Page 23 of A Real Alpha
“Oof, you've got itbad, bad,” Sage muttered, and I glanced over, realizing that I was just watching him walk away, smiling, and I hadn't even moved to make him his drink. Groaning softly, I turned around, grabbing a cup.
“I do,” I agreed after a moment, “and it's the best thing ever.”
When I chanced a glance over at her, she was smiling softly.
“It's sweet,” she said. “It reminds me of when I met Rachel. I would do anything to be around her. Still would.”
Warmth filled me.
“It's special,” I admitted. “This is it for me.”
She didn't look surprised. “Then you better lock him down fast before his old alpha comes back for him.”
Chilled, I shook my head. “He has no reason to come back here.”
“Maybe...”
“I'm going to take my break now,” I said, and she shrugged.
“Go on. Keep your boys company.”
Chuckling, I took Connor's order and carried it to his table to sit with him.
Chapter 9
Connor
For five blissfuldays I felt like I had fallen into a different reality. One where I was growing happier by the day. One where me and Roscoe were worth something. Every morning, I woke to Oscar's gentle, sleepy kisses while Roscoe slept soundly in the bedside bassinet that Oscar had surprised us with.
Oscar would go to work, and I would shower, wake Roscoe, get him fed, cleaned and dressed. Then we would then go downstairs to hang out while Oscar finished his shift. In the evenings, we would watch reality TV, or I would play games on the phone he’d bought me while he poured over the book about baby development that he’d picked up.
If Roscoe fell asleep in the living room, we would sneak off to the bedroom to make love. There was something about the way Oscar felt against me—and inside me—that seemed to rewrite all my old beliefs. Sex didn't need to be an exchange. It could be a mutual, intimate experience that gave me peace instead of fear. It didn't mean he owned me. We were just having a good time. And he was so tender with me, so sweet that I could suddenly understandwantingto be with an alpha forever. The fact that omegas often wanted that had always confused me before.
A lightness had settled over me with the unfamiliar feeling that I had finally found the place where I belonged. Today, his friend and co-worker Sage, waved when I came inside and brought me over my favorite coffee before I even got in the line to order.
“Your man will be a few more minutes,” she said, smiling knowingly.
My man?I fought a smile. “Thanks,” I murmured.
The group of them made me feel like I'd been crazy all these years. Like it was normal for alphas to be decent and kind. Why had I been surrounded by the other type? I shook my head, sipping my coffee and waiting.
“I get to leave early today,” Oscar announced as he approached a minute later, pulling off his apron to join me. “Hey, little buddy.”
Roscoe babbled happily, reaching for Oscar. He took Roscoe eagerly, kissing the top of his head and playing with him for a minute.
“Do you want to go do something? Maybe go for a walk and see the lights in the park?”
Even though I'd been thinking about Oscar's proposal pretty much non-stop since it had been offered, and even though he made it clear over and over that he wanted me, it was still hard to wrap my head around. The fact that he just wanted to spend time with me, not simply using my body, was a wondrous thing.
“Sure,” I finally replied. His excited smile made my heart flutter and excitement bloom in my own chest.
“It'll be fun. We can drink hot chocolates while we walk and stop by the food trucks for dinner,” I could hear him saying, but all of my attention had zeroed in on the figure that darkened the Lunar Café’s doorway.
Every cell in my body seemed to go icy cold as Harry walked into the cozy atmosphere.
Not having seen him in weeks, his presence looked so wrong, and so much more normal than I remembered. I had thought he was the hulking figure of an ogre, but he looked more normal out of the apartment he’d locked me in. A big man, yes, but just an alpha, like any other.
He seemed to sense me at once and his head snapped in my direction, his blue gaze fixing on mine. It only lasted a second, but I was frozen, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
