Sweet Success: East Coast Sugar Daddies: Book 2

by Bates, Austin

  Here, you couldn’t see the stars. You couldn’t stop and loiter unless you were at a park.

  My heart aching for home, I stepped under the diner’s neon sign and opened the door. A bell chimed over the door and someone inside called out a soft greeting. I muttered, “Hi,” and looked around.

  Joe’s Grill was a classic diner, with 80’s inspired décor that never fell out of fashion. The floor was chess-patterned, black and white diamonds, and the walls were cluttered with posters and other memorabilia. Right across from the door, where I stood, was the bar counter, lined with stools, with the kitchen just beyond that. To the right was a series of booths and, as I looked over in that direction, I saw a few customers slouched over food served in paper-lined baskets.

  “Theo!”

  I snapped my head up and whirled to face Aaron as he stood up from his table in the back corner of the diner. I opened my mouth to say hi and had all the breath crushed out of my lungs as he barreled into me and grabbed me in a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you!” he said. “I can’t wait to catch up.”

  I froze in his grasp, my sinuses stinging with the pressure of oncoming tears. We were both omegas, but he was taller and broader than me and his hug felt so nice. His arms were strong, his presence solid, his body warm. I sank into his embrace and lifted my arms to hug him back, squeezing until he grunted and squirmed to get away. I wasn’t done, but I probably wouldn’t ever have been done, so I let go of him.

  “Hey, are you crying?” Aaron frowned. “Did I hug too hard?”

  I sniffed. “No, I’m just happy to see you. I didn’t realize how much I missed you.”

  “Now kiss,” muttered someone sitting at a table.

  I laughed and sniffed back more tears. “I’m sorry, but he’s not my type.”

  Aaron patted my shoulder. “I missed you, too. Come on. Let’s catch up. I can’t wait to hear all about your wild escapades.”

  I followed him back to his table and sat down opposite him. A waitress came over and took our order: two fries and two milkshakes, one chocolate and one strawberry. Just like the snack we used to get on hot summer days when we needed a break from playing.

  Aaron leaned over the table, his hair spilling over his shoulder. “So, come on. Spill the beans. What’ve you been up to?”

  I lowered my head and picked up the salt shaker, rolling it back and forth between my hands. “To be honest, I’ve been so busy just with classes. It’s way more intense than anything I’m used to.”

  “I bet you’re kicking ass, though.”

  “They did move me to a higher level than the one I signed up for.” I smiled, a faint ghost of pleasure materializing inside me. “I’ve made a few friends, and I walk to class with one of them. My apartment’s on the way, so it makes sense, I guess. Her name’s Christie.”

  “Is she nice?”

  “I think she has little-dog syndrome, but yeah, she’s pretty nice.” I shrugged.

  “Are you working or anything?”

  I bit my tongue on my instant denial and tried to find a better way to talk about that. “Not really. Not right now. I’ve been leaning on my savings. I worked two jobs last summer and I’ve been saving up for this way before that. I…I know I’ll need to start looking soon, but I thought it was best to focus on school until I got used to being on my own.”

  The waitress came back with our fries and shakes. I pulled my strawberry shake closer and dipped a fry in. Aaron did the same. I felt suddenly tugged to the past, a memory drifting up from nowhere. The two of us at the diner, in a better time, a better place. Aaron had looked so different back then, his hair military-short and severe in contrast with a rounder, more youthful face.

  I blinked and he was himself again, 24 years old with a headful of luxurious golden locks.

  Aaron lifted his head and saw me looking at him. “What?”

  “Nothing.” I popped the dripping fry into my mouth. Salty, greasy, fatty diner fries. God, junk food was so good, so much better than beans and rice. I hurried to eat more, savoring every single bite. With my mouth full, I said, “Tell me about the project you’ve been working on.”

  His eyes lit up with excitement. “It’s a hookup app.”

  I almost spit out chewed-up fries. “What? How do you go from working at your dad’s company to doing something like that?”

  “I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse by my friend. Have I told you about Leo? We were in college together.”

  “Sounds vaguely familiar.”

  “Right, well, anyway. He and his alpha designed this dynamic dating app with a super complex, accurate algorithm. It took off so well he got the attention of an investor.” For some reason, Aaron said the word “investor” as if it tasted bad. “The investor wanted him to come over here to the east coast and redesign the app, but he refused and offered the job to me. I accepted. It’s been amazing so far. The algorithm they came up with, there’s never been anything like it before. I’m having to almost reverse-engineer it to get it to do what I want, that’s how specific it is.”

  I had almost finished my fries in the time he’d been talking. I slid my finger around the plate, gathering grains of salt. “So, this investor wanted to turn their dating app into a hookup app? Isn’t that kind of cheapening the experience?”

  Aaron shook his head. “No. I was skeptical at first too, but it makes sense. A regular dating app wouldn’t work here. See, it was originally designed just to pair older alphas and younger omegas. Kind of a ‘never too late to find love’ thing.”

  “You mean omegas our age?”

  “Approximately.”

