Page 1 of Crushes and Confections

CHAPTER 1

Claire

Whoever said omegas could have whatever they wanted had clearly never secretly been in love with their best friend.

I very clearly wanted him, a fact he was of course oblivious to, and that particular dream of mine was never going to come true. Even if I’d been able to visualize it a little more now that we were living together. I’d made peace with it, truly, but sometimes those feelings snuck up on me.

Which is probably why I was entertaining his musings as we covertly stared at the mysterious alpha who had started coming into my shop like clockwork a little over a month ago. At first, I had thought he was a tourist on an extended trip, but now I was beginning to think he must have been a new local.

“There’s no way a man like that is untied,” Riley said, snagging a cookie off the tray I was filling. “If he so much as breathed a word to me I’d have him packed up in a heartbeat. I’d show him my gold hot pants and then poof, he’d be done for.”

“I honestly don’t know how he’s able to resist,” I said with a smirk, knowing exactly how man-crazy my bestie was.

“Right?” Riley huffed. “I mean it’s honorable that he’s all focused on work shit, but a beta has needs. He could throw your boy a bone.”

He batted his thick lashes at me and I had to once again sigh.

Having just come from his job managing Cedarwick Orchard, Riley was dressed in jeans and a flannel. A simple outfit, right? No big deal.

Wrong, because this was Riley and he didn’t do anything in halves. His jeans were all but painted on and the man’s shirt was unbuttoned just a few too many times for it not to be a statement, letting his necklace peek through.

His sun bronzed skin was practically glowing because he never let skincare slide. The hint of muscles hiding under every piece of clothing he wore teased me perpetually. Riley was nothing less than gorgeous. But it was his confidence and genuine kindness that really did me in.

At first glance, he was often mistaken for an alpha, the years of working the orchard making him rather muscular. And more than once when he’d opened that sassy mouth of his he’d been mistaken as an omega, but ultimately he was just Riley.

My wonderfully extra Riley who I’d been best friends with since grade school. The one I thought I’d always end up with. Even when he presented as a beta and I an omega, I thought for sure we’d wind up in the same pack. Some real life fairy tale shit.

That was until he had found his love for boys our junior year of high school, a fact he’d been rather shy to share at first, which was a shocker. But honestly, I didn’t care who or what he liked. I just wanted him happy. I loved him with my whole damn heart.

“You okay there babe?” he asked, nudging my shoulder. “You’re staring at that tray like it has the answers to the universe.”

“I must be more tired than I thought,” I said, giving him a pointed look. “Someone roped me into a Julia Roberts marathon again.”

“The woman is a national treasure, Claire Bear. She deserves for us to pay our respects.”

He gave me a smirk but I could tell he was just as tired under the surface, though he hid it well.

The orchard had been undergoing some pretty extensive upgrades this past year, part of what they were now working on was the external buildings, including the small lodge Riley was given once he became a managing partner.

It was fun having him at my cottage and having his scent of spring rain filtering through my space. It settled an ache in my chest I’d long since thought wouldn’t go away, the one I scarcely admitted to myself, which is why I made my next offer.

“I could introduce you, Ri.”

“Introduce me to Julia Roberts?” he asked in disbelief.

“I’m not talking about Julia Roberts. I’m talking about the alpha you’re drooling over. I don’t know much about him, but I do know his name. Perks of being the owner,” I said with a wink, before turning and letting my curls bounce over my shoulder as I stepped out from behind the display case.

Claire’s Coffee & Confections was the go to coffee shop and bakery in town, and thanks to Autumn, who owned the orchard Riley was a partner at, we were actually gaining some traction with distributing some of our goods all over the state.

Being twenty eight, owning my own place, and having the success that I had all while being an omega was something to be proud of.

I attributed it all to Holiday Hollow, the magical small town where we lived in North Carolina that celebrated every minor and major holiday as its own unique event. It was just the right amount of cheesy and I loved Holiday Hollow even more for it. There was never a dull moment.

Here everyone looked out for each other. The city wasn’t easy on omegas, there was still more favor for alphas and betas. In Holiday Hollow it was far easier to feel like an equal. I never had to worry about being forced into a path I didn’t want.

Ultimately everything in my life was my choice, future pack or not, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The alpha looked up at my approach, a wavy piece of chestnut hair falling over his glasses as his fingers paused on his laptop.

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