Under the cover of night, I’d deluded myself into thinking we had a real connection. I’d gotten desperate this morning, trying to find ways to see her again. I wasn’t sure if her hesitation was a way to let me down easy or if something else was going on.
The issue was I didn’t have the money to pay her again. I was a fraud. A broke alpha who’d spent every last bit of his money to rent the penthouse and pay her. I would never be able to give her the life she deserved.
I turned on my phone and the messages flooded in from my mom and sisters, all of them asking for money, and messages from the hospital wanting me to pick up extra shifts.
I ran my hand across my face as I finally exited the car and headed inside. My keys jangled as I placed them in the tray by the door and locked it behind me.
“Where’ve you been?” my roommate, Bear, called out. He was sitting on our torn brown sofa with a bowl of cereal.
We’d known each other for over a decade after meeting as teens on the underground fighting circuit. My dad’s drinking meant he couldn’t hold down a job for more than a few days, leaving it up to me to keep the lights on for my mom and two younger sisters. I’d grown up in the same shit neighborhood as Bear—about an hour away from New River. I’d never gotten involved in gangs like he had, but we’d known of each other. Once he’d gotten out of prison, he’d seen my ad looking for a roommate and we’d been here for the past eight years.
Eight fucking years and we still barely knew each other. He ran his shop, I went to work at the hospital, and we occasionally exchanged grunts as we passed each other.
“Just… out,” I responded.
I opened the fridge and stared at the half-empty milk carton and bag of shredded cheese without really seeing them. Should I message Ava to see how she was doing? Was she thinking of me at all?
Bear came into the kitchen and set his empty bowl on the chipped linoleum countertops. “Have you ever thought about signing up for omega interviews?”
I closed the fridge and turned towards him. “What?”
He crossed his arms, not quite meeting my eye. “I keep getting these ads for the Omega Center saying they’re starting the interviews back up soon. You ever think about signing up?”
My thoughts immediately turned to Ava. Did she want a pack? Would she sign up?
“Not really.”
“Yeah,” Bear muttered.
“Why? Are you… interested?”
“Nah,” he responded. “Just keep getting the ads. I doubt they’d even accept me with my history.” He stretched and his tone was easy-going, but a tightness in his jaw gave him away.
Silence fell over us as I imagined what it would be like to wake up next to Ava every morning. To cuddle her, protect her, and make sure all her needs were met.
It was a fucking fantasy.
It wasn’t like I’d never thought about forming a pack and bonding an omega, but my life had moved from crisis to crisis. First, having to take care of the family because my asshole father wouldn’t, and then having to pick up the pieces after the old man died of liver cirrhosis.
“So you’ve never thought about it?” Bear prompted.
“Uhh, I don’t know. Are you saying you’d want to form a pack with me?”
He shrugged. “We’ve lived together for years.”
I furrowed my brows. As if that was a good enough reason to become a pack? “Our apartment is shit. No way an omega could live here.”
“I’m not saying we should do it. I was just wondering,” he said defensively. “I have to go.” Bear grabbed his keys and stormed out of the room, leaving me confused as fuck. I hadn’t paid much attention to the new Omega Center, but now curiosity stirred inside me.
I opened my phone to look up the new omega interview process, but found my fingers automatically navigating to the Sugar Nest app. My skin practically itched with the need to hear from Ava.
Nox
Did you get home safe? I wish you’d let me drive you.
Ava
I’m home :)