  My head spun. I couldn’t imagine using an app like that for myself. I didn’t want a relationship right now. I didn’t want to date someone and have the rest of my life be planned out in that way.

  I didn’t want to be pregnant with a baby when I didn’t even know how to take care of myself.

  “Now the idea is that older, wealthy alphas -emphasis on wealthy- can meet up with younger omegas who want to be spoiled. A sugar daddy kind of thing, no strings attached.”

  A light went on inside my head. An older, wealthy man…

  “You said it’s going good so far?” I asked, my mouth dry.

  “Yeah, pretty much everything is going smoothly. The only thing I have trouble with is talking to Logan. The investor.” He pursed his lips.

  “You don’t sound like you like this guy at all.”

  Aaron shrugged and leaned in to sip his milkshake. “I just don’t like working with him. For him is fine. But when he comes to check on how I’m doing…Ugh.”

  I frowned. “Is he pressuring you or something?”

  “No, nothing like that! I just… Well, forget it. That’s not the important part.”

  I guessed the awkwardness between them might have something to do with a past encounter that had gone wrong. I was curious, but he was uncomfortable talking about it, so I kept my mouth shut and thought about more important things.

  The hookup app. Being spoiled by an older man. What did that mean? Money in exchange for sex? Or a lot of expensive presents? That didn’t sound like a bad thing, not at all. I could get my rent paid. I could funnel away some money in preparation for the baby.

  I’d just have to do it soon, before I started to show.

  4

  Quinton

  I took a limo to the office building where Aaron had set up operations under Logan’s guidance. For some reason, before I’d been given the location, I had assumed I’d be going to visit some grungy-looking guy in a basement apartment with bare light bulbs hanging overhead, shining on a single computer screen. That was what came to mind when I thought of young men making apps. I should have known otherwise. Even though it was a little odd for Logan to have taken such an interest in a project like this, his interest did guarantee the best of the best.

  Maybe my old friend has an ulterior motive for getting this app up and running…

  I’d looked at the information myself
and I could say that he had at least been distant enough to keep his wits about himself. This was no passion project, just a legitimate, if odd, business venture. I hoped it was everything it had promised to be.

  I entered the building and found my way to Aaron’s office. I lifted my hand to knock on the closed door when it opened out from underneath my hand. My knuckles rapped lightly on the forehead of an attractive young omega with luxurious hair.

  Aaron blinked. “Hello.”

  “Just checking for brains,” I said, casually.

  “Well, I felt them rattle around, so you’re in luck.” Aaron held out his hand. “You must be Quinton.”

  I shook his hand. His fingers were long and smooth, his skin baby-soft. They were surgeon’s hands, the hands of a person who protected their tools of the trade at all cost. “And you’re Aaron. I’m sorry about that. It’s something I do to everyone I work with.”

  He smiled and withdrew his hand. “Logan did tell me you had some interesting quirks. I think I believe him now.”

  I chuckled, finding myself already warming up to him. Other than the long hair, he didn’t fit my mental image at all of the chubby basement dwelling nerd and I was glad for it. He was handsome, with sharp eyes that seemed to miss very little, and his outfit was very nice business casual, crisp-cut jeans and a polo shirt. That, and his easy-going manner, gave me confidence in my decision to come here.

  “Let’s go inside,” Aaron said, stepping back and holding out his arm to invite me into his office. The room was small, but was made to seem more spacious by careful, tasteful arrangement of furniture. There were plants everywhere, tall green fronds and trailing ivy that draped over cabinets and down walls. I felt as if I’d walked into a jungle, the scenic kind meticulously maintained by resort owners.

  I liked it. I liked it a lot.

  Aaron and I sat down at his desk and he immediately started retrieving papers from a file in one of his drawers. There were two computer monitors on the other end of the desk, near the window, and both were covered in code and complex, almost geometric images. “Before we get started, do you want to know more about how the app is supposed to work?”

  “Like any other dating app?” I guessed.

  “Kind of. Imagine Tinder, but that the engine behind it is so strong it’s like several Tinders layered on top of each other. I have to do a lot of the information input myself right now, but each successful match gives me more data on how I can get the app to do that itself. I’ll probably always be the mediator, and I’ll probably always be doing initial interviews to keep any thieves from getting in, but eventually everything else will be handled by the algorithm itself.” Aaron folded his hands together, his eyes bright with passion. “Unlike other apps, every bit of information about you will be used. Your favorite food, where you’ve traveled to, whether you like dogs or cats best. All of it will be carefully considered to pick out a match. And I’m figuring out how to program a setting where you can get matches with people who are your opposite, if that’s what you want in a connection.”

  “That’s honestly amazing,” I admitted. “How are you going to get all of that to fit into a single app?”

  Aaron reached under his desk and patted something. His computer, I supposed. “The bulk of the work is going to be taken care of by these babies. What people download will be profile-creating and available match-ups. The rest of it, the process, will take place right here and in the cloud. Otherwise, it wouldn’t fit on a phone.”

  “I have no idea what you just said.”

  He laughed. “And that’s why I’m in charge. So, now you know how it’s going to work, but it’s not at that stage yet. For now, you can create your profile right here and I’ll be doing the match-making. It won’t take long at all. A day or so.”

