Page 58 of Trick or Heat

Sam’s Soups and Salads.

I look up at the sign, seeing the wear and tear. One letter is even blacked out, so now it says Sam’s Soups nd Salads. Not the worst letter that could have been lost, to be honest. I see why they haven’t fixed it yet.

We move into the tiny restaurant in a unit, staying close together to not take up as much space, but it’s kind of hard with three hulking alphas. Casey isn’t small, either. I’m the only pipsqueak it would seem, actually, which is probably why they all huddle me to stand between them as we get to the counter.

“Good evening, welcome to Sam’s Soups and Salads—” The guy at the front counter cuts himself off when he looks up and smiles wide at our alphas. “DJ! Brodie! Raivat! What a pleasant surprise. I thought you guys had a championship this weekend.”

“We did; it was yesterday. We won!”

That starts a whole celebration with hooting and hollering, and I just stand there, completely perplexed.

“Um, what is happening right now?”

The young guy looks to me, his mouth curving into a small ‘o’. “I’m sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Sam.”

“Sam?” Casey says. “Is this place named after you?”

He smiles widely. “My parents own it. And yes, this place was built after I was born, so it was named after me. Can you imagine if they’d named me after the restaurant?”

The alphas all laugh. Casey and I look at each other, our eyes wide, but the guy keeps on going without missing a beat.

“It’s so nice to finally meet the omega that gave me my most loyal customers,” Sam announces, smiling at me. “And some of my best friends that can kick ass at FIFA.”

Now I’m even more confused, because apparently when the guys are all playing, this is the guy they’re speaking to. The guy from the fucking salad shop?

That sparks a conversation about the game and their latest match while Casey and I stand there reeling. We look at each other, our expressions showing the same confusion.

What the hell? I say to him.

I know right, he says back.

After what feels like hours (which is probably only twenty minutes), we get our order in (which Sam apparently knows by heart) and go to sit down.

“Well,” Casey starts, scooting into the booth beside me. “That was interesting.”

“It was! You finally got to meet Sam!”

“Yes, Sam,” I echo. “But… why didn’t we know Sam? You guys play video games with him?”

Brodie laughs. “It’s a funny story, actually.”

My best friend pokes him in the side. “So tell us.”

“Well, this is where we got food for your first heat,” Raivat says, looking to me. “But you knew that, that’s why we get food here all the time.”

“Yeah…?”

“But what you don’t know is that when we got here, DJ was so excited that he announced to Sam, and therefore the entire staff, that we just met our omega and that we were helping them with their heat for the first time.”

My eyes bulge. “What?”

DJ sparkles, his eyes crinkling at the sides. “Yeah, I couldn’t keep it in. I had to tell someone.”

“So you told Sam, the soup and sandwich guy,” Casey states.

“Hey, I didn’t know he was the Sam, okay?”

I can’t help but let out a laugh, the ridiculousness of this moment taking over. “That’s honestly amazing.”