Page 3 of Curtis & Jae (Mate Match #1)

Three

Jae

Brady took a seat at the table opposite me, setting his full beer glass down. “Okay, I’ve changed my mind. I’m no longer supporting this. Are you sure it’s a good idea? This guy could be anyone!”

I leveled him with a look. “It’s a date, not a marriage proposal. Besides, using the app was your idea in the first place.”

He waved a hand. “I know, but I’ve had a change of heart after the last date. All week I’ve been worried about the whole thing. I’ve hardly heard a peep from you!” he muttered accusingly. He took a sip of his beer while he waited for me to answer.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. It’s just… well, we’ve been chatting, my match and me.

He seems really great. Weren’t you the one who said it was time I got back out there?

” Brady grimaced into his drink. “I can’t exactly hope someone will just fall at my feet ready to date me just so I have a convenient heat partner. ”

There was more to me signing up for the app than just meeting someone to take me through my next heat, yet I wasn’t ready to discuss my growing feeling of loneliness with Brady. I had other troubles to worry about.

Over the last few weeks, as my heat approached, Brady had been lecturing me about getting someone to get me through it.

My last heat was a nightmare, making it more important to have a partner.

They were almost unbearable due to my troubles with the hormones.

While I still had a couple of weeks to go until the next one started, it was a pretty heavy concern of mine.

I tried to console myself that there was plenty of time to find someone I could trust to get me through it.

At least, I hoped. That was why I was about to meet my first proper date in four years.

I wasn’t calling the last match a date. It was over before it began.

It was like the first pancake, right? Didn’t count.

Brady’s frown deepened. “That’s not what I mean at all. I… are you really sure you’re over Hwan? Is going through your heat with some random alpha a good idea?”

“Wasn’t this your idea in the first place?” I reminded him once more. My tone was slightly sharper than I’d intended. I made an apologetic face, which Brady waved off.

My friend’s concern, though touching, was utterly unnecessary.

I’d been over Hwan the moment he’d told me he’d gotten his affair partner pregnant.

They were now married and had a darling little baby.

Everyone around me could hardly stop talking about it!

Especially my damn extended family, mainly my grandparents, who insisted it was my fault Hwan had replaced me with someone who wanted to give him a baby, even if there was an overlap between us breaking up and them being together.

They didn’t see the cheating as a problem, though, when he’d gotten the outcome they wanted for me.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want a baby, I just hadn’t been ready then, not that Hwan had even asked me!

Neither of us had been willing to accept it wasn’t working and risk our families’ displeasure when we inevitably broke up.

Our parents had set us up because we both came from Korean backgrounds to ensure our babies were purely Korean. Yeah, gross, right?

My upbringing instilled in me a respect for my elders. My parents were good people, though led by my grandparents, particularly my mom’s parents, who had returned to Korea once their children were all married.

The culture and traditions I had grown up with now felt distant to me.

All I’d known was my life in the US. Sure, I had been to Seoul and my grandparents’ house in Gangnam many times, but they felt I had become too Americanized.

They lectured my parents constantly about me attending university in Portland and studying a political sciences degree because I wanted to improve omega rights.

Seeing as I became a book illustrator thanks to those art classes I’d ended up taking, maybe they’d had a point about my changed major—I’d left college with an art degree instead.

Yet, despite changing majors, I still believed omega rights had a ways to go.

I just knew now that it had to come from alphas pushing the change, not one omega with some political science credits.

Plus, I loved my job. Made a decent living out of it, despite what Hwan or anyone else said on the matter.

Since we had evolved to have a secondary gender at the start of the twentieth century, there had been so many clashes over rights.

Men, particularly those who became omegas, suddenly found themselves being treated far differently than they were used to, often losing rights they were accustomed to.

Then there was the issue of alpha females.

They, with their dominant personalities and strong pheromones, clashed with beta males.

The structure of our society had to change.

It took decades before it settled and there was still a long way to go when it came down to things like employment.

Omega males were blocked from professions such as the police and military because an alpha assailant could overpower them with their pheromones.

As science caught up, giving us heat blockers, pheromone suppressants, and other useful tools to even the playing field, there was a push for more equality.

“I’m just worried you’ve left it too late to really get to know someone properly before your heat,” Brady anxiously pointed out, bringing me back to my date and nerves.

“Hmm, I get that, but I’ve been chatting with this guy for a few days now and I feel like there could be something there.

We had a ninety-four percent match rate.

” He really did seem to be the sweetest alpha.

