Page 2 of Curtis & Jae (Mate Match #1)

Two

Curtis

Grace waggled my phone in front of my face, unlocking it. “You’ve got a match!”

My fingers paused on the keyboard. We were in my tiny office, barely big enough for the filing cabinets, wide desk, and three people, though it was enough.

The company I’d started eight years ago had grown from a single person, me, to a crew of twelve.

It was a rapidly growing operation thanks to my employees’ hard work ethic and our fair pricing.

There were two other supervisors now, each running small teams. We were kept busy and were in constant demand.

Sure, part of that was the quality of work.

Though I truly believed it was the amount of omegas on staff which set us apart from other home renovation companies in the area.

There was one on every team. Grace was on mine, while Marty led another.

If anyone asked me, I’d say Grace was the best damn electrician you could find in the state, I’d put money on it.

Marty, my best friend and longest employee, flashed me a look of surprise. “You let her do it?”

“You say let like I had a choice,” I drawled. Hopefully Grace understood it was affectionate. We were still finding our feet with each other, figuring out our growing friendship and what our limits were. I took her signing me up for a dating app as a sign that she was comfortable with me.

She chuckled. “You didn’t! My husband’s brother swears by this one.

He was mated within three months! Can you believe it?

” Grace lounged back in her seat. She was still a little pale after her last heat.

The crew were great with understanding when our omega staff had to take time off for heats.

We were pretty evenly spread with alphas, betas, and omegas and most had experience of their parents, siblings, or friends going through heats to be sympathetic.

Besides, it was dangerous to have an omega in heat at work, especially with building materials, machinery, and crap.

Having been friends with Marty for so long, I knew that from experience.

Hopefully this time, Grace’s heat would stick and they would get their hoped for baby.

We’d only have her part time after her baby leave, but it was better than losing her to the competition.

She was also free to work more if she chose.

We’d play it by ear when the baby arrived.

I was thinking positively that there was a baby in there for them because I knew she and her husband wanted it so badly.

It was one thing which drew me to her in the interview, her honesty was refreshing.

She had straight up told me she and her husband wanted a family, and if that was a problem, not to hire her. I gave her the job on the spot.

“So? Are you interested to see who you’ve been matched with?” Grace asked.

“I know I am. ‘Bout time you went on a date. It’s been like three years since you last had a relationship.” Marty would know. The beta I’d dated hadn’t liked my friend at all. Didn’t get his or his daughter’s place in my life. That made him pretty unlikable in my eyes. We hadn’t lasted long.

“Okay, give me the phone,” I said, fingers reaching out for the device.

The app was already open, though not the notification, Grace had left that for me.

Mate Match

Congratulations, Curtis, we have a rare 94% compatibility match for you. Click here to open your Mate Matched profile .

I opened the profile straight away and nearly closed it again when I saw the guy’s photo. He was much too cute for me, even if the photo was a tad blurry.

Seeing the others waiting expectantly, I read out the profile.

Mate Match profile summary for Jae Lee.

Jae is a male omega of 28. He is currently single, works as an illustrator, does not subscribe to any religion and his ethnicity is described as Asian, specifically Korean.

His likes: Movies, books, art, my cat, time with friends, going out to eat, learning about other cultures.

His dislikes: People who don’t like cats! The party scene.

Jae’s personal statement:

I think I’m pretty easy-going and open to new experiences. I’m looking for a male alpha for a long-term, monogamous relationship.

My ideal alpha is one who wants to protect omega rights, would prefer a cozy night in over one at a club, and is prepared to playfully argue anime ships with me.

“Korean?” Grace mused. “Is he hot?”

Turning my phone, I showed both of them the picture. Grace whistled low. “Damn,” Marty remarked.

“Outta my league.”

Grace leaned over to smack my face lightly. “None of that. You’re cute and one hell of a catch.” Marty fist bumped her in agreement.

“What she said,” Marty added. “I know Tag did a number on your confidence, but you’ve got so much going for you. Jae would be lucky to end up with an alpha like you.”

“Does this mean you’re looking to date again?” Grace wondered, leaning into Marty. They’d struck up such a great friendship in the months she’d been working with us.

My best friend hesitated. He’d been single aside from a few short-term things since he’d gotten pregnant in his early twenties.

Marty had met an alpha who wanted to take him through his heat.

What he hadn’t wanted was the child he’d created with Marty, leaving the omega to raise their daughter alone.

Marty had discovered he was pregnant too late to do anything about it, though he’d said he would have kept the baby, no matter how difficult raising her alone was.

“Not yet. Let’s get Curtis mated off first, alright? Then we can think about an alpha to handle all this.” He pointed a finger at himself with a grin.

“Have you two never thought—” Grace began.

