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August crossed his heart with the knife in his hand, expression serious. "Of course. Your words stay here and are met with grace."
Elias chuckled. "Sheesh. Well, we visited my favorite coffee place, the one located a few blocks down from the office. He paid, which was nice but unnecessary, and he let it fly the moment we sat down."
Elias purposefully left the punch line out of the explanation at first to get a rise out of August. It worked as his mentor shifted back and forth in his seat with impatience that he'd never admit to. Elias smiled down into his food and took several more big bites before getting back to the story.
"He wants me to be his submissive."
"What?" August asked, banging one fist onto the tablecloth and making the bread jump.
"Right?" he replied, licking his lips with a shake of his head. "It came out of nowhere. This sudden, inappropriate question that fascinated my omega side a taste too much."
August let out a single, dry huff. "Holy hell. That guy has balls. What did you tell him?"
Elias shrugged, swirling a roll into the sauce at the bottom of his bowl. "That I'd think about it. I'm supposed to go to his place this weekend, and I have no idea what I'm getting myself into—but that's not all."
August fell back into his seat theatrically, throwing up his hands. "What else could there be?"
Elias didn't answer at first, finishing up his food with relish, not having realized how hungry he'd been when they got here. He drank the rest of his wine, savoring the burn down his throat and asking for more with a tilt of the glass. August obliged.
"He emailed me a few days later when I didn't reach out, and we got coffee again, but it was raining and I forgot an umbrella. I know, I know, it was stupid of me. Long story short, we ended up in the ER. Ian was there, plus the other guy who's apparently a hospital administrator. They were all in the room while I got an IV bag."
August busted out laughing—a big, hearty guffaw that filled the room. The sound made Elias' last standing nerve smooth out, leaving him totally at ease. He even stopped bouncing his knees as he pushed his plate away and settled into the plush chair.
"You can't make this shit up," August hollered, rubbing one hand across his smiling mouth. "And what happened then?"
Elias shrugged, taking another sip. "I don't know, man. They were posturing and annoyed that I'd let myself get sick. I set them all straight, telling each of them I'd see them separately in the coming week! Which is now, by the way. I had lunch with the hospital admin guy today before a meeting. It was…nice."
"So you like him?"
Elias couldn't help thinking back to the mind-numbing orgasm he experienced in the stairwell, cheeks flushing. After that, he'd presented the best fucking proposal of his life with the help of Wesley, despite Dane smirking at him the whole time like they held a secret.
"I do. He's a good guy. They all seem like good guys, but that's never been the issue. I'm worried it'll turn out the same, and my meds aren't working right."
August's joyful expression sobered. "Yes, that is a concern. Perhaps you should finally let me test you and give you a specific dose rather than handling your healthcare externally. I don't care if it's a conflict of interest. And we can do what I suggested a few years back when Ian asked you out."
Elias nodded, downing the rest of his second glass of wine with a grimace. In the past, he had seriously contemplated allowing his best friend in. August suggested giving Ian a sort of tranquilizer during Elias' heat to reduce the possibility of losing control. It was an interesting idea, but one he'd ultimately turned down without telling Ian about it. It seemed wrong to ask that of someone. Why should Ian have to suppress natural urges because Elias couldn't stifle his reaction to them?
"What if I took the tranq?"
August frowned. "You're not the one who turns violent."
Elias snatched the bottle from across the table, pouring himself a third glass nearly to the rim. "I can get intense sometimes."
August took the bottle back, pointing the neck at him. "Only when you're threatened by alphas who can't control themselves. You realize this isn't your fault, right?"
Elias groaned. "You've said that too many times for me to ignore it."
"Yeah, but you still don't believe it."
He glanced away, chugged two big gulps of wine, and proceeded to swirl the glass to see the legs drip.
"I'm the one with the overactive pheromones. No one else has to or should take responsibility for them."
"Fine," August huffed, shaking his head. "Then what do you plan to do with your three suitors?"
Elias drained the third glass before slamming it down. "I'm going to weed them out."
"Thank you all for coming," Elias said, fretting but doing his best to remain calm.