  I gripped the edge of the desk, my stomach fluttering from eagerness. “Let’s do it. Sign me up.”

  Aaron turned to his computer keyboard and tapped a few buttons. One of the screens went dark, while the other was filled with a stretched image of the ECSD home menu. “We’ll have to make a username and password for you first, and then fill out all your basic information. This way, you’ll have a profile you can access when you download the phone app.”

  Signing up for the app was exactly like filling out information on any other occasion. My name, address, date of birth, and occupation were all required, plus a ton of other details that brought to mind filling out a doctor’s office form. Height, weight, activity level, and did I drink or smoke and how much on a daily basis?

  “This is important,” Aaron reassured me, even though I hadn’t complained. “Like I said, every little thing about you is going to be used.”

  “I’m not complaining.” I looked at the screen, filled with the data I had been reduced to. “I like to spend time with others. I like to spoil them. All I want is to have someone I can rely on for companionship instead of having to search and search when I feel in the mood. If this is what it takes, I’d be a fool not to do it.”

  “Well, you’ve come to the right place. Now, let’s fill out your extra information.”

  The “extra” information turned out to be even more extensive than my personal details, but I answered every question thoroughly. I understood by now that it wasn’t any one answer that would define my match, but that all would be taken into account at once.

  Aaron switched to yet another page, this one’s length somewhere between the first and second. “Now’s the fun part. You can fill these out any way you want. When it’s finished, the app will analyze key words, your writing patterns, and the language you use to find matches. Until then though, I have to do that by hand. So, tell me your answers to these questions and statements, and I’ll type them in exactly how you say it.”

  The questions ranged from what physical features did I look for most in a partner, to hypothetical date scenarios. I answered with the first thing that came to mind for each one, trusting my gut to guide me in this unfamiliar territory. I wasn’t usually so picky as to have preferences like this, especially since I spoiled not just cute omegas, but friends, relatives, and random strangers.

  In the end, the answers given by my gut boiled down to preferring to spend time with slender, fit young men in athletic careers who could have a good time while also having the ability to discuss the finer points of a concert or play they had just seen. I was not the broadest of alphas, so I would want someone slimmer than myself, preferably with light hair and dark eyes. Clean-shaven, sharper features.

  There were dozens of other small bits of nuance mixed in there, but those categories were what the app would focus on first before getting more specific.

  Aaron clicked the “approve” button and leaned back in his chair. “And now we wait for the results,” he said. “The way this works is you’re going to pick out a few who seem most promising to you, and then I’ll narrow it down to one person on my own time.”

  “Sounds fine to me. How long will we…”

  “Have to wait” was the rest of the sentence, but I didn’t get to finish because the computer flashed, the screen darkening and then brightening again, now with a small number of attractive omegas displayed on the screen.

  That was fast. Too fast. Will it slow down as the app gets more complicated, or will it keep getting faster?

  Excitement swirled around in my stomach and I leaned forward to get a better look at my prospects. Aaron turned the screen to make it easier.

  There were ten omegas listed, each shown with a profile picture and a snippet of information.

  “The information shown is directly from their profiles. It’ll change for each alpha depending on what’s most important to you.”

  I hardly heard Aaron, my pulse so fast it was a buzzing in my ears. All of the omegas were exactly as I had described. Slim, some of them with waists I could encircle with both hands, and athletic, their bodies toned and muscular without being bulky. Their occupations ranged from professional baseball player to exotic dancer; the
variety was simply astonishing, as I hadn’t considered how big the app already was in such an early stage of development. The information beside their profile pictures echoed some of the points I’d made earlier about what I preferred.

  I would have taken any of them.

  I would have taken all of them. Screw the fact that none of them had dark eyes, because I’d made physical appearance a low priority. Screw the fact that they seemed to share a proclivity for partying over more private dates. I could see myself having fun with every single one of these men.

  “Well?” Aaron urged. “Anyone specific catching your eye?”

  I pointed to three of the omegas at random, too excited to speak out loud. I felt as if I did, I might break some sort of spell and ruin everything.

  “Great! I’ll take a deeper look at them and get back to you. And here.” Aaron handed me a piece of paper with the username and password I’d chosen for the app. “This is you. You should download the app on your phone. It would be easier for me to stay in contact with you that way.”

  I tucked the paper into my pocket. “Will do.”

  “Other than that, we’re pretty much done here. Unless you have any questions or comments?”

  I shook my head and stood up. “You seem competent. I trust you to make the best decision for me.”

  “I won’t let you down.”

  Standing up, Aaron followed me to the door and opened it for me. I stepped out and headed out of the office. I couldn’t be more satisfied about how that meeting had gone. Aaron had something amazing in the works, there. The tickets I’d bought would absolutely not be going to waste, and I might even end up liking my match so much I’d want to meet him again. Hopefully, he’d like me, too.

  As I walked down the hallway, I heard Aaron’s phone ringing. Another alpha like me, calling to set up a meeting, or an omega wanted a fun time?