Edwardo was broken from his musings by Essie running past him and out her doggie door to the yard, where she promptly squatted and did her business. He couldn’t get her to leave Michael’s side at all this morning, not even for breakfast, so if she was up that must mean…
Edwardo spun around to face the living room. Sure enough, there on the stairs was his very small house guest. The clothes he’d been dressed in last night were just as oversized as Edwardo remembered, with the borrowed drawstring shorts going well past Michael’s knees and the shirt hanging loosely off one shoulder. Edwardo’s heart skipped a beat. Michael was beautiful, even looking a bit hungover.
Michael stood awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs. Sultry music was playing, some kind of love song maybe? It was in Spanish, so he couldn’t tell. The place was huge! The ceiling vaulted high above his head, and one of the walls was occupi
“Why did you even want to go out all of a sudden?” Rayan grumbled.“Because I told you,” Scott replied gently, “staying cooped up inside isn’t doing either of us any good, and I thought of a few errands I need to run.”Scott was wheeling Rayan down to the parking garage where his parent’s car was waiting. They’d swapped vehicles shortly after Rayan got out of the hospital, since it was easier to get Rayan’s wheelchair in and out of their SUV than Scott’s sedan. It was waiting right near the elevator where they’d parked it in the handicap spot, with the temporary disability tag prominently hanging from the rearview mirror.“But do I really have to go too? I’d be fine by myself for a few hours.” Rayan pouted, reaching up to pull his knit cap a little lower. “Bringing me along is only going to slow you down.”
“I was thinking of one more stop before we go home, unless there’s somewhere you want to go?” Scott was already driving to their next destination.“How would I have anywhere I need to go?” Rayan asked, slightly confused.“Not need, WANT.”“If you tell me where we’re going now, I could answer better.”Rayan’s spirits were higher than they’d been in a long time. It was an enormous relief to Scott, who’d been at his wits end trying to alleviate some of Rayan’s completely justifiable depression. Their next stop was the most important one. Rayan was finally going to get his ring back. Strangely enough, he hadn’t asked about it. Scott wondered why, but he didn’t want to pry too much, and he didn’t want to trigger anything on accident. HE knew where the ring was, and HE knew Rayan was about to get it back,
“You want to get a snack before we hunt down a hairdresser with an opening?” Scott asked.“We ate before we came!” Rayan grinned. “You’re hungry again?”After they left the jewelry store they’d parked in a spot out of the way of foot traffic to get themselves put together. Rayan had been wearing a coat since they came inside, but he was getting warm, so Scott helped him take it off and he stowed it in the backpack hanging from the back of the wheelchair. Rayan still refused to take off the hat, and wasn’t quite looking forward to the haircut, since he wasn’t sure he was ready for someone else to see his scar. Never mind that it stopped scabbing up a week ago, never mind that Scott said it healed cleanly, or that it “didn’t look that bad,” it made him more self-conscious than his casts did. He knew it was silly. The casts were WAY more obvious. He just couldn’
“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Scott roared.His blood was rushing in his ears. After he sent the first guy flying, he threw the second to the floor. He shouldn’t have left his Rayan alone, no matter the circumstances. This was his fault, as much as the accident was his fault. If he had taken charge and been a REAL alpha, none of this would have happened! He could have marked his Rayan by force MONTHS ago, and none of this would have happened! There were nervous murmurs from the onlookers. Why hadn’t any of them tried to help HIS Rayan?Security came in shortly after, demanding to know what was going on. Scott was ready to blow up at them too, for not coming sooner. Weren’t they supposed to keep shit like this from happening? Before he even had a chance to open his mouth, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned quickly, ready to beat as much ass as he needed to, to find that it was Rayan trying to get his attention. His Raya
Howard got to them in almost record time, speeding in Scott’s car with the emergency flashers on. Even though the bakery was busy, he’d left work as soon as he got off the call, leaving the store to his capable assistant manager. He found them both safe and sound exactly where Rayan had told them they would be. His son was passed out in the back seat, while Rayan was still buckled into the front, unmolested.“I tried to keep talking to him to make him stay awake,” Rayan said almost frantically when Howard had gotten out of Scott’s car and come over to assess the situation, “But he stopped responding a while ago, and I’m worried he’s going to get too cold!”Howard calmly took charge of the situation. This was much better than he was expecting.“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Howard assured. “The suppressant drug is just doing what it’s
Gail and Rayan were thoroughly engrossed in their activity, when Rayan’s phone rang in the other room. Gail went to get it no questions asked, and helped Rayan by putting it on speaker for him when he asked her to. Rayan already knew who it was from the ringtone, and Michael’s voice came out clear and urgent from the speaker:“Dude! I need your help! It’s an emergency!”Rayan’s heart dropped. What else could go wrong today? “Michael? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”“I need you to teach me how to go down on a dick!” Michael insisted. “It’s a matter of life and death! You said you were good at oral, right?”“Mick… you do know you’re on speaker, right…?”“What’s the big deal? Scott knows I know you got the skills! I really need this favor! You’ve got to
After dinner, Scott’s sister Elizabeth brought out what she’d been working on all afternoon. Turns out she and her group had finished their game design project last week, and they now had a playable version of the game. Part maze crawler and part scavenger hunt since they’d abandoned the combat idea, you could play with up to four people on a split screen to see who found all the items first. She wanted Rayan to have a chance to play it since he was here, but figured he’d have a hard time with a keyboard, which is what it was programed for. So, she took it upon herself to rewire a gear shift racing game controller to make it more accessible. It had some bugs, but she got it working eventually.Thus, they had the traditional Kranston House after dinner family video game tournament. Without Scott.Rayan wouldn’t say it was weird hanging out with Scott’s family without Scott around, but it was definitely diff
Dating Michael was proving… interesting. It’d been nearly a month since their disaster of a first date, and Edwardo still caught his heart skipping beats around the tiny male omega. Michael’s smile should be considered a certified drug. And the way Michael’s nose crinkled when he laughed? All Edwardo knew was that it did things to him. And then there were the photos Michael had put out of him decorating a gingerbread house after getting his hair redone…Edwardo was smitten. Head over heels. And due to some unfortunate occurrences within the city he now had a very valid reason to be around Michael as much as possible.With the holidays literally right around the corner, it had taken a murder for the city to officially issue an omega curfew and increase security. His father had even gone on tv to deliver the news of the curfew himself, citing that the safety of omegas is and always has been his top priority.