Page 3 of The Very Merry Omega

The one guy is an inch or so shorter than my 5’11” but has a fit build, like he works out. He’s wearing a sleek black suit with a bloodred dress shirt and no tie. Tattoos creep up his neck and are visible on his hands. His dark hair is slicked back, and he has fairly large gauges as well as a few other facial piercings. Standing close behind him are two other men. One is a massive blonde guy, who I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen before. His blue eyes are on alert, constantly assessing the situation despite his relaxed posture. He’s holding the hand of a slim redheaded man that looks vaguely familiar, though I can’t place where. The redheaded man looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than here and is hovering close to the blonde, who seems protective of him. The dark-haired man is talking to the other guy I recognize, but he reaches one hand out to the redheaded man, who grabs it like a lifeline. And then it clicks who they are.

We’re not a small company, but we’re small enough that rumors spread like wildfire. So when someone in the office spotted one of our editors on a date with two men, of course, it became office fodder. Thankfully, we have a fairly open-minded and progressive company, so it caused no issues, but I don’t understand why everyone is obsessed with other people’s business.

In fact, back in the old times before the secondary designations died down, or at least went dormant, poly relationships, especially triads, were commonplace. Often two Alphas were mated and eventually sought out an Omega as their third, or two Omegas wanted an Alpha, or a same gender Alpha Beta pair were looking for an Omega. My own family had a few triads on our tree. But it seems in the 150 or so years since then, the world forgot how to be accepting and understanding, and we were just starting to climb out of the deep and dark hole that bigotry, racism, sexism, and homophobia caused.

How does it affect any of us if the guy wants to have two boyfriends? Personally, it seems like chaos and way too much of a hassle, but then again, I can’t even maintain a relationship with one guy, so who am I to talk?

My eyes focus on the other man, and I’m frozen in place. I’ve seen him a few times and always thought he was cute, but this is the first time I’ve been face-to-face with him, and I’m shocked by my reaction.

He is fucking stunning. He’s taller than I realized, maybe even taller than me, but he’s wiry and clearly uncomfortable in his slightly too-large navy-blue suit. He seems to notice me staring and looks up at me, his pouty lips parted in a gasp. He has the most beautiful golden-brown skin, and I desperately want to touch him and see if it’s as soft as it looks, which is fucking creepy, I know. But, I can’t help my thoughts. His dark curls are a little wild and make him seem younger than he probably is. His large hazel eyes widen even more as he takes me in, and his tongue peeks out from his lips just a bit. Gods, he’s checking me out.

My cock nudges up against my suit pants, and I shift so it’s not as noticeable. He blinks, his long lashes fluttering, and then he must realize he’s staring because he gasps and quickly looks away. I don’t, however. I can’t force myself to.

I’ve never had a reaction this strong to anyone before. One clear look at the man and I have such a strong desire to wrap my arms around him, drag him from this crowd, and claim him as mine. Gods, I’m fucking losing it. I don’t even know his name.

The man takes a sip of his drink, and he’s purposely not looking at me, but I can see him sneaking glances when he thinks I’m not paying attention.

The other guy I recognize, the one with the tattoos, realizes something is going on and turns in my direction. “Hi,” he says with a friendly smile, holding his hand out to shake. “I’ve seen you around before. You work in the marketing department, right?”

I take his hand, impressed by the firm shake. “Yes, I’m Alexander. Alex is fine. And you’re in the editing department?” I question.

The man grins at me. “Yes, I’m Ev.” He nods toward the other man who still won’t look at me. “Zach also works in editing with me.” Zach. At least I have a first name, though I want more, so much more.

Ev keeps talking. “And these are my men.” He watches me, a challenge in his eyes. But I couldn’t really care less that he has two boyfriends, so I make sure I keep my expression light and non-judgemental. “Logan—” He gestures toward the big blonde man. “—and Lake.” He waves toward the red-haired man.

