Page 12 of Double Delivery
“Yeah.”
I bumped Axel with my shoulder. “Gonna say anything other than ‘yeah?’”
“Nope.”
I laughed and had another swallow of beer. Then the silence fell, and a knot formed in my stomach. “What happened that scared you?”
Axel played with his beer bottle for a few seconds. “You know when you tease somebody that they look like they’ve seen a ghost? It was like that, but more intense.”
“More intense?”
He blew out a long breath. “One minute he was fine, then he was nearly white. Like every drop of blood had drained from his face. He stumbled back… startled… unable to keep his balance… I don’t know. I was worried that he was going to fall and hurt himself.”
“Shit. Then what?”
“I asked if he needed help, or if he wanted me to call someone. But he insisted he was fine and that I should return to my route.”
“And you still thought it was bad enough you might need someone else to check in on him?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn. Hope he’s ok.”
“Tammy said he sounded fine when she talked to him.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.”
Axel finished his beer and set the empty bottle on the bar. “I’m headed home.”
“You sure? You sound like you’re still rattled.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
“Sure, man. Tomorrow.”
I turned and watched as Axel left, then finished my beer and decided it was time to go home.
It was as I was lying in my bed—several hours later—that I remembered I needed to add Axel to my contacts. I unlocked my phone, opened the text, then—on a whim—I took a shirtless selfie.
I sent the pic to Axel.Something for your dreams.
I laughed when I received a middle finger emoji in return.
Package delivery was a lonely job, but that night was proof that Axel and I had each other.
Chapter 9 - Ollie
~November~
Isat in my dark car for several minutes, staring across the parking lot at the busy bar.
“I should go home,” I muttered, even though I knew I wouldn’t.
Another minute passed. I sighed, sniffed myself to ensure the scent-blocking lotion was working, got out of the car, and strode toward the building. I edged my way through the crowd and managed to score a table with a good view of the bar.
Now to hope that my alphas came that night.
