Page 14 of Alpha & Omega (Alpha's Rejects #4)

Exactly as Cueball predicted, Ajax suffered from bipolar disorder. My poor guy would have a long road ahead of him. Cueball had explained the disorder needed to be monitored for the rest of Ajax’s life. It broke my fucking heart. He didn’t deserve it.

Blaze, Cueball, and I stood in Ajax’s apartment, watching him sleep, exhausted after his ordeal and from the hospital visit and depression.

I was conflicted with worrying about him and my finances. I would do it over again in a second, but I couldn’t ignore it either. Then my thoughts trailed to Harley. I’d been too stressed out to think much about him until that moment, and I found myself struggling to get his idea out of my head.

No. Harley had butted into my business, something that wasn’t his concern, and went behind my back to look at my finances. Fuck him. I’d figure this out. I always did because I was a fucking survivor, dammit!

Blaze sniffed, drawing my attention to him. “I’m a fucking piece of shit. I’m selfish, and I can’t do anything right,” he whispered. His tattooed arms hugged himself tightly as the tears sprang into his eyes, and his lips trembled.

Cueball tried to reassure him when I said, “Despite your difficulties with Ajax, you care about him and his well-being. That’s important.”

That and he’d probably saved Ajax’s life. Fuck, what would I have done had Ajax committed suicide? It would’ve fucking wrecked me. If I lost any of my Rejects… They and Tony were all I had. To some people looking in, I had a large family. To me, it wasn’t large enough.

Tony was a mess, too, and I felt like sometimes I was the only one holding it all together, that everything would splinter and shatter if I weren’t around or something happened to me or Alpha’s Rejects. I suffocated from it sometimes, but I would continue to do anything for them.

Blaze then looked at me with pleading eyes, though he tried to hide his desperation. God, it was so weird to see him humble himself. “I need to find a job, but I’ve never had one before. I promised Ajax that I’d stop selling,” he said.

Did he mean drugs? “I could use another server,” I blurted and inwardly winced. I definitely needed another server, but I didn’t really have the money for one.

“Thank you, but you don’t have to pretend you need someone. I’ll figure it out.”

I deflated, feeling bad for Blaze, which was a new emotion considering I couldn’t stand him until recent events. “Who’s pretending? I’ve only got two people waiting tables between them all week. That’s a lot. I really need an extra person.”

His dark brown eyes, which were nearly black, grew wide. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. But if I take you on, that means no drugs… taking or selling.”

Blaze nodded vigorously, full of relief and appreciation .

God, what was I getting myself into? Deeper debt was what I was doing.

After Blaze promised not to leave Ajax’s side for the next few days, I went home with a little less worry for my friend and brother, confident that Blaze would call me if something were to happen again.

When I got home in the early evening, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. Between losing Harley and the shit he did, Ajax, my finances… I probably needed to get back into therapy. My mental state was starting to splinter. At least I had insurance for it, so I didn’t have to worry about the money for that. But where to find the time?

I made a quick salami sandwich with mustard, cheddar, and lettuce. Before I took a bite, my phone buzzed. I lifted it to find not only Tony calling, but a slew of text messages from Harley. I really needed to block him.

“Hey,” I said when I answered.

“Hey, back. I’m calling for our weekly chat.”

I huffed a laugh. “You couldn’t be calling at a better time.”

“Uh, oh. What’s going on?”

“First, how are you doing? Feeling okay?”

“King, you don’t need to be the one to check on everyone else. It’s okay if we check on you, too.”

I sighed, set the phone on the counter, and turned on the speaker so I could eat. I took a bite of my sandwich and, with a full mouth, said, “I’m just stressed out. So much shit is hitting the fan at once.”

“What’s happened? Can you elaborate?”

“If it’s not one thing, it’s another. You remember Ajax, my wild one, right?”

“Yeah?”

“He just got diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When he was in his manic phase, he blew through his savings, and today, we found him suicidal, so we had to rush him to the ER.”

Tony whistled on the other end. “Shit, man… Fuck, that’s scary.”

“Damn right it was. If Ajax hadn’t been with Blaze, this guy he’s been seeing, I’m not sure what would’ve happened. I could’ve lost him, Tony.”

“But you didn’t.”

“There’s always a chance it could happen again. He has to live with this for the rest of his life. They stabilized him with mood enhancers and antidepressants, and now he’s got to go into some intense therapy. But I had to cover his hospital bill. My guys just keep getting hurt, and I end up footing the bill for most of it because they don’t have the money or insurance. The fucking health care system in this country is fucked. I try to pay them what I can, but it’s never enough. And if I want to pay them more, I can’t because I’m getting behind on my rent and insurance payments.”

I sighed again, shoving away my food, no longer hungry. “I’m sorry for that word vomit.”

Tony was right. I really needed someone to talk to. Therapy it was. I wrote a note to remind myself to reach out to my doctor.

“It’s okay, King. I’m here if you need to talk.”

“You’ve got enough shit to deal with.”

“Dammit! I’m here for you, too. You’re not alone, you stubborn, sacrificial bastard.”

I laughed. “Telling me like it is, eh?”

“We’re both good at tough love.”

“Honestly, you have no idea how relieved I am that you called me. Your timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I needed this.”

“Any time. I don’t usually have sage advice like you do, but I’ve got ears. Now, how are you and Harley?”

I leaned back on my counter and scrubbed my face, feeling the frustration growing again. “There is no Harley and me. He went behind my back to look at my credit reports for my bar and offered to help me out by joining businesses. At first, I thought he had played me, but now that I’m rational again, I know he wasn’t trying to hurt me, but fuck, I don’t appreciate him sneaking around like that. I don’t trust him now.”

