Page 1 of Alec in Wonderland (Rainbow Tales #1)

Alec Hashimoto hunched forward and drew his knit cap lower on his head. It wasn't a great defense against the rain, but he was a Portland native and he could take it. Layers of knitwear insulated him beneath his raincoat, and his boots were weatherproof. It was winter, which meant rain in Oregon. A lot of rain. In Portland, it also meant biting wind coming off the water. Thus, layers covered in a weatherproof coat. The tourists, who didn't know the proper dressing protocol, were miserable, making Alec grin as he passed a few. Their fault for not googling that shit.

“Don't visit Portland in February,” he muttered. “Go to Hawaii. It's only another six hours away. Hell, maybe I should go to Hawaii.”

“Hiya, Alec!”

Alec nodded at Iris, the owner of Sassy Fries, a food truck in the same pod as the one he owned with his best friend, Kevin. She lifted her chin at him. That was practically a hug in this weather. Up ahead was Bento Brothers, his truck. They had a great spot near the entrance of the lot, and it filled him with pride every time he saw the glossy black truck with its kawaii images of dancing sushi. It had taken hard work, money, and talent to get there. Then it took more hard work, money, and perseverance to become successful.

Kevin was already inside the truck and grunted a greeting at Alec when he opened the side door, the braid of his dark beard bobbing. Alec chuckled every time he saw that braid. It was Kevin's way of putting the customers at ease. No one wanted beard hair in their food.

Beards were common in Portland. Alec often wished he could grow one as thick and long as Kevin's. If for no other reason than to keep his face warm. However, his Caucasian blood wasn't strong enough to overcome the Japanese genes he got from his dad. The only facial hair he could manage to grow came in sparse and poky. Just sad. Sad facial hair. And that was worse than a braided beard.

“Hey,” Alec said to Kevin as he peeled off his layers.

The truck wasn't too warm yet, but it would get there, thanks to the fryers they used for the tempura and deep-fried sushi. The grill would help as well, but they didn’t use it as often. People love fried food. Especially Portlandians.

Alec finally got down to his T-shirt—one advertising the truck, of course—and got to work on prep. Soon, Kevin and he were working in blissful harmony. They'd been navigating the confines of their food truck for three years now and had it down to a dance. They were ready fifteen minutes ahead of time. Enough for a cup of coffee.

Alec and Kevin took their mugs outside and sat under the pavilion where gas fire pits were already running, warming the space for the customers soon to come. Portlandians loved their food trucks and would brave any kind of weather for them. And with their pod having such a great location in the middle of downtown, they also got the employees coming out on their lunch breaks.

“Hey, guys,” Ishan from India Bites said and sat down beside them. He had a giant metal mug in his hands and took a sip before asking, “Did you hear about the earthquake?”

“In California?” Alec asked. “I swear, God has it out for that state. It's going to pull an Atlantis and fall off one of these days.”

“No, man. Here. They're saying it originated just beneath Marquam.”

“What? The park?” Alec looked at Kevin. “That's near my place.”

“You didn't feel it this morning?” Ishan asked.

“Nope.”

Kevin snorted. “Alec can sleep through anything.”

“Yeah, I can,” Alec admitted, smoothing back his hair even though the thick, black length laid slick against his head, tight in a ponytail that hung to mid-back on him. His hair got him nearly as much dick as his green eyes. An Asian with green eyes is even better than a black guy with green eyes. That shit is rare. And Alec knew how to work it.

“Tell him about the sex you slept through,” Kevin said.

Alec glared at him. “That's not cool.”

“What?!” Ishan asked in horrified glee.

“Some guy thought it would be sexy to wake Alec up with a little oral,” Kevin started.

“Kev,” Alec growled.

“All right, all right.” Kevin held up a hand. “Sorry. Not my deeply private and humiliating sex story to share.”

“Well, it's too late now,” Ishan said. “You've already given up the goods. I can figure out the rest.” He chuckled. “You slept through a blow job?”

“I woke up at the end,” Alec muttered.

Ishan and Kevin burst out laughing.

“Well, the earthquake wasn't all that impressive as far as earthquakes go. But you know how people are, what with the city being built over a 'seismically active area.'” Ishan made air quotes to go with the last bit. “Everyone's freaking the fuck out.”

“Yeah, it's been a while since we had one.” Alec took a drink of his coffee, enjoying the warmth and the caffeine, then stood up. “All right, I see some people coming. We'd better get to the trucks.”

“Why don't I ever see you working the window?” Ishan asked Kevin.

“You think people want to buy sushi from a white guy?” Kevin asked. “I need Alec to sell the authenticity. If only he'd do the accent.”

“I'm not faking a Japanese accent.” Alec walked away. “I won't be your little dancing monkey.”

“Aw come on,” Kevin teased as he followed. “An accent with that pretty face of yours? We'd be rollin' in it.”

“Yeah, rollin' in bullshit.”

Kevin snorted and slapped Alec on the back. “That's gross, man. Gross. But I would like to see you dance like a monkey.” He bent his arms under and started jumping around, making monkey sounds.

Alec rolled his eyes, ignored his partner's idiocy, and got in the truck to do some last-minute prep. With that done, the only thing to do was wait. Kevin put something on his kindle, the thing clamped in one of those long-arm devices you use if you're too lazy to hold the damn thing. The metal piece gripped one of the metal shelves and hung over the grill.

Alec glanced at the kindle as Kevin scrolled down YouTube, then looked out the window. A flash of white caught his eye. There, just outside the lot entrance, stood a man with blond hair so pale that it was practically white. On top of that, he wore white, down to his boots. The only pop of color came from a pink satin vest.

If they were anywhere else, Alec might have assumed the man was gay. But in Portland, where weirdness abounded, that wasn't a safe bet. That being said, even the oddballs knew better than to wear all white in downtown Portland. In the rain. This guy was either a tourist or nuts.

Then Alec noticed that the man was staring at him.

When he met the man's stare, the guy nodded as if he'd been waiting for the acknowledgment. Then he pulled a pocket watch out of his shiny vest. He checked the time, met Alec's stare once more, and tapped the watch.

Alec frowned at the man.

He tapped the watch again.

“What the fuck?”

“What's that?” Kevin asked.

“Huh?” Alec looked over. “Oh, there's a freak out there, looking at me while he taps his pocket watch.”

“What? A pocket watch? That is freaky.” Kevin snorted a laugh.

“I'm serious. This guy is giving me the creeps.”

Kevin came over and leaned out the window. “Where?”

“Right there.” Alec motioned, but then realized that the man was gone. “Huh. He was right there.”

“Fucking Portland,” Kevin muttered and went back to his kindle.