Page 19 of Talk About… Rivalry

I just wasn’t ready to let him go and remember the good times.

She always said Grandpa Harvey and I were twin souls. We even looked similar. We both had the same brown hair that lightened in the summer and sharp-green eyes.

We shared the way we talked and laughed, though that might have been learned from spending so much time with him growing up.

Thankfully, my parents never took offense to the time we spent together. My mom loved that her son and dad were so close. She always talked about how he’d always wanted a son, too—not that he ever treated her any differently, but that I was the son he never had.

After I left the title office with my keys in hand, there was a bittersweet smile on my face. Instead of heading straight for the building, I pulled out my phone to call Taylor. He was the only person who could ground me on days like this when the memories were stronger.

“Is everything squared away?” he asked, instead of giving me a greeting.

“I closed on both the house and the shop today,” I said, letting some of his excitement build mine.

“That’s amazing! Are you heading there now? You better swing by for me, I know you aren’t going without me,” he accused.

Everyone always thought it was strange that we were so close without anything going on between us. But everything between Taylor and I had always been strictly platonic. His scent wasn’t unpleasant; he smelled like pineapple and sugar with a little bit of palm and sage in there to round it out and cut into the sweetness.

His scent was familiar and smelled like home, but it was never anything that caused a reaction in me.

I had a strong feeling we were pack, just not scent matches. He never really believed me. All because of one night on my twenty-first birthday.

We took an omega home with us and it ended in pure disaster.

Taylor was already reluctant because she wasn’t his usual type, but the omega was gorgeous and persuasive… that and alcohol didn’t always lead to good decisions.

When the omega pulled out blindfolds and a cock cage, Taylor was out. He grabbed his clothes, threw them on, and bolted out of there like his ass was on fire.

I chuckled to myself, remembering the shit we gave each other after that incident.

Taylor gasped on the phone, a reminder I was supposed to be picking him up, not daydreaming of failed flings and packs.

“Yeah, I’m heading there now. Are you at The Landing or at home?”

“I’m at home today. I had the day off.”

“On my way,” I said, hanging up and climbing into my black Tahoe. He always teased me that everything I had was “the bigger the better”—a big car, always wanting a big house, a big pack.

Maybe it was because my family was so small growing up. It was just my alpha grandfather and omega grandma, and then my parents. My mom only had two mates, and I always dreamed of a big family—surrounding myself with a mate, a couple of packmates, and hopefully a couple of kids in the future.

But, I was getting ahead of myself. I needed to focus on one thing at a time, and right now, that was picking up Taylor so I could see the spaces that were officially mine.

The keys in my pocket felt weighted; I could feel them almost searing against my skin as I drove.

I don’t think I’ve ever anticipated something quite as much as this. This moment was years in the making—a tribute to the man who meant so much to me.

Taylor was already waiting outside when I pulled up to the apartment complex. He grinned and jogged over, climbing into the passenger seat. He was all smiles and curly brown hair. His scent was a bit sharp today with anticipation. He knew what a big deal this was to me, and as my best friend, he was just as excited.

“Which one are we seeing first?”

“I was thinking the pack house.” His smile faltered as I watched him out of the corner of my eye, before it was back in place. He didn’t want me to see it, but there wasn’t much about him I missed.

He could deny we were pack all he wanted, but I knew the truth. I just had to find the right omega to bring us together.

“I asked an omega out on a date,” he blurted out. If I wasn’t such a controlled beta, I might have swerved. As it was, I turned and narrowed my eyes at him.

“You can’t just blurt shit like that out. Now give me the details.”

Even if I kept a calm mask in place, my heart was pounding in my chest, sweat starting to break out on my palms. Not that I didn’t want an omega of my own, but I knew damn well if he found one that called to him enough to ask on a date, then this might be it.

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