Page 65 of Alpha & Omega

He grinned broadly and smacked the armrests of the chair with his hands before standing. “Then my job is done here.”

I shook my head and chuckled as he walked out the door, and I got ready for the night.

WhenIgotthetext from Hudson that he planned to stay the night with his mother at her hotel, my legs nearly went out from under me. It wasn’t only from anger and frustration, but… jealousy. It was fucking stupid to be jealous of a woman who would be dead soon, but the feeling wouldn’t leave me.

Iraised him, dammit.Me. Not her.Ihelped him through his grief and abandonment, guided him when he lost friends and advised him when he came out as gay to me. If he got injured,Iwas there to heal him. If he didn’t do well on a test,Iwas there to help him study.

Hudson wasmyson.

I wanted to tell him no way, but he would end up resenting me for it.

I’d stress-cooked all day, and though I was tired, I paced in my living room, unable to focus. While I wanted to laugh that I’d made enough frozen dinnersand lunches to last us until the apocalypse, I couldn’t find the humor in it. The walls felt like they were closing in on me.

What nonsense had she been filling his head? Did she lie to him? Did she twist things around from what I taught him?

I needed to be at work tonight, but I called in sick, which was something I’d never done before opening my restaurant almost eight months ago.

Cooking usually soothed my soul, but not today, so work wouldn’t have helped with my mood. I thought about reaching out to Kingston, but not only was he working, I didn’t want to burden him with this. He’d seen enough of this train wreck this morning.

I deflated onto the couch, running my hands through my tangled hair, feeling like a jerk because Ava wasn’t going to live much longer, and Hudson deserved his closure. I’d closed that door years ago with the divorce she hadn’t even been a part of.

I grew fucking restless.

With a loud exhale of breath, I realized I needed him. I needed Kingston. He was working, but fuck it. I would grab a drink and wait until he got off work. As long as I was near him and could see him, I would feel better.

I tossed on my helmet, locked up the house, and got on my bike. The rain came pouring down, but I didn’t give a shit. It cooled my heated and frustrated skin.

I took off and headed toward the one person I needed the most at that moment.

When I arrived at the bar, I got off my bike, soaked to the bone, now cold and shivering. I removed my helmet and put it on the seat as I stood under the streetlight and stared across the street through the big window with the pride flag, watching Kingston work the bar with Pippin. It wasn’t very crowded, probably due to the weather.

I didn’t know how long I stood there in the rain, watching him work, reluctant to bother him or be a burden, no matter how much I needed him.

As if sensing me, he looked up and out the window, stopping what he was doing. My breath hitched, and my heart beat a little faster. I wiped the rain from my face, not that it did much good, and watched him walk toward the window.He cupped the glass to block the glare and stared outside. A breath whooshed out of me. I knew we had a good connection, but not like this.

Kingston left the window, walked to the door, and opened it. Instead of standing there under the cover of the overhang, he grabbed an umbrella by the door, opened it, and walked toward me. He looked both ways along the road before crossing, and stood in front of me, holding the umbrella over both of us.

Without a word, he grabbed my hand, threaded our fingers together, and led me back to the bar. He placed the umbrella, still open outside by the door to dry, never once letting me go as we headed toward his office. I shivered along the way and ignored all the staring from his family and the crowd.

Kingston brought me to his office, closed the door, and locked it behind us. He then opened a beat-up metal locker and pulled out a towel and a change of clothes, which included a T-shirt and some sweats.

I stripped out of my clothes except for my underwear, but he shook his head, so I removed those, too. All my clothes landed in a plop on the floor.

He took the towel and patted my hair dry, careful not to tangle it. Then he wiped my face and worked his way down my body. His turquoise eyes were entirely focused on the task.

My teeth chattered, and my body trembled, regretting riding out in the rain.

“What were you thinking, Chef?” Kingston finally asked.

“You… All I could think about was you.”

He stopped drying me off and looked at me. “What’s happened?”

I cupped his face, pulling him close. “I don’t want to talk about it… at least not right now.”

Kingston leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine as his hands wrapped around my naked body. I couldn’t care less that he was still dressed at that moment. Even kissing him was enough to temporarily ease my tormented soul.

Our kiss was hungry, using our entire bodies to feed each other. My cock grew hard, and his tried to punch through his jeans.

---