Page 69 of Toxic

"In my freshman year, I exchanged handies with a few alpha buddies. I’m generally open, but I lean toward tall betas and tall omegas. Personality-wise, though, I prefer something different. Alvin’s… annoyingly jovial, and it's mixed with this crudeness of his. Not really my thing."

"What type of personality are you into?" he asked, averting his eyes.

"Yours."

He didn’t respond for a while, still looking away with a strange expression. Finally, he muttered, "Have you ever thought about having sex with an alpha?"

Sighing, I stretched out beside him. "I rarely find them attractive or arousing. At the end of freshman year, I met an alpha who was a bottom, by his own admission. He was fairly attractive, with long black hair, and we made out a bit, but… it just went nowhere. We didn’t connect. Alphas are only on the fringes of my interest. My brother, Sun, is exclusively into alphas, but for me… they’re not my first or even second choice."

"Good to know Alvin’s chances are low," he said with a wince. It was strange—this inexplicable possessiveness of his, his jealousy of everyone. He didn’t want to be my boyfriend, but he hated the thought of other people hitting on me.

"No chance. He’s just not my type, neither in looks nor personality."

"Not mine either. When all that with the Kingdom of Promises started earlier this year, unfortunately, he insisted on personally testing all of us." Soren grimaced slightly.

Silence fell. I didn’t want to pry, but…

"I know what you want to ask," Soren muttered. "Honestly, Alvin was one of the reasons I decided to only work with omegas and betas."

"Because of him? I don’t get it."

"Yeah. Sean told me about this whole thing and convinced me to try it out because of my debt problems. Then Alvin said he had to test me first."

I turned away, feeling really uncomfortable, but didn’t say anything. Soren watched my reaction for a moment.

"When he came over, I was so stressed I felt sick, like I was gonna throw up. He was super jovial with this… but like you said, crudeness hiding under it. So, I got defensive—rude and tense. When he moved closer, I stepped back and said I wasn’t ready. He got pissed, hissed impatiently, and said maybe I wasn’t cut out for this, that I was wasting his time. When I didn’t respond, he just turned and left."

"Wow. I never thought Alvin would act like that. I’ve known him since high school; he’s always been laid-back, with these broad jokes of his."

"Yeah, well, the next day I told Sean, and he suggested I try to separate what I was doing from my emotions, just see it as a job. Sean talked to Alvin for me, and Alvin came back to give me another shot. This time he was even louder, obnoxious, and a bit vulgar. He said I had nice lips, and he’d like to see his cock between them. But I told him I wasn’t down for that, and I could only do a handjob. He wasn’t thrilled, but he agreed. I managed to get through it, barely keeping it together, but he was satisfied. He said I was good enough and that I could join the Kingdom if I wanted to. And that’s how it started."

"So, how’d you end up with May and Ed? From what I know, there are also two other non-alpha patrons, one beta, and one omega."

"I kept it on the minimal plan, didn't need anyone else. Last semester, May and Ed each used my services twice a week, which gave me a solid income. Plus," Soren cleared his throat, "Don gave me money throughout the last semester. $3,500 in total. I took it, and I regret it now. It just made him feel entitled." Soren’s wince looked almost painful.

"Do you have much debt left?"

"Fortunately, no. I have to pay installments for about a year. But I'll have a full-time job soon, so I'll pay it off quickly."

I bit my lip. Well, since Soren didn't have any of those extra gigs now, he was only working part-time for DevApp… I needed to ask.

"So what about this month and next? Does DevApp money cover it?"

Soren was silent for a while.

"Not the whole thing."

I took a deep breath, unsure how he’d react, but I had to at least try.

"Let me cover those two payments for you."

Soren frowned slightly. "No. I don’t want your money! It’s not what this is all about."

"So what is it about then?"

Soren cleared his throat. "I don’t do it with you for money. It’s just… for pleasure."

"Which makes us…?" I needed to dig deeper.

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