The request surprised Assa only mildly. “Does this have anything to do with all the random questions you asked under the guise ofgetting the cake right?”
Calder laughed. “That obvious, huh?”
“It’s tough to justify why you needed to know whether Wes and I like our jobs in order to bake an eight-year-old’s cake.”
“Yet you answered.”
“We have a history. And a rapport. I figured it was your way of trying to be friends.”
Assa assumed that was what Calder wanted to discuss. Remaining friends. The three of them got along well, plus Calder and Assa had that tether from the past. Assa doubted the alpha would proposition them. The attraction was undeniably there, but they were wrapped up in Valentin, and Calder was plainly stuck on Zinn. But he was open to being friends. That was why he’d answered all of Calder’s questions so readily. Deep down, he’d known they were coming from a good place. Exactly where that place was, he couldn’t say. But he wanted to find out.
“You’re welcome to hang out after the party. Although fair warning, we may put you to work cleaning up,” Assa said.
Calder chuckled again. “Happy to.” He placed the cake stand on the table. “Now, let’s see about getting this masterpiece set up.”
Ryde’s cake resembled a pile of colorful books, all with whimsical names for travel guides highlighting the differentprovinces. The top layer was a book opened to a page of text and pictures discussing ancient castles of the state. The script was hand-drawn, and Assa could only imagine how much time Zinn had spent on it.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Calder said proudly.
“Amazing. It’s one thing to see the sketches, but this might be too beautiful to eat.”
“No, you should definitely eat it. The strawberry buttercream will change your life.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Besides the stack of books, an artist’s palette created from fondant topped the cake. Each patch of “paint” on the palette encompassed its own intricate drawing representing Ryde’s other interests—a soccer ball, a basketball net, a camping tent, a swimming pool, a zebra, and a scene from a video game. The level of detail floored Assa.
“Zinn had a lot of fun with it,” Calder said. “I’m very grateful he got to do this for…your son.”
“Not as grateful as we are.”
“Shoot!” Calder exclaimed.
“Everything okay?”
“There’s supposed to be a fondant paintbrush that rests on top of this. It was in its own little box.” He smacked his forehead. “I left it on the counter at the bakery.”
“That’s alright. It looks great how it is,” Assa assured him. “No one is going to miss—”
A knock at the door interrupted them.
Assa looked at his watch. “Alrighty, then. One of our guests has decided to be twenty minutes early. Apparently, the party starts now.” He shrugged. “I was hoping to show Ryde his cake before all the craziness began. I’ll do that as soon as I let this kid in, so you can tell your designer how much he loved it.”
He opened the door expecting to find a child and his father. Instead, he did a double take.
His mouth gaped.
An adult-size version of Ryde—an omega version—stood on the porch.
“Hi,” the man said, holding out a small box. “I’m Zinn, from Felton’s. Calder brought over the cake, but he forgot the top piece, and I wanted to make sure it got here. I hope it’s okay that I pulled your address from our system.”
Assa’s eyes widened as his palm landed on his chest.
“Oh, no. My bad. I didn’t mean to startle you just showing up at your door like this.”
Assa couldn’t breathe. His lungs forgot how to operate. All he could do was stare at the man in front of him.Oh, stars. Oh, fuck.He finally took a gulp of air, feeling it burn down his windpipe.
This wasn’t happening.
