Page 7 of Alpha & Omega (Alpha's Rejects #4)

It’d been five days since my date with Harley. I hadn’t told my family about him because I didn’t want to deal with the incessant teasing they loved to dish out on each other. All they knew was that I had a date, and it went well, which didn’t stop them from nagging the hell out of me for the details, but I’d managed to keep a tight lip until they eventually grew bored.

I drove down to Arlington, VA, right outside of Washington, DC, to see my foster brother. I checked in on him two to three times a month to make sure he was doing well, but I tried to get down here every Monday if I could.

When I parked the car in the parking lot of the apartment complex, I got a text.

Harley: You know what’s really stupid?

Me: That we don’t have universal healthcare?

Harley: …

I laughed and sent another response.

Me: Sorry, sore spot.

Harley: Universal healthcare would be amazing, but back on

track. Do you realize we didn’t ask where we worked? I feel

really stupid right now. I mean, that was the one thing that

drew me to you. You knew what it meant to run a business.

I’m feeling really dumb right now, and I’d love to check

out your bar.

Me: Well, I was distracted by your body. Not sure what your

excuse is.

Harley: I fell under the same spell.

Me: Seriously, you’re right. So, I’ve got a bar called Alpha’s

Rejects. I named it in dedication to my crew. I created the place

for all of us, after all.

When I didn’t hear back from him for a while, I assumed he got distracted, so I got out of the car and made my way into the lobby of the apartment complex. Suddenly, my phone buzzed again.

Harley: No fucking way. Sorry, I was processing.

That stopped me. What did he mean? Did he know of my bar?

Me: Totally serious.

Harley: What are the fucking odds? We work right next door to

each other. You know, Harley’s Haven? Seriously, why haven’t

I made the connection until now? Alpha who owns a bar…

Alpha’s Rejects .

Hell, why didn’t I? It did seem coincidental now that he mentioned it, since Harley wasn’t a common name. It suddenly made me tense as hell, too. Why the hell hadn’t I made the connection? I knew the restaurant’s name, and my date was Harley, who was a chef. Talk about small worlds.

Ever since his restaurant and bar opened, I’d been losing customers. Sure, some swaggered back in when his bar closed two hours before mine, but still, I was losing money. I wouldn’t have felt the financial sting so much had the costs not gone up and I didn’t have all those medical bills to cover. That money had been part of my savings for a rainy day, and to give me a little cushion.

Me: That’s wild. I’ll have to check it out.

I turned off my phone for now since I’d reached Tony’s door, and knocked. Like Harley, I also needed to process.

Ever since Tony was in his motorcycle accident late last year, I’d been checking on him regularly. He’d been drinking heavily and was now in Alcoholics Anonymous by order of a judge. He’d always been a heavy drinker, which wasn’t uncommon among foster care kids as they grew up, along with substance abuse. At least neither of us did drugs other than some weed once in a while.

Because he crashed into a parked car while trashed, the court ordered him to attend AA meetings. Tony recovered fine, and he was on the right path, but I knew enough about substance abuse and alcoholism to understand how easy it could be to slide back into. I couldn’t watch him all the time, so my periodic visits were to show him he wasn’t alone.

He’d been there for me when I needed someone to lean on while growing up in foster care. I felt alone and abandoned, resentful of my parents, and now it was my turn to take care of him. Tony was only a year older than me, but he took me under his wing.

That night had been fucking rough on me, too. Not only had Tony ended up in the hospital, but I hadn’t been at Alpha’s when Stone was the victim of a hate crime and also ended up in the hospital. It’d been a double whammy that night. Once I knew Tony was fine, I rushed back home to check on Stone.

Tony opened the door and smiled up at me with gray eyes. His being five inches shorter, I needed to bend down a little and pull him into a brotherly hug .

“King! How’s it hanging?” he said, pulling away and stepping aside so I could come in.

“It’s good. How about you?”

“I’m fine. Work’s good and shit. Still not drinking.”

“I’m so proud of you, Tony.”

We sat on the sofa in his studio apartment. As a waiter, he couldn’t afford the nicest place. I kept pushing him to come to Baltimore and stay with me since my place had two bedrooms, but he wanted his independence.

Tony fingered back his long brown bangs and leaned back on the sofa. “So, how are things up in Baltimore?”

“It’s all good. The bar is struggling a bit, but…”

He smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “The drawback of taking care of everyone, including yours truly.”

“Well, you took care of me, so it’s the least I can do.”

He abruptly stood. “Oh, shit. Can I get you something to drink? I’ve got some root beer, water, orange juice…”

“Water’s good.”

He headed to the kitchen and returned a moment later with two water bottles, handing me one.

“So, what’s going on exactly?”

I sighed heavily. “Rent is going up, insurance is going up, everyone keeps landing in the damn hospital. It’s like everything is increasing in price, and I can’t keep up. The bar is doing pretty well, but the weekdays are slowing down.”

