Page 17 of Alpha's Two Omegas

The disbelief in his voice made me just defensive enough that I managed to say, “I-I’m shy, not asexual.”

Alder let out a loud laugh. “Noted. So you’re a shy, horny flirt. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve just got to be clear with your partners about what kind of relationship you want.”

I made a non-comital noise because what I wanted was for Alder to kiss me. And do other stuff. Because Alder was my type. And so was Ty.

Chapter 7: Ty

Iwas at Sunflower Smiles, a boutique shop that sold hand-crafted gifts. The whole place smelled amazing and I always paused in the doorway to take a deep breath whenever I went there.

As usual, I was greeted by Wilfred’s smile and his cheery voice.

“Good morning, Ty! How are you?”

I’d assumed when I’d first gone there for work that Wilfred remembered my name because he was hiring me to design his website, but I’d since learned that he knew the names of most people who came into his shop. He’d talk to them and get to know them and – it turned out – I was no exception.

“How’s Alder?” he asked.

He sounded genuinely interested. I got the impression that he knew how I felt about Alder and just wasn’t going to say it. But he had also pressed Alder’s favourite-scented candle into my hands last time I’d been there, so I wasn’t complaining.

“He’s still convinced that every one of his students is an incurable idiot.”

Wilfred laughed. And, by laughed, I mean threw his head back and guffawed loudly. When he laughed, he went all-in on it. The sound made me smile despite myself.

“You’ll have to take him a present tonight. Something with a relaxing scent to ease his muscles after a long day.”

The thing was, I knew that what Wilfred meant was he’dgiveme a candle. He didn’t expect me to buy it. He’d decided that we were friends now and that meant he wanted to help.

I’d worked for people before who thought that we were ‘friends’ and that meant they should get a discount on my work. I had news for those people: we weren’t friends and they didn’t get discount.

Wilfred, though? He actuallywasmy friend. It was impossible not to be sucked into his bubble. He was just the most generous-hearted man I’d ever met and I liked him.

“I’ll buy one on my way out,” I said.

And I would, too. Wilfred made the best candles.

“You don’t need to buy it! You can choose whichever one you like. Although I recommend this one. It’s new and we’ve just got the balance right. Here, what do you think?”

From the back of the shop, a young omega poked his head out and frowned at us. “Are you giving away our stock again, Wilfred?”

Wilfred actually blushed. It was his shop and the omega, Richard, worked for him. It was just that Richard was business-minded and Wilfred was… not.

“Um, no?” he said. “Just one candle. And just to Ty.”

“You can’t give stuff away to customers,” Richard said.

“Ty’s not a customer, he’s a friend!”

Richard gave me a dark look, as though I’d somehow arranged that. I held up my hands. “I’m just here to show you the updates and see what you want done next. I can make any changes you need as I go.”

Richard nodded and said, “I’ll come out there. That way Wilfred can see it as well and we won’t leave the shop unattended.”

I hid my smile as Richard bustled out of the back room, which was part office and part workshop. He was incredibly young – about Ronnie’s age, I guess – but he held himself with a confidence that radiated out and made him seem serious and focused.

We got to work and I walked them through the website so far. Wilfred went into raptures over it, and Richard narrowed his eyes and asked some questions about the payment options. It made me glad for Wilfred that he’d hired the omega.

Richard said, “We need some product images.”

Wilfred frowned. “What are those? Do you mean pictures of the crafts?”

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