Page 20 of Alpha & Omega

Harley: Universal healthcare would be amazing, but back on

track. Do you realize we didn’t ask where we worked? I feel

really stupid right now. I mean, that was the one thing that

drew me to you. You knew what it meant to run a business.

I’m feeling really dumb right now, and I’d love to check

out your bar.

Me: Well, I was distracted by your body. Not sure what your

excuse is.

Harley: I fell under the same spell.

Me: Seriously, you’re right. So, I’ve got a bar called Alpha’s

Rejects. I named it in dedication to my crew. I created the place

for all of us, after all.

When I didn’t hear back from him for a while, I assumed he got distracted, so I got out of the car and made my way into the lobby of the apartment complex. Suddenly, my phone buzzed again.

Harley: No fucking way. Sorry, I was processing.

That stopped me. What did he mean? Did he know of my bar?

Me: Totally serious.

Harley: What are the fucking odds? We work right next door to

each other. You know, Harley’s Haven? Seriously, why haven’t

I made the connection until now? Alpha who owns a bar…

Alpha’s Rejects.

Hell, why didn’t I? It did seem coincidental now that he mentioned it, since Harley wasn’t a common name. It suddenly made me tense as hell, too. Why the hell hadn’t I made the connection? I knew the restaurant’s name, and my date was Harley, who was a chef. Talk about small worlds.

Ever since his restaurant and bar opened, I’d been losing customers. Sure, some swaggered back in when his bar closed two hours before mine, but still, I was losing money. I wouldn’t have felt the financial sting so much had the costs not gone up and I didn’t have all those medical bills to cover. That money had been part of my savings for a rainy day, and to give me a little cushion.

Me: That’s wild. I’ll have to check it out.

I turned off my phone for now since I’d reached Tony’s door, and knocked. Like Harley, I also needed to process.

Ever since Tony was in his motorcycle accident late last year, I’d been checking on him regularly. He’d been drinking heavily and was now in Alcoholics Anonymous by order of a judge. He’d always been a heavy drinker, which wasn’t uncommon among foster care kids as they grew up, along with substance abuse. At least neither of us did drugs other than some weed once in a while.

Because he crashed into a parked car while trashed, the court ordered him to attend AA meetings. Tony recovered fine, and he was on the right path, but I knew enough about substance abuse and alcoholism to understand how easy it could be to slide back into. I couldn’t watch him all the time, so my periodic visits were to show him he wasn’t alone.

He’d been there for me when I needed someone to lean on while growing up in foster care. I felt alone and abandoned, resentful of my parents, and now it was my turn to take care of him. Tony was only a year older than me, but he took me under his wing.

That night had been fucking rough on me, too. Not only had Tony ended up in the hospital, but I hadn’t been at Alpha’s when Stone was the victim of a hate crime andalsoended up in the hospital. It’d been a double whammy that night. Once I knew Tony was fine, I rushed back home to check on Stone.

Tony opened the door and smiled up at me with gray eyes. His being five inches shorter, I needed to bend down a little and pull him into a brotherly hug.

“King! How’s it hanging?” he said, pulling away and stepping aside so I could come in.

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