Page 44 of Alpha & Omega

I glanced at my son, whose tone of voice contradicted his words. He was looking down at his hands, picking at his fingernails.

“What’s going on, Hud? You know you can talk to me about anything.”

With a big sigh, he said, “I’m not sure how much longer I can take being his friend.”

“Wait, what? Have you two had a falling out? You both have been attached at the hip since middle school.”

He shook his head, dark tendrils of hair falling in his face. He tucked them away and looked at me.

“No, we’re good… It’s just…”

I waited him out, letting him process how much he wanted to tell me as I rolled the meat into balls, resting each one on some parchment paper.

He sighed again. I watched Hudson carefully as he fidgeted, glancing away from me again.

“I like him, Dad… Ilike, like him.”

“Ooh… well, yes, I can see how much of a struggle that would be, crushing on your best friend. Why the sudden change?”

Hudson huffed at me. “It’snota crush. It’s love.”

“I stand corrected. Have you told him yet?”

His body sagged, and he shook his head.

“Perhaps it’s time you told him your feelings?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t want to lose our friendship.”

“Yet you wanted to ditch your friendship because you can’t take him not knowing,” I reminded.

“Ugh, you’re right.”

“Sounds like either way, you lose him, but if you’re honest, you stand a better chance at keeping the friendship. If he doesn’t like you back, well, it’ll be awkward, but I doubt he’ll stop liking you.”

He stared up at me with his dark chocolate eyes under thick lashes that matched mine. “It’s scary, especially because he’s straight.”

“I know it is. If it makes you feel better, I’m struggling with Kingston, too. We… parted ways, which was entirely my fault. It’s hard for me to step out of my comfort zone and fight for him, but I’ve been trying.”

“What happened? I thought you two were getting along.”

I flattened one meatball between two pieces of parchment paper until it was thin and set it aside to do another. “We were, but I did something stupid.”

“What’d you do?”

I smirked at him. “Not your business, but let’s say I’m trying to remedy it, but he won’t talk to me right now.”

“So, you’re not ready to give up on him?”

“Nope. Eventually, I’ll have to, or else I’ll look like a damn stalker.”

Hudson chuckled, clearly feeling better at my expense, but that was the point in telling him my story.

Once the patties were ready, I dropped them into a hot skillet with melted butter and smashed them further. When they were cooked on one side, I flipped them and added a dollop of special sauce on top.

“While scary, we all have to step out of our comfort zones if we want something bad enough,” I explained. “It’s what I’m doing, and I think you should, too. Oliver may surprise you.”

“You think?”

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