“Your worries are valid, man. He shouldn’t have done that. Have you talked to him since?”

“No, but he keeps trying to talk to me, and I don’t want to. I’m over this dating thing, and I don’t have time for it, anyway.”

“If you say so. It’s your life.”

“Enough about me. How are you and your guy?”

There was silence on the other end before he finally spoke up. “Uhm, fine. We’re good. ”

I narrowed my eyes, even though he couldn’t see me. “ Are you doing good? You don’t sound so sure.”

“No, no… we’re good. Really good.”

“You’d tell me otherwise, right?”

“Yeah… of course.”

“Tony…”

“Kingston, please. It’s fine. We’re good. We’ve just hit some… snags, is all. Don’t worry.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll stay out of it, but if you need me, call me, and I’ll be there in a flash.”

“Thanks, King. I know you will, but you worry about you now.”

“Okay. Talk to you later.”

“Night, King.”

A few days later, I gathered the Rejects, which included Cueball, because he’d been involved in helping to save Ajax. We headed to snag Ajax at his apartment and drag him to the skatepark for fresh air and to be smothered by family love.

Sundays had always been reserved for skating together. But as my business grew busier, so did I. It was hard for me to get out, but I made time today for Ajax.

I had gotten lost in finding ways to improve my business and make more money, but I hadn’t found a way yet. All that time, I tried not to get distracted by missing Harley. We hadn’t been together that long, but he’d made a big impact on my life, and I missed him despite still being mad.

He’d stopped reaching out to me, and I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed. God, I felt like an idiot with my flip-flopping emotions. I shouldn’t care because we wouldn’t be a thing again. It was over.

When we reached Ajax’s apartment, he opened the door to a swarm of family members hugging him and berating him. All of them had been so worried when they learned he’d nearly killed himself.

Blaze stood in the background and watched, hugging himself, looking lost, lonely, and uncertain. Then Ajax informed everyone that we would be calling his boyfriend Aiden instead of Blaze from now on. It was Pippin, of all people, who first went to Aiden and hugged him. Aiden was one of us now. He was a Reject.

Since only I had a car, we met at the Skatepark of Baltimore at Roosevelt Park. The day was absolutely perfect, with not a cloud in the sky and no humidity. It made me itch to skate. I was so out of practice, but skating in a competition again may have been my only choice to get out of my financial mess. That meant practicing… a lot.

Since my family was perfectly content sitting together, enjoying Ajax back with us, and alive, I headed off to skate.

The park was crowded, being such a nice day and on the weekend, but the skating bowl could accommodate most of us. It was gorgeous, covered in graffiti art, and I enjoyed skating in it. I would’ve rather used a half-pipe, but the relatively new park didn’t have one.

I stood on my board, on the edge, waiting for the area to be clear, then I dropped down, winding around the curvature of the bowl, pumping my foot to pick up speed before reaching the lip and catching air, practicing my tricks.

I’d fallen a couple of times, pissed at myself for being so fucking careless. I would never be able to compete in my current state, so with a deep breath, I picked myself up again and tried harder.

Soon, the warm day grew hotter, and I started sweating, but I kept pushing myself. Eventually, I had to take a breather because my leg muscles burned, which was another reminder of how out of shape I was, at least for skating.

I hopped out of the bowl, grabbed my board, and headed back to my family. Pippin and Nacho went off skating, but everyone else hung out on the blankets. As I headed closer to them, I lit up a smoke when I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

Walking in the distance toward me was none other than Harley-fucking-Creed. I thought he’d finally given up. Instead, he took a different path and came to meet me head-on.

It was my fucking day—a rare day off—and it was about Ajax getting out and feeling good. The last thing any of us needed was more stress.

I walked over to where my Rejects sat together as Harley drew closer. My heart started to beat a little faster, and… it ached. He looked so damn good.

I quickly put up my walls and scowled at him. The crew noticed my changing mood and watched Harley like death was walking toward us.

“Who’s that, Alpha?” Ajax asked.

“A pain in my ass is who he is.”

“He’s hot!” Blondie said.

“He’s not,” I growled, but he was. Harley looked stunning, with his tanned skin and long, wavy hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

He finally reached us and smirked. Maybe he smiled, and I was just projecting, being in a pissy mood and all.

“What’s up Kingston? What a surprise,” he asked.

“Surprise? Please. You following me, Harley?”

He smiled brightly, raised his face to the sun, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “I’m only here because it’s a beautiful day.”

“You don’t even skate.”

He shrugged. “I could learn,” he said before looking down at my family. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends, King?”

I used to like it when he called me that. Not anymore. It was too intimate—too friendly. “Don’t fucking call me that. And no, I’m not.”

He stood closer to me, about to open his mouth, before I stopped him. “I’m not doing this with you. Give it fucking up,” I said with more force than I intended.

“You know damn well I’m more interested in you than the business.”

“Bullshit. I’m not going to be manipulated. You know what? I’m not in the mood to skate anymore.”

Everyone groaned in irritation, but it was Ajax who piped up, telling Harley he needed to go, oozing danger.

Harley smiled and told me we needed to talk. Like hell we did. Fuck him coming here and ruining my day.

As I watched him saunter off, part of me almost asked him to stay because I did miss him. We had such an amazing connection and chemistry.

Fuck it. It didn’t matter anymore. Stick to your guns, Kingston.

“Don’t any of you ask me a fucking question about what just went down, or else I’m leaving,” I said and went off to skate again, needing to blow off steam.