Page 8 of Roommates
“He needs to practice, you know?” Nathan confirmed my suspicions.
I didn't know whether to laugh or shake my head at my friend. He wassohead over heels for Raph it wasn't even funny—only it never seemed to get him anywhere. Raph and he just kept dancing around each other and missing opportunities in the worst ways. “Does he need to practice onyou?” I asked.
Nathan shrugged. “He doesn't feel confident enough to ask anyone, so I offered. I know he would be great as a tattoo artist.”
Now I did shake my head at Nathan.
“What?” he asked.
“You're afraid of needles,” I reminded him. “Getting a tattoo kind of involves getting poked with needles. Somehow you're okay with letting Raph do that to you and yet you can't bring yourself to just ask that omega for a date.”
Nathan huffed. “I'm not afraid of needles,” he muttered, although I wasn't sure if he was trying to convince me or himself. “I'm going to be a vet, you know, so I can't be afraid of needles anyway. And Raph's not looking for a boyfriend right now.” He shoved his hands into his pant pockets. “He only just broke up with that asshole he was dating a week ago.”
“So take him to that party tonight,” I suggested. “That's casual enough.”
“You think?” Nathan regarded me curiously. “Are you taking anyone?”
“I'm taking my roommate,” I informed him.
“That beta you're rooming with?”
“His name is Lucas. He helped me through my exams so I guess I owe him,” I said, trying not to let my unusual interest in my roommate shine through in my voice. I really shouldn't be thinking about Lucas as much as I was. At this rate, even Nathan stood a better chance at having a fulfilled love life than me. Male betas didn't go for guys. Everybody knew that.
It was just unfair for Lucas to be as hot as he was when he was off-limits.
Turning away from my friend, I checked our supply of paper cups and bags, just to give myself something to do. “Did you ever notice how some betas look almost like omegas?” I asked Nathan before I could stop myself. I didn't really want to tell him how I felt about Lucas, but at the same time, I'd never been good at keeping my thoughts in—and anyway, I couldn't be the only alpha who'd ever felt this way about an unattainable beta. It wasn't like people stopped being attractive simply because they weren't attracted to me in return.
“Do they?” Nathan asked. He rubbed the fine blond stubble on his chin, mulling the question over. “I guess I never really noticed.”
“That's because you only have eyes for Raphael,” I teased, but then a few customers came in and I busied myself by going through the shop and collecting empty coffee mugs from the tables and carrying them to the sink in the small room behind the counter.
By the time I came back out, Nathan was wrapping up the last customer's order and telling them to have a lovely day with a smile on his face. I figured he'd forgotten about the conversation we were having until he turned around and picked right back up where we left. “Were you saying that thing about betas because we were talking about your roommate earlier?” he asked. “Does he look like an omega?”
“A little bit,” I admitted. “He has this lean frame and this...” I stopped myself before I could describe all the ways I found Lucas attractive to Nathan. But it seemed he had caught on to me anyway.
“Please don't tell me you're taking him to that party tonight because you want to get in his pants,”
Nathan said.
“That's not the reason I'm taking him,” I protested.
“But itison your mind,” Nathan pointed out. “God, Adam, are you seriously lusting after your beta roommate?”
“It's notlikethat,” I insisted. “I just think he's good-looking. You can't blame me for that. I'm not stupid. I know he's not going to be interested in me.”
“Well, as long as you know that,” Nathan said, but he didn't seem wholly satisfied.
Then again, neither was I.
IwantedLucas. Shouldn't I at leasttryto see if there was a chance I could have him?
6
L U C A S
W hen I agreed to go to a party with Adam, I had no idea how drastically that evening was going to change my life. All I knew was, I sucked at parties and I had no clue what to expect. The answer was pop music so loud I nearly ruptured my eardrums stepping into the house, a ton of red solo cups with liquids of dubious origin in them and more drunk guys than I'd collectively seen in my life all gathered in one place. To some degree, I'd been prepared for all of that. What I wasn't prepared for were all the public displays of affection—or horniness—everywhere.
Only five minutes after Adam and I had stepped into the house, we spotted an alpha/omega couple making out on the couch in the living room, concealed only by the wisps of smoke hanging in the air.
