I pasted a bland smile on my face. “What can I get you, gentlemen?”
The second guy ordered half a dozen cupcakes while his friend crossed his arms, looking pissy.
“You said something about a bike shop?” I asked as I rang them up.
“Bear’s Bikes,” Rick said. “The best in town, and they’re just a block off Main Street. Why don’t you come with me and afterwards, I’ll let you ride my…”
“Oh, look,” I said, quickly cutting him off. “The line is moving.” I handed him the cupcakes before turning towards thenext customers—a beta mom and her little girl looking at the pastry case with wide eyes.
The alpha hesitated, glancing back at me while his friend was already out the front door. Finally, he huffed and followed him out. I breathed a sigh of relief before turning to the little girl and asking what she wanted to order.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur, but in between helping customers and drinking multiple lattes, something shifted and cemented inside me.
I was done feeling sorry for myself.
Unwelcome memories from the past few days flashed through my mind—the powerlessness I felt when I saw my bike’s bent and misshapen form, the soreness in my knees as they met the cold tile floor at the nightclub, the sinking feeling in my gut at the Omega Right’s Committee when I realized that, after all the efforts of so many people to change the laws, I was still deemed undesirable. My uncles demanding rent was just the icing on the cake.
But then I realized…fuck it.And fuck them, too.
After work, I would walk to Bear’s Bikes, see if they had any used ones for sale, and then check if I had any proposals from Sugar Nest. No one was going to take care of my problems, but I was used to it. I’d made it this far myself, and if I was destined to be alone for the rest of my life, I would just fucking have to deal with it.
6
BEAR
“Hello?” a woman’s voice called out from the front of the shop.
I sighed, placing my head in my hands. Jude, my receptionist, was out sick today, so it was on me to talk to customers. Fuck my life.
I forced myself to leave my office and head to the small, dingy waiting area in the front. I’d never done anything to renovate—the room still had the disgusting wall-to-wall carpeting and peeling laminate desk, but no one hung out there anyway. All our work was done in the back. Besides, I didn’t give a shit what it looked like. People could go to some boutique if they wanted to look at pretty things. But they wouldn’t get better work from anywhere else in town.
My steps stuttered as I entered the front room and laid eyes on the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her hair was long and silvery, and she wore jeans and a black top that hugged her curves. She was a tiny thing—at least a foot shorter than me—and there was something familiar about her, but I had no clue where I would have seen her before. I inhaled and couldn’t catch her scent, but I could have sworn she was an omega.
She jumped a bit when she saw me before giving me a smile so radiant it felt like the fucking clouds parting for the sun. Nothing this perfect had ever been in this ugly space, and if I’d been able to take my eyes off of her for just one damned second, I’d worry about the way the curious brown stain on the wallpaper behind her made this place look two shades past shitty.
“Hi! I heard you sell bikes here,” she said, looking around the room.
I scowled. What was this little thing doing looking for a bike? Didn’t she know how badly she could get hurt? Or was she here to buy something for her alpha? The thought filled me with unexpected jealousy. I ran my eyes down her body, looking for bond marks. I couldn’t find any bites on her skin, which looked so fucking soft and perfect.
“What do you want with a bike?” I growled.
Her smile faltered, and I cursed myself. I wanted her to come closer so I could gather her in my arms and tell her the only way she was getting on a bike was if she was behind me. I wanted her sweet little body pressed against mine, her pussy grinding against me, growing hot and needy. Anytime we came to a stop, I would reach back and caress her calves and pull her even tighter to me, a promise of what was to come when we got to our destination.
I shook my head. I needed to chill the fuck out. This omega wasn’t mine, and if she knew about my past, she wouldn’t want me, anyway.
My inner alpha snarled, already possessive as fuck over this stranger.
“Oh, umm… I wanted a bike so I could get around easier?” she said, the statement coming out like a question.
“Is that even legal?” Omegas could get licenses now, but I’d never seen one on a bike before.
“Why would it be illegal to ride a bike?” Her brow furrowed.
A slow, sneaking suspicion arose in me.
“What’s your budget?” I asked.
“Well, I was wondering if you had anything used? Maybe around fifty dollars?”
