“That’s amazing! Send me a photo of them before delivery.”
“I will. How was your date?”
I set the phone and the frozen vegetables bag down so I can braid my hair for bed.
“My faux heat started while I was with Zach. I had these terrible cramps while we were stargazing and I felt miserable.” I lick my lips, wishing there was a lingering taste of Zachary there. “Then I had this wave of horniness when I got home and now I feel terrible again.”
Harper is an omega, too. Instead of men paying to have access to her like me, alphas must buy some of her paintings if they want to try and date her. Unlike me, she’s searching for her scent matches and dreams of being in a loving pack. She uses her art gallery as her only personal way of trying to find her soulmates. I can almost smell her own fruity sweet scent. Peach cobbler with Chantilly cream.
“Wow, what a night! Are you okay now?” she asks.
“It’s as if having the flu has made me pathetically needy. It’s gonna be a rough week. Plus, I need to find new clients.”
“Aww, babe, that sounds terrible! I’ll bring you dinner and some treats tomorrow night before my date.”
I should say thank you and allow my best friend to help me, but my stubborn ass needs independence like I need air. “That’s okay, I’m all stocked up.”
It’s a lie—my fridge is as empty as my client list—but feeling like a burden any more makes me want to crawl into apit. My shitty alpha dads always made me feel like one, and I swore when I grew up, I wouldn’t need anyone.
But she’s my closest friend, so of course, she sees right through me. “I’m ordering you dinner.”
“No, it’s fine,” I protest.
“It’s too late, it’s on its way. Love you!”
Harper is an angel.
After I eat, I try to get some sleep, even though my body aches with cramps and my faux heat has me yearning for an alpha to wash away the pain. I hate being needy, hate that I wish I broke my own rules so I wouldn’t be alone tonight, but it’s better this way. No one can hurt me, and if it means a crappy two weeks, then so be it.
At least I have Bellini.
Chapter 6
Hunter
Monday
Alric is in fine form this evening. He’s always been a grumpy bastard—even in college, he had a permanent frown. The poor guy takes everything so seriously. Tonight, though, he holds his whiskey glass so tight his knuckles are white and I worry that the glass is going to shatter in his hand.
“Alric, buddy, you gotta relax. You’re going to add even more gray to your hair. You already look old as hell. No one is going to believe we all went to school together.”
“I’m fine.”
He doesn’t even bother to look up at me, just keeps staring at his phone as if it has personally offended him. A very long text thread that he sent takes up the whole screen. I can’t see what it says, but it doesn’t look like the person has responded to the novel he’s penned. Zachary and I make eye contact and he just shrugs, no more bothered by our friend’s attitude than I am.
We meet every Monday night at one of Alric’s upscale alpha lounges,The Bergamot. Besides my Saturday night dates with Sophie, this is one of my favorite nights of the week.
There are a few omegas here, dates or bondmates of members, but for the most part, it’s an alpha crowd. The tables are all dark wood and the air has the lingering scent of cigar smoke. The walls are painted a deep green that matches the large plants potted in golden planters. Here, the lights are kept low and somewhere, a beta pianist is playing softly. There’s a hefty yearly membership, but more business deals are done within these walls than any conference room in the city.
There’s a rumor that it once belonged to the mafia before Alric bought it, and I was incredibly disappointed to learn that he just lets alphas believe that so he can sell the most expensive glass of scotch in town.
“How’s the app going?” I ask Zachary, since Alric appears to be a useless conversationalist tonight.
“Man, I’m so ready for this trip.” He glances at Alric. “I think we could all use some time away. NourishNow has hired all the best people. I trust my team to have the perfect app by the time we get back and we’ll be all ready for launch next week,” Zach says confidently.
We started this business collaboration last year. Alric had come to Zachary with an idea. Alric owned all these restaurants and a chain of successful upscale, health food supermarkets. He wanted a way for his customers to be able to place online orders and have food delivered. A one-stop app for everything he owned. Zachary immediately jumped on board for all the technology stuff. We announced my partnership today, which kicks off an extensive marketing push for the next two weeks.
Of course, food delivery apps already exist, but they’re all evil mega corporations that charge extra fees and have poorservice. With our app, NourishNow, busy professionals and families will be able to get their groceries delivered and all the best restaurants would be at our customers’ fingertips. Employees are paid a living wage with generous benefits, and there is strict identity verification to ensure safety.