“You had to help me, too, when I went into the hospital.” He sat up, looking at me with wide gray eyes under thick dark brows. “I’ll try to get you some of that money back, I swear. It’s just that things are—”

I waved him off. “You’re not paying me back. We’re brothers, and you don’t have any insurance. Besides, I know you’ll be there for me if I ever need it.”

“Always.”

Tony’s leg bounced as he stared at his blank TV screen.

“Anything else going on with you?” I asked. “How’s your new boyfriend?”

Tony had always struggled to find someone between his drinking and mental health issues. I’d hoped now that he was in recovery, he’d find someone. He was sweet and attractive. Surely, there was someone who wanted to give him a chance, and it seemed there was finally that someone for him.

He scoffed. “Good… I mean, he’s cool. I try not to burden anyone with all my shit, so I’m just lying low and trying to be chill. And… I still miss drinking, like… every day. But Justin is really supportive.”

I hated to admit it, but it was nice to have an extra pair of eyes on him. I gripped his shoulder. “You’re doing so well, Tony. I wish you would try not to be so hard on yourself. You’re doing amazingly.”

“I… just want to feel better, you know? Not feel like I’m crawling out of my skin all the time. That addiction is always fucking hungry. I never even thought I drank all that much until… well, you know.”

“I get it.”

“Anyway, enough about me. How’s your love life, Mr. I’m Too Busy for Love?”

I chuckled. “Actually, I’ll have you know I had a date with a guy last week. I really like him, but…”

Tony sat up, his gray eyes wide and a smirk on his face. He dragged his fingers through his tousled dark brown hair, pulling his bangs away from his face. “I need all the deets!”

“His name is Harley. We met on a dating app, but damn if we didn’t hit it off that night. He’s really hot with long, dark brown hair, tall and built like me, and he’s a dad with a teenage son. He’s also a chef. We slept together on the first night, and it was… fire. Even better, he works long hours like me, so he understands about having limited time.”

“He sounds dreamy,” he said, fluttering his lashes.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “He’s quite dreamy, but…”

“Please don’t tell me you found something wrong with him already just to get out of anything serious.”

“You know me so well, but not this time. While I really do like Harley, I just found out he’s my competition. His restaurant is right next door to my bar, and it’s been siphoning customers, especially during the week. Instead of coming to my bar, they’re going to his and having dinner. On the weekends, they drag themselves over to my place since I close later, but between all the costs going up, I’m losing business, and his restaurant and bar aren’t helping. ”

Tony shrugged. “Have you thought about opening earlier in the day? As someone who used to drink, a lot of bars open around lunchtime.”

“Those places also serve food. I don’t have the staff and can’t afford to hire more staff to do that, let alone find the time to build a kitchen, create a menu, and all the other shit that goes with running a restaurant. Opening at five in the evening is the best I can do right now.”

“I wish I had some sage advice for you, but I’m just a waiter, not a businessman. Can you like… talk to Harley about how you feel? Maybe you two can bring your business heads together and come up with a plan where you’re both successful.”

“I’m not sure it works that way. I don’t know… dating him or not doesn’t change anything regarding my business, but now I feel kind of weird.”

“But you like him?”

“Yeah, I really do. It’s been a long ass time since I found someone I connected with… if ever. Not like I do with Harley.”

Tony turned to face me, tucked a leg underneath him, and patted my shoulder. “If this budding relationship doesn’t impact your business, dating him or not, then you should go for it.”

I looked down at my water bottle, which I barely touched, picking at the label, and nodded. “Yeah, but… I’m terrified I’ll lose my bar. That’s how bad things are getting. If something does happen, it’ll put a strain on any potential relationship with him.”

“So what if it does? All relationships come with ‘what ifs.’ I know commitment scares you, but don’t let this get in the way of your happiness. Say, have you thought about doing another skateboarding competition?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but honestly, I’m not what I used to be. I’m a little rusty from working so much… A lot rusty.”

“So, take some time to practice. I mean, you won your first competition without even having a sponsor. That came later. You still won money. Eventually, you got so good, you got a sponsor and made enough to put down on your bar.”

“Maybe. It’ll take time, and I’ll be competing against skaters much younger than me. ”

“So what if it does? You’re not going to go out of business immediately, are you?”

“No, I’m just heading in that direction if things don’t change soon. Thanks for talking me through this, Tony. I’ll need to think about this some more.”

“Anytime. I hope everything works out for you.” He smacked my shoulder. “So, do you have a picture of this Harley? Let’s see if he has what it takes for my Kingston.”

I snorted a laugh, pulled out my phone from my pocket, and turned it on. That was when I saw a message from Harley asking if everything was okay, but I hadn’t responded yet. I wanted to think about things first. After scrolling through my images since I’d saved the photo, I found it and showed it to him.

“Hot,” he said. “Wow, you’re dating a sexy dad.”

“That I am. Well, we only had one date.”

“And I’m sure there will be many more.”

I stood, and Tony followed me so he could walk me to the door. “I better run so I can get ready before the bar opens. So, next Monday again?”

“Sure, good to see you, King.”

We hugged again, and I headed back to Baltimore and my worries.