“No,” I said along with Marty. “I love him, but no. He’s my best friend. We just wouldn’t work like that.”

“What he said,” Marty agreed.

“Okay, whatever. A match this high is amazing! Are you going to message him?”

“Yeah, just not with you two underfoot.”

“Guess that’s our cue to leave.” Marty grinned, showing there were no hard feelings.

Once they both left the office, I took my time over my message. I hoped Jae would like my profile and reply. Butterflies fluttered in my gut at the thought of meeting him. There was just something about his profile that appealed to me.

Somehow, I was still surprised when he replied to me, going in with a difficult question straight off the bat. Figuring out the answer took me a little while, especially since I had a couple of calls to take. I worried Jae would think I wasn’t interested.

When he liked my answer and my fishing for a date, I felt spurred on. Was it silly to feel a connection to this virtual stranger?

We shot back and forth with the basics about our families and jobs. Not all that much information outside of what was in the profile honestly. It took me an hour of back and forth before I dared ask him out to dinner. The force of my smile hurt my cheeks! I couldn’t remember smiling so wide.

“I’ve got a good feeling, Mama,” I said to her picture.

Even though we had a date set up, we still messaged back and forth for a while.

Curtis

Favorite Color? Mine is green. Like grass or leaves. We don’t do landscaping, but I like seeing the yards when they get people in to make them nice. I really should get mine done properly.

Jae

You own a house? I’ve got an apartment. I’d love a place to grow some vegetables! My favorite color is blue. What’s your favorite season? I like spring when everything is growing.

Curtis

Yeah, I was really lucky with this place and renovated it myself in between jobs when I was starting out. Fall is my favorite. The colors are pretty. I should ask if you have any allergies or foods you don’t like, so I can make a reservation for our date.

He was gone for a long time. I worried I’d put him off.

I had the feeling I was going to be on edge until our date, stressing about putting him off me before we could meet properly.

Then I reminded myself I had a lot going for me, like my friends had said.

Tag getting into my head and ruining things couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Finally, he replied.

Jae

That’s awesome! Yeah, fall is a great choice. It’s cuddling up with a book or a movie weather. No allergies that I can think of. I don’t eat a lot of red meat. As long as there’s other options on the menu, I’m pretty easy to feed. Obviously, being Korean, I can handle a little spice.

Well, that made it pretty easy. There were plenty of places I could take him. Once I got home, I spent an hour looking at restaurants in the area before picking a place that I knew had decent pheromone control and great food. I’d never left the place hungry. I called and was lucky to get a table.

Curtis

Our reservation is set. Looking forward to meeting you.

In the message I sent the pin for the place and included the online menu. I hoped he would like where I’d picked. It wasn’t the fanciest of places, but I wasn’t that kind of guy and I didn’t want to set expectations early on.

Luckily, Jae seemed to be on board with my choice.

Jae

Oh! That place looks nice. I’ve walked past it a few times and thought about eating there. I can’t wait to meet you, is that strange to say? We’ve only been talking for a day. I just feel like we’ll have a good time on our date.

Jae

Okay, this might ruin the vibe. A serious question for you. What are you looking for in an ideal partner?

I looked at the question for a long moment until I forced myself to shrug off the worry.

Either Jae would like me for me, or we would have our date and it wouldn’t come to anything.

I’d be disappointed, sure, but at least I’d have tried.

Jae was way out of my league, still I couldn’t help thinking we could be good together.

Curtis

I’m looking to get to know you, not some image, so it’s okay to be real with me.

What am I looking for? A guy who wants to spend Sunday brunch with my family, or a day picking out plants for our garden.

I want someone to come home to. Someone to cook for and with.

A guy I can share my life with. Who has interests, opinions, and thoughts he’s gonna share with me.

A mate. I want a family at some point. If that’s not biological kids, I’m open to adopting, though I want children to feature in my future.

I want a partner to navigate life with and to hold at night.

Love. A long time of love, like my parents had.

Being vulnerable wasn’t easy. My knee-jerk response was to put down something more benign, yet that went against what I was hoping to build with Jae. Starting out with lies would do us both a disservice.

Jae

Kids, huh? Me too. Maybe Mate Match has some things right, because you sound exactly like the kind of alpha I’ve been looking for. Another heavy question for you. How do you feel about omegas working after they have babies?

I smiled when I thought of Marty. He’d worked his ass off to finish trade school, albeit a couple of years later than me. My dad had helped him out with childcare until Marty was working full-time and got Maddy into daycare.

Curtis

My best friend, who happens to work for me supervising his own team, is a single omega parent. I hope I’ve made it easier for him to work and raise his daughter.

Jae

Curtis, you might just be too good to be true. I can’t wait to meet you on our date.