“I did—do want to find my mate.” He really hoped the Fates understood that it wasn’t an omega he was after.
Mom had been pushing more than normal with Hector and Lionel settling down, and she had taken it upon herself to introduce Ian to any and all single omegas in the neighborhood. He might have moved into his own house fifteen miles from Mom, but it didn’t matter. She was persistent about it. Wanting him to be settled and happy with a brood of his own.
His problem was saying no to her. He really didn’t have the heart to tell her to stop. It was a real conundrum, and why he was here at Lionel’s, desperate to talk.
“What are you saying? Lay it out for me, because I’m missing something.” Lionel sat forward, watching him closely.
Ian drank deep from the bottle.I can do this.He met Lionel’s gaze and took a deep breath, released it, and confessed. “I’m not into omegas. They don’t do it for me.”
A pink hue coated Lionel’s skin as his eyes widened. “You like betas?” Ian shook his head. “Alphas?”
“Yes.” It was said quietly, yet it felt like he’d shouted it the way Lionel jerked back in his seat, making the contents in his wine glass he was holding splash over the wood.
“Wow. How come I’m only just finding out about this now?” Lionel arched one brow.
Ian knew that look. It was the one that said he was irked that Ian hadn’t said something before. “How does one tell his two best ‘alpha’ friends that he’s not into omegas? In fact, he’s into men like them.”
“You know we’d never have judged you, right?” Lionel reached out and gripped the back of Ian’s neck, squeezing and holding him still.
Ian’s breath hitched at the move, even though he had no interest in Lionel. It had just been a very long time since he’d had anyone lay hands on him in a move such as this. “I do on some level. Only on another level I was… embarrassed.” He blushed, the heat coursing up his throat as if to prove his point.
Lionel pressed his forehead to Ian’s. “Man, I’m fucking sorry you felt like that.”
The sincerity caused a large lump to form in the back of Ian’s throat as he nodded. “It’s cool.” It was now because it was his own insecurities, not Lionel’s or Hector’s, that had kept him quiet.
“Does Hector know?”
“No.”
Lionel tugged back and squeezed his neck once again before dropping his hand to lift his wine and offer a salute. “Yay, I get bragging rights to you coming out to me,” he chuckled.
“You’re being daft.” Ian rolled his eyes, but the butterflies in his stomach died down.
“No, you were for thinking we’d judge you.” He grinned. “So, this actually works out, you spilling your guts to me. And your timing is perfect.”
A frown marred Ian’s brow. “What worked out, and why perfect timing for what?”
“The next Bucket List Buddies event.” Lionel rose, went to the countertop, picked up an envelope, and came back and dropped it in front of Ian. “As you couldn’t go to the ghost tour with me, I thought I’d get you a ticket to the next one. Hot air balloons were never gonna be your thing, but it seems my thoughts of you trying out being a ranch hand for the daywith all those alphas on horseback.” His grin waspure devilment. “Will be right up your alley. You can thank me when you find yourself a hot alpha.”
Ian shook his head at his friend, despite the way his pulse became a rocket in his veins. “I’m really busy with family—”
“Tough. I’ve paid good money for this, and it’s a day on the weekend, which should be your free time. Your family can cope without you for a weekend.”
Ian felt his resolve slip. Alphas on horseback, a shiver of desire ran through him. “What weekend is it?”
Lionel grinned knowingly. “This Saturday.”
Ian groaned. “Seriously, that’s two days away. I promised Mom I’d babysit this weekend so my sister could have some free time.”
“You are a total sucker, man,” Lionel said in all seriousness. “When are you gonna just do something for you?”
Ian pondered that question all the way home, and was still thinking about it as he lay in his queen-sized bed, alone—lonely. He held up the ticket to the event, reading the information.
He placed it down and reached for the phone he’d put on charge and opened a search tab. He typed in the name of the ranch and then clicked on the link. The place was beautiful. The lush pastures full of gorgeous horses were a backdrop to snow-tipped mountains. He clicked on the next picture to find a man sitting astride a beautiful horse, his Stetson perched back to reveal a craggy face. Alluring, but the width of his thighs and arms said he wasn’t all that big.
Ian wanted a man bigger than him. He wanted a man who was outdoors fit. Bulging muscles that weren’t for show, that could be used to do all the delicious things he thought about.
Was that too much to ask for?
