Page 2

T here was something soothing about routine. Sure, there were slight variations in the day-to-day, but a lot of it was the same: report to work at the shipping hub, load my truck, and head out. My route took me past the same landmarks and into the same businesses. I watched children grow and wave at me as I drove past houses in the residential part of my route.

Some men craved adventure. Not me. I was happy knowing what to expect.

I pulled into a strip mall and grumbled at the sight of the orange Deliveries R Us truck parked along the side of the building. It meant that Axel had gotten ahead of me, despite my beating him to flirting with Bryce that morning.

I parked behind Axel’s truck and grabbed a stack of envelopes and small packages. I loaded them into my bag, then slung it over my shoulder as I climbed out.

I couldn’t pinpoint the first time Axel and I met. Instead, it was the slow realization that I kept seeing the same face on my route. Eventually, we learned each other’s names and had been friendly rivals ever since.

I spotted Axel’s familiar head of black hair as he exited an insurance agent’s office a few doors down. I glanced around to make sure nobody else was within earshot as I approached.

“Morning, Asshole,” I chirped.

He turned to face me. “Finally caught up, did you, Slip?”

“How many stops did you skip to get ahead of me?”

“Why would I need to skip stops when I know you’re distracted by a pretty face?”

I laughed. “I could say the same about you.”

He snorted and rolled his blue eyes. “Keep dreaming, ‘cause I’m not distracted by you.”

Axel turned and started walking to his next stop in the strip mall.

“Are you calling me pretty?” I called after him.

“Figure it out yourself,” he shouted over his shoulder before ducking into a jewelry store.

I gaped for several seconds, then shook my head. Axel seemed to like playing with my head, and I had too busy a day ahead of me to dwell on it. I dropped off a box at an acupuncturist’s office, then headed to the same insurance agent’s office he’d exited only minutes prior.

Axel’s truck was gone by the time I’d made my rounds, but I wasn’t surprised. It was common for us to leapfrog each other throughout the day, depending on what deliveries we had. Our routes were practically identical, except for Axel’s early customers.

I next spotted him parked outside a dental office, but I didn’t have anything for them, so I continued on. Not long after that, he drove past as I was leaving a pharmacy.

It was all part of the routine.

Morning turned to afternoon, and with it the switch from delivering to businesses to residential addresses. While I saw Axel’s orange truck less in the afternoons, the computers and consultants that optimized routes still kept us on mostly the same path. It was a rare day that I didn’t spot him after lunch.

I was beginning to think it was going to be one of those days when I pulled onto a cul-de-sac and spotted him turning around at the end.

The second thing I noticed was the moving van parked in front of a house, forcing me to wait for Axel to pass before I could get to my delivery location. I took a moment to glance at the people moving boxes and furniture, and spotted a cute omega seemingly directing the moving crew where to go.

I hoped he was the homeowner—I wouldn’t mind seeing him again. Even from the road, his brown hair looked soft, and his glasses made him look adorable.

Just my type.

Bright orange caught my attention from the corner of my eye, and I instinctively turned to give Axel a one-finger salute, which he immediately returned with a grin.

I laughed and shook my head, then maneuvered around the moving van and parked in front of my destination.

One happy customer later, and I was strolling back to my truck when I glanced over at the house with the moving van again.

I imagined myself flirting with the cute omega when I was finally given a package to deliver when he happened to be home.

But for some reason, Axel was also in my daydream. And… I wasn’t mad about it.

I shook my head and climbed back into my truck. I had a few more residential deliveries to make, then it was time to head back to select businesses to pick up outbound packages.

Assuming the cute omega was the resident, there would be time to meet him.