Page 4 of Billy and Cord (Omega Hearts #1)

Billy expected a flurry of messages in the morning, which is why, after he’d had a shift the night before, he’d headed home and gone through his code one last time. It was a comma mistake, something Billy had suffered through before.

But he was happy because being away from his desk allowed him to see things with fresh eyes when he got back to it.

He was able to fix the mistake, sitting with his fingers, legs, and even his eyes crossed as he waited for the code to process, and when it did what he wanted it to do, he let out a victory yell.

He uploaded the project before stumbling into bed, sending out a mental note of thanks to his friends who had persisted and dragged him out of the house.

By the time his notifications started, Billy had already rested, showered, and felt like a new man. He was enjoying a cup of hot chocolate as he caught up with his emails.

You up?

That was Cece, and in the silence of his little house, Billy giggled. He was nearly always awake a lot sooner than his friend.

I’ve even showered. Did you have a fun night? he sent back with a smile emoji, before clicking back into his email screen. Cece wasn’t the fastest typer in the world, and Billy imagined his friend would have a lot to say.

We have a date for lunch.

Billy wasn’t surprised about that either. Cece always had the knack of saying the right thing, which encouraged alphas to want to date him. The ‘we’ was unusual though.

You and Tristan both? Congratulations. Are the alphas friends with each other?

That was the most likely situation. Many alphas liked dating omegas because they enjoyed the company, and group dates were often preferred by parents who cared about their omega’s safety.

I’m not thinking despondent thoughts today.

It’s a good day, Billy reminded himself firmly as he deleted about a dozen junk emails.

We, as in Tristan, me, and you!

Billy’s eyes widened at the message, and then he groaned.

He had talked to a couple of alphas he’d recognized from attending previous events the night before, but they were just being friendly.

Both parties already knew they weren’t interested in dating him.

The alphas were simply being kind, seeing him sitting alone, and Billy appreciated that.

Cece, we’ve talked about this, he tapped out firmly. You can’t go making dates for me just because the alpha you want to date has a second cousin or someone visiting him, and you want me to make up the numbers. He hit send with a sharp click.

And, he added, because he could see Cece was typing again, I don’t allow alphas I don’t know to buy me a meal because I don’t think it’s fair, and I don’t have the spare cash to pay for lunch myself today. It’s rent week.

The dots were still wiggling in their little bubble, so Billy went back to his emails.

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate what Cece and Tristan did for him, because he honestly did.

A lot of omegas turned their noses up at Billy when they heard he didn’t have parents watching out for his interests, and there had been some rude comments in the past.

But Cece and Tristan had been his friends since grade school, and their loyalty didn’t waver when his circumstances changed so radically on his eighteenth birthday.

It was Tristan’s brother who’d found him his house to lease when his parents kicked him out, and Cece’s parents showed him how to budget for himself and where to buy groceries at reduced prices.

Billy knew he was getting a good deal on the rent, and Cece’s parents’ help gave him the confidence to learn to cook for himself.

“I’m glad Cece and Tristan have gotten a lovely lunch date out of their evening,” he muttered to himself as he deleted even more junk mail. And he genuinely was happy for them. He just had other things to think about.

There was a notification from his bank alerting him he’d been paid by his client.

Considering it was barely nine in the morning, and Billy had only sent the project back about eight hours before, he was quietly pleased.

He had built up a small but reliable clientele over the years, who kept him busy with regular work – something all freelancers knew was the cornerstone of regular income coming in.

The pay coming in so fast meant that technically, Billy could afford to go to lunch, provided his friends weren’t going anywhere too fancy… he was jolted from his thoughts by another message ding.

The alpha taking you to lunch is your mate. Me, Tristan, and the mate’s alpha friend are acting as chaperones. We’re all going to Paradox so you can wear your new clothes.

No wonder it took so long for Cece’s message to come through. That was probably the most words Billy had ever seen Cece write in a single message. Unfortunately, the words didn’t make any sense at all.

I didn’t meet my mate last night. What are you talking about?

The phone rang with Cece’s ringtone, and Billy quietly giggled to himself. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Did the typing strain your flirty fingers this early in the morning?”

“I got the distinct impression you weren’t believing what I was typing in the first place,” Cece said brightly. “Billy, you have a mate.”

Billy waited, but the last line of the joke seemed to be missing. “Er… we all have a mate out there somewhere,” he said slowly. “I do hope I’ll meet mine one day, but I know for certain I didn’t meet them last night.”

“I know you didn’t, but you’re going to meet him today.” Cece laughter rang across the airwaves. “There was this alpha, and he tripped over me on the dance floor. You’d already left by then…”

You didn’t know what time I left, my clueless friend, you never do, but of course, Billy didn’t say that, and it wouldn’t matter if he had because Cece was still talking. “So he asked me if I had sat next to someone recently…”

“Tristan?” Billy guessed. Once they’d gotten to the event, Cece never sat still for long. “It was probably Tristan, right?”

“That’s what I thought, too, so I called Tristan over.

There we were, two peas in a pod standing shoulder to shoulder on the dance floor, and this alpha is sniffing us, and then…

” Cece started to laugh again. “He pointed to the non-existent space in between us and said – I kid you not – he said, ‘the one in the middle.’”

Cece’s laughter was contagious. “Oh, dear,” Billy said when he’d stopped chuckling long enough to speak. “So this was a long winded way of telling me you’d met an alpha who had a few issues with his vision, perhaps?”

“He was referring to you as the third person.” Cece paused a moment, and while Billy was still trying to work out what he was getting at, he continued, “Tristan and I sat on either side of you in the taxi. It was you he scented and then got all hot and bothered about. Honestly, his friend Bullet, you’ve heard me mention him before I’m sure as he’s a well established local, but anyway he had to clamp his hand on this man’s shoulder to stop him wolfing out.

Over your scent…” he added for emphasis.

“Are you sure? Are you positive it was my scent?” Billy whispered.

He’d only ever seen an alpha get hot and bothered over a scent once before, at another Omega Hearts event.

The man had come so close to shifting his jacket split at the seams, and he had to be escorted off the dance floor so he could get himself together.

“Yes. You were the only one Tristan and I sat close enough to for a scent transfer. It was you, Billy, it was you, and I was right. Go on, tell me I was right.”

“Right about what?” Billy was still imagining an alpha getting all hot and bothered over his scent. Gods. What if he’s disappointed when he sees me in the flesh?

“I said you’d be the first one between the three of us to find their mate. I said it in the taxi last night.”

“You were right,” Billy echoed faintly. “Cece!” Panic and reality hit him at the same time. “What do I say? What do I wear? What does he look like? Does he have a name? Give me something here, Cece, I’m freaking out.”

“I knew you would be. Tristan is already on his way to pick me up – we’ll grab breakfast for all of us and head straight to your place.

Go and shower again, clean everywhere , and we’ll be there by the time you’re finished.

Billy, this is a good thing,” his friend added in a lower tone.

“You deserve this, and I promise I’ll tell you all about him when we get there. All right?”

“All right.” Billy wasn’t sure if Cece even heard as the call disconnected.

His email pinged, and he saw his client had another job for him.

He reached for the mouse, ready to read the message and schedule the work, but then shook his head and clicked the button, putting his computer into sleep mode.

For the first time in his life, Billy had something else to focus on than keeping clients happy…

like a mate. Maybe. Possibly. Oh shit, what if it’s actually true?