blake and Chad hadn’t come to blows. “What can I get you, Chad?”
“Whatever you’re having is fine. I’m not picky,” Chad said. He dug into his pocket and fished out a twenty, trying to give it to Topher, but the alpha waved him away and headed to the bar. Chad watched him go and then turned back to Blake.
“So how do you know Topher?” the cop-in-training asked.
“I don’t, really. We just ran into each other on the stairs and got to talking. It was nice of him to invite me to come out with him.”
Blake smiled. “That’s Topher, always being friendly.”
Chad shrugged, not knowing Topher well enough to know if the comment was sarcastic or not. He suspected the former.
“So are you guys playing or is this thing just for show?” Chad asked, changing the subject. Blake’s eyes lit up at the implied challenge.
“We play. How about you?”
“I play,” Chad said, grabbing a cue stick from the rack by the wall and chalking the tip. He shot Blake his best cocky grin as Noah readied the balls.
“Well, show us what you’ve got,” Blake answered with a grin of his own.
It was on.
By the time Topher made it back with the drinks, Chad and Blake were entirely focused on their game. Chad took his beer with a quiet thanks, watching Blake through narrowed eyes as the alpha landed a shot that Chad never would have been able to make.
“You’re good,” Chad conceded, knowing that there was no way he was going to win the game. Blake shrugged and smirked, stepping back to allow Chad his turn.
He might not be able to win, but Chad wasn’t going to give it anything but his best effort. His pride demanded it.
***
Chad and Blake played two rounds, Blake winning both, after which Noah and Topher each tried and failed to beat the reigning champion. By the time Spike and David had their turns, everyone was well and truly drunk.
Chad couldn’t remember how they ended up talking about it, but eventually the conversation veered toward what he’d experienced with Peter Tank and his friend Aiden.
“No, no… they were coming onto me. Like… they were into me,” Chad explained to Topher, his voice low and intense. Topher looked horrified.
“Are you sure, though? They could have been messing with you. I just don’t get why they’d be hitting on another alpha,” he said, his voice incredulous.
Blake, listening in on the conversation, snorted and turned to Topher with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe because they’re gay? It’s not exactly unheard of.”
“Yeah, but Chad said that they were like… uber-alphas. An alpha like that wouldn’t be gay, right?” Topher asked, like he wanted to be reassured.
“Not how it works,” Blake lectured, his voice slightly slurred, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe the stupidity he was dealing with. “Some alphas like other alphas. Doesn’t have anything to do with how dominant they are or how much ass they can kick. It’s just the way some guys are built.”
“And thank fucking God, is what I say,” Noah interrupted, yelling the words out so that the whole bar could hear him. “The more alphas there are who want to bone each other, the more omegas there will be for the rest of us.”
“Cheers to that!” Blake lifted his glass and took a deep swig.
�
�As long as they don’t hit on me,” Topher mused. He looked like he found the whole idea of gay alphas disquieting.
Chad couldn’t help but share his trepidation. He emptied his glass and went to the bar to get another.
He was way too drunk to be thinking about Peter Tank.
***
Chapter 6
Chad woke up on the floor with a massive hangover and missing both his socks. Since his boots were lying haphazardly by the door a few feet to his left, he wasn’t too worried about their loss.