Page 47 of Alpha & Omega

God, he still looked terrible, but it was a vast improvement in how he’d been. At least he was recognizable again.

“Start talking. Who was that guy, and why did he make you pissed off one minute and smiling the next?”

“Didn’t Aiden do that to you?”

He rose a thick, dark brow. “You… Are you seeing him?”

“Let’s talk about this later. The bar is getting busy, and I can’t let Pippin get overwhelmed.”

Ajax pointed at me. “After work. I mean it.”

I rolled my eyes and gave him a dismissive wave as I walked off.

Thursday night hadn’t been too bad. We had a decent crowd, with everyone itching for the weekend. It could’ve been better, but at least it wasn’t dead. Every dollar counted at that point.

I counted the money from the till while Pippin wiped down the bar, and Stix washed the glasses. Nacho and Ajax mopped the floors, Stone wiped down the tables, and Aiden picked up the trash. The twins got bathroom duty since they showed up late for work.

Blondie came out of the men’s room with a look of disgust, carrying a sponge with his tippy fingers while wearing large yellow rubber gloves. His black see-through lace button-up shirt had the sleeves rolled up, and the shoulder fell to the side, exposing creamy skin.

“This is fucking disgusting,” he whined.

His sister, Jazz, wasn’t far behind, feigning a gag. “How many times do we need to tell the assholes not to flush tampons?”

I smiled at them and shrugged. “You shouldn’t have been late.”

Everyone stopped working and stared at me.

“What?” I asked, knowing exactly why they stared at me.

“Spill the deets. Who’s this Harley?” Stix asked, drying his hands before resting them on his hips.

They all gathered close to the bar, starving for gossip.

“His name is Harley Creed. I met him on that dating app after you all nagged me to death.”

“We only want to see you happy,” Nacho said, pouting a little.

“I get that, but still… Anyway, we hit it off right away. We have so much in common with really good chemistry until…”

How much did I want to tell them? They would go into protective mode, even if I was okay with everything.

“I just got suspicious of him because he’s the chef and owner of the restaurant next door, and we had a bit of a misunderstanding.”

Jazz smacked her forehead. “Duh! Harley the man… Harley’s the restaurant. Not like there are a ton of ‘Harleys’ out there.”

“Right. Because… shit. Look… Alpha’s is struggling a bit, guys.”

“W-what do you mean?” Pippin asked. His green eyes were wide, and he hugged himself, always stressed and worried about the world around him.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, but… If you all wouldn’t mind not getting hurt anymore, that’d be swell.” When they looked guilty, I raised my hand before they opened their mouths to apologize. “And I would do it over again in a second. You all are everything to me. Things will get better. I only need to catch up, is all.”

I wish it were that simple, but I didn’t need them to stress out about their jobs.

“Are you sure? Can we do anything?” Stix asked.

“No, I’ll be fine. Everything is fine.” Maybe if I said that enough, evenIwould believe it.

“That dude left here smiling. Are you two getting along now?” Stone asked.

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