Page 12 of Roommates' Alpha
“Hey,” I said, standing aside so he could come in. “What’s up?”
He took several steps in and paused to look around. “So this is the basement room…”
I chuckled. “Just wanted to see it? You could have asked before now.”
He blinked, laughed, and shook his head. “Sorry. I came to ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
“You cool with me having a party next weekend? Everybody else already gave their ok.”
“Yeah, no prob. Just don’t ask me to use my discount on the pizza.”
He burst into laughter, skin crinkling around his eyes and his teeth a bright contrast to his dark skin. “Naw man. Pizza’s good, but there’s a perfectly good grill out back.”
I grinned. “Planning a barbecue?”
“Somethin’ like that. More like a cookout. There will be burgers and hot dogs, of course. But I’m also gonna make some of my grandmama’s fried chicken and collard greens. I’ve got a friend who makes some damn good carne asada. Then people are just bringing what they want. Micah is making pistachio fluff. Terry offered to help at the grill and contribute to chips, dip, and pop. Crow said something about green beans.”
He paused. “Also, feel free to invite some of your own friends. I want this to be the last big blowout before winter.”
I laughed. “I don’t think you know what you’re suggesting.”
“Oh?” he teased.
I chuckled. “I’d only invite two of my cousins, and their mates, plus the babies. But that would be twelve people.”
“Damn man! How many kids they pumping out?”
Another laugh. “It’s not the kids, it’s the mates. Both of my male omega cousins have four alpha mates. There are only two kids, and they’re infants, born in August. The other cousin is pregnant.”
“Four alphas… each?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Dayum, talk about having to like dick.”
I roared with laughter. “I really don’t want to think about them getting dicked down by their mates. As far as I’m concerned, all they do is cuddle and those babies are miracles.”
Xavier echoed my laughter. “I hear ya. Invite them anyway.”
“You sure?”
“The more the merrier.”
I smiled. “Send me the deets, and I’ll let them know.”
“Great! And think about what you want to cook. It is a cookout after all.”
“Will do.”
With that, he clapped my shoulder, then headed back upstairs.
∞∞∞
It was clear from the turnout that Xavier was one of those men who seemed to know everybody, and whom everybody seemed to love.
The backyard was packed, fuller than I’d ever seen it, even when the upstairs roommates had been college students throwing end-of-semester parties. Classic rock poured from some speakers dragged outside, loud, but not annoyingly so. Food had been spread out on tables covering the patio, with more variety than I could have expected. From southern staples like fried chicken, catfish, and crawfish—where they found that much fresh crawfish in the desert I’d never know—to Mexican dishes like carne, enchiladas, tacos, and everything in between. The only way somebody would say they couldn’t find anything they liked, was if they didn’t like food at all.