Lake. The name sounds really familiar, but I can’t quite place it. And I don’t have time to ask as I complete introductions with the two men. I find myself engaged in conversation with them as I finally get my drink, and for a few minutes, I get distracted and lose track of Zach. When I turn toward him, he’s gone.

3

ZACH

I’m practically panting as I duck down the hallways and away from the crowd. I did my duty, hopefully enough to get my damn bonus check. But honestly, at this point, I really don’t care much about it. This place is suffocating me, and I need to escape that room. Escape him.

I’ve seen Alexander in the building before. The marketing department shares a floor with us, which means we share a break room, and I’ve definitely snuck a couple of peeks at him when he wasn’t looking. Because, duh, he’s freaking gorgeous. Like, unbelievably cover model type of hot. Basically everyone in the building has a small crush on him. Hell, even some of the straight guys have their moments.

Alexander isn’t particularly tall, probably shorter than me, actually, but he carries himself with such confidence that it makes him look taller. He has the most beautiful strawberry-blonde hair that I just want to run my hands through. Which, gods, I’m clearly going nuts if this is my reaction to a man I barely know. The suit he’s wearing fits him impeccably. His broad shoulders are meant to fill out a suit. I don’t typically have a suit fetish, but he’s making me develop one. He has a crazy well-defined jawline, high cheekbones, and these light-blue eyes that just stare into your soul. Seriously, I’m pretty sure he unearthed all my deepest and darkest secrets just by watching me.

And gods, he was watching me. Even as I grab my jacket in a stealthy attempt to sneak out, I can’t deny he kept watching me. He may have been speaking to Ev and his men, but his eyes kept finding me. And like the coward I am, I took the first distraction there was and bolted.

I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to anyone before, including Alexander. Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen him face-to-face like that before and never spoken to him, though we didn’t exactly have a conversation now either. Still, just hearing him speak in my presence was enough to give me a heart attack. I don’t know how I survived working so closely to him before, but I know that I’ll probably die if I need to talk to him in a professional setting after this. Maybe I can put in a request to work solely from home from now on?

I’m well aware of how insane I sound. Who runs away like a chicken because a ridiculously sexy man is watching you? Anyone remotely in their right mind would’ve climbed that man like a tree and offered themselves right then and there. And, I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to.

But, my fear and doubt and insecurity got the best of me, and I bolted. Just like I always do. My mom always asks why I don’t ever bring home a boyfriend to meet her and Dad, and I always brush it off by saying that I’m busy and focused on my career right now. The truth is, I would love to have a relationship. I would love to have someone I can call mine, that I can introduce to my parents and go on dates with and stay up all night watching movies with.

Except every time I think a man is even remotely interested, I panic. I have no idea why I’m like this. There’s no underlying trauma that I’m running from. I’m just shy, and awkward, and have no idea how to react in social situations. So I get scared. And then I run.

I’m nearly at the door when I hear rustling behind me. “Zach!” The voice stops me in my tracks. Gods, he has no right having a voice that sexy.

“Zach, wait, please!” Alexander calls, sounding a bit desperate. I let go of the door handle and turn to face him, my heart pounding a mile a minute. He still looks unfairly hot, even all frazzled, with that gorgeous strawberry-blonde hair flopping over his face as he runs toward me.

A gasp catches in my throat as the situation becomes clear. He’s running to find me. He’s frazzled because he’s looking for me before I sneak out of here. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it. Why would he be chasing afterme?

I’m left standing there completely frozen while Alexander hustles toward me. “Zach!” he says breathlessly, running his fingers through his hair and pushing those strands out of his eyes. “I’m glad I caught you. You left without saying goodbye.”

I flush and look down at my feet. We barely even said hello. I didn’t realize I was required to say bye to him. Of course I don’t say that, though. He doesn’t deserve me being rude to him. I’m still so caught off guard that he actually came to find me, I’m tongue-tied.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

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