And not just to give the restaurant a head count.
He clears his throat and ruffles his hair. “I … probably? I’m not totally sure yet.”
“Well, I’d love to see you there. You know you can bring a guest, right?” I tell him, and then immediately want to kick myself in the throat.
Did I really tell the Omega that I’m pining after to bring a date to the party that I was hoping to use as an excuse to get to know him better?
He looks surprised as he brushes a curly piece of hair from his eyes. “Really? Oh, okay then. I’ll let you know. Is there an RSVP date?”
“Nope!” I say too quickly. Katy peers at me through slitted eyes.
There is definitely an RSVP date, but that’s for everyone else, not Felix. Felix can show up unannounced.
I am growing more pathetic with every second I spend in his presence, and he is bound to notice eventually.
“Are you bringing your Omega, Gabriel?” Katy asks breezily.
“I don’t have an Omega,” I rush to say, even though I’m pretty sure she knows that. “Not that I wouldn’t want one, I just don’t have one. Not yet, I mean.” I have to bite my tongue to make myself shut the fuck up.
Is it my imagination, or did Felix’s cheeks turn a little pink? He’s doing his damndest to avoid making eye contact with me, so my embarrassing rant must have made him uncomfortable.
This has been my problem from the beginning. I cannot ethically approach a person who works for me about a romantic relationship.
I have to remind myself of that several times a day. I know I can’t have him, but the idea that Felix could be with any Alpha other than me feels wrong on a fundamental level.
“I need to … I’d better get back to work,” Felix says, ducking around me and heading back to his cube. I watch him leave, trying and failing not to stare at his ass.
“Not yet, huh?” Katy’s teasing tone has my eyes whipping back toward her.
“Get back to work, Katy.”
TWO
TEN DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS
I don’t knowwhy people think Valentine’s Day is the holiday of love and romance when clearly it’s Christmas. If it weren’t, would there be so many movies about this time of year that focus on falling in love and realizing how much you want to be with someone?
Copper Hill is one of those towns that come alive for the holidays. It seems like everyone wants to visit a small town at Christmas, to walk the main street with a cup of coffee or cider as the snow falls around them. They want to star in their own movie, hoping that they’ll bump into the Beta of their dreams when they both reach for the stained glass angel.
We don’t have many places to shop most of the year, but everyone told me the pop-up Christmas market always draws a crowd from nearby Syracuse. It’s my first Christmas here, and the sheer number of people who traveled to shop shocked me. Somehow, everyone in town downplayed the crowds.
“Come now, Clara, I’ve never seen someone so glum while wearing a sweater covered in tinsel,” Sylvia, my boss and the owner of Brew-tiful Days, teases, leaning against the counter beside me.
The shop name is a groan-worthy pun, but when I asked Sylvia about it, she asked me what the point was of owning a business if she didn’t get to be a little silly with it?
I look down at the ugly Christmas sweater I’m wearing today. “Yes, well, it was not my idea to wear tinsel. It is cruel and unusual punishment to make this my uniform for the month.”
“Blah blah. You’re young, beautiful, and unattached. That sweater won’t hinder your opportunity to find a nice Alpha to cuddle up with for the cold weather.” She pours a cup of hot apple cider from the urn beside me and slides it across the counter. “Let me live vicariously through you.”
I groan, burying my face in my hands. Not this again.
Sylvia is sure that an Alpha is what I need to improve my spirits. But as a Beta, having an Alpha never appealed to me. Why would I be with someone knowing that I would be ditched the moment they meet an Omega? And even if they didn’t find an Omega, how was I to go about managing a rut on my own?
No thanks.
But I can’t exactly say that to Sylvia. She had an Alpha that she loved, based on what she told me, and I don’t want to offend her. When she hired me six months ago, she helped me out of a tough spot after my job laid me off. I couldn’t afford my apartment in the city anymore, so when my best friend Felix, an Omega, suggested I move to Copper Hill and be his roommate, it was impossible to turn down.
“If not an Alpha, what about that Omega you live with, Felix? Are you sure he’s not your scent match?” Somehow, in a few short months, Sylvia has uncovered my biggest desire.