We liked a lot of the same stuff and I’d found him to be easy to talk to.

His texts were becoming the best part of my day.

“Really?” Brady sounded optimistic. Given my history with the app, I didn’t blame him. I’d rejected more than a few potential candidates. “That’s high, isn’t it? The closest you had before was like eighty-two.” Trust Brady to remember that! He was such a good friend.

“Yeah, it is. Based on the quiz we both filled out, Curtis matches high on most of the segments.”

Mate Match was one of the better apps out there, in my opinion, and I’d tried a few before Brady had told me about it.

They were for people looking for love, not just a hookup.

Hell, if I really wanted to, I could hire an alpha for my heat.

Sex work had long been decriminalized. I just preferred to get to know someone before I fell into bed with them.

Besides, this wasn’t just about finding someone for my heat. I wanted someone to love.

I’d gone through the process of signing up weeks ago after Brady’s badgering.

The quizzes were endless about my values, what I wanted in a partner, even my hypothetical parenting style!

All of it had been exhausting, borderline invasive, but I reasoned if it gave me a decent match, then it was worth the pain.

Okay, so maybe the first few matches hadn’t worked out for me.

Those alphas had been entirely too pushy for my liking.

A couple hadn’t even ended up in a date.

Curtis, though, he gave me a good vibe. His messages were thoughtful, considered.

He let me set the pace for our interactions, while somehow making me feel special when he replied in the middle of a workday.

We seemed to have a love of books and movies in common.

He was open to watching anime with me. It was something he’d admitted to being new to.

He loved fantasy books, so I was sure I could bring him over to the dark side with some pretty amazing isekai anime.

I was open to watching or reading his favorites.

Just the fact I was already planning out what we could watch together left me hopeful. Being with Hwan had taught me to trust my gut, and my gut was telling me Curtis was a good one. I hoped he felt the same about me.

“Okay, you’ve done your friend thing and checked in.

Now it’s time for you to buzz off.” I tilted my head in the direction of the door so Brady would get the hint.

I really didn’t want him around when Curtis arrived.

There were still a few minutes before our date started.

Nerves had me agreeing to meet Brady for a drink ahead of my date.

While I didn’t want to get drunk and make a poor first impression, I did want to take the edge off.

“Charming. Who said I was here for you?” He got up, beer in hand.

“You did. Should I read the message back?” I picked up my phone, ready to show him the proof. Until Curtis arrived, I wouldn’t touch my drink. I hadn’t eaten all that much throughout the day, too anxious over the upcoming date. My stomach felt off. I hoped it was just first date nerves.

“No! That’s fine.” He took a step away from me as if I was about to throw my phone at him.

“I’m so grateful…” I tried to soften the blow. Brady meant well, but sometimes he was a little overbearing. It all came from a good place, though.

“Am I overstepping?” He came closer again.

I winced. “Maybe a little.”

Brady’s arms wrapped around me. The other omega was smaller than me, wiry though. Not to be underestimated.

“Sorry, I just worry.”

Pressing our wrists together, I scented him in an attempt to soothe him. “And I love you for it. Seriously, you’re the best friend I could hope for, but my date’ll be here soon, and he won’t want me if he sees you!” I teased.

“Pft. As if. Besides, as I was trying to tell you, I’ve got a date of my own!”

“Where?” I tried to scan the bar.

Brady pointed to a couple just walking in. Both were large, probably alphas, from so far away it was difficult to tell, and they were clearly involved romantically. Their fingers were twined together, gold bands shone on their fingers.

“Two? Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely! I met them through work. Enjoy your date!” He set his half empty beer on the bar and skipped away without a backwards glance to greet the newcomers with a kiss to the cheek.

The open delight and hunger the alphas—I’d decided they were both alphas—had on their faces when they saw Brady relaxed me some. Seeing how they moved around him to put him at the center made something inside me ache.

“Hey, are you Jae?” a voice cut into my thoughts.

I turned to get my first look at Curtis in the flesh.

He was just as handsome as his picture. Softer somehow, like his inner kindness hadn’t translated into the photo he’d sent.

Tall, with warm sepia colored skin. His hair was buzzed short and he’d clearly dressed nicely for our date with a light gray blazer over a white button up.

His slacks were well tailored. He had even ensured his shoes were shiny.

Deep brown eyes twinkled as he took me in.

His grin on those kissable lips wavered slightly with his nerves. He looked sweet. So far, so good.

“I am. Nice to meet you, Curtis.”