Kian watched as Mason bent forward next to him and took the milk chocolate cupcake from the container. He heard Mason groan in delight as the alpha sank his teeth into the cupcake, leaving less than half in his hand. His mind returned to Blake after that. He was glad Blake understood the significance of the gift of cupcakes. It was their way of informing Blake they would always provide him with enough food. In response, Blake was supposed to double the amount, which implied the omega would ensure an abundant amount of food waiting for the alphas at home after a long day at work.
Kian was aware it sounded rather discriminatory. After all, the ritual stemmed from the ancient time when the alphas hunted for food while the omegas prepared the food at home, especially after the alphas had been out and running for the entire day. However, he and Mason enjoyed the possibility they might symbolically have an omega waiting for them at home with plenty of food to sate their hunger after a long, tiring day at work.
Mason faced him seconds later. “We should start planning for our second date with Blake.”
“I agree, but we need to do some research. After all, it has to prove two things to Blake. The first one is that being mated to us is going to be fun. The second is that we’re more than capable of protecting him.”
“Right. Of course. Any ideas?”
Kian shook his head. “We can ask one of the employees. Some of them are much younger than us. They’ll probably have better ideas about all the cool spots or events that are going on around the city.”
“Great idea. I’ll do that later. I want to eat a few more cupcakes.”
“Excited, huh?”
“Very,” Mason admitted. “A potential omega mate is receptive to being our mate. I get hard just thinking about it.”
Kian glanced at Mason’s crotch area and smirked. “I can see that. It’s impossible to miss. I hope you’re wearing underwear underneath your jeans. Otherwise, your precum will leak through. That will be downright embarrassing.”
“I’m wearing a pair of trunks. I should be fine.”
“If you say so.”
“I do. Anyway, what’s up with you?”
“Same old.”
Mason nodded in understanding. “Still having trouble with some of your students?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what else to do about them. I tried every tactic I learned over the past fifteen years, but they couldn’t get the concept through their heads.”
“Have you consulted with some of the other teachers?”
Kian shook his head. “Not yet. I’ll do that tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is Saturday, Kee.”
“Oh, that’s right. Shit! Monday then. I must be more exhausted than I realize. This has been a damn long week.”
Mason snickered in amusement. “I think you were stressed out over waiting for a response from Blake.”
“Yeah. I think you’re right. Longest two days of my life.”
“I know what you mean. I felt the same way. I almost screamed like an overexcited teenage alpha instead of behaving like a dignified adult when the delivery man walked in earlier with that container of cupcakes. It took every ounce of self-control to accept the box as calmly as I could and walked past the kitchen all the way to the connecting door. I lost it when I finally entered our home. It was just too much for me.”
“No shame in that. I would have reacted the way you did if I were the one who had received the delivery.”
Kian and Mason proceeded to consume more than half the cupcakes. They also tasted each other’s cupcakes. Kian liked both flavors. Then again, he was biased. After all, the cupcakes were given to him and Mason by their potential omega mate. Even if the cupcakes tasted horrible, he would probably finish them all and brag about how delicious they were. He got up and lay down on the couch. He’d just closed his eyes when Mason abruptly shouted from the floor, startling him awake. He sat up and stared at Mason expectantly.
“I got it!”
“What? What is it?”
“An idea for our next date.”
“Okay.”
“There’s a carnival tomorrow and Sunday. I just remembered. Some of the servers were talking about it earlier this morning. Let’s call Blake and invite him.”
“Great. Why don’t you do that? I need to shut my eyes for a while. I’m sleepy.”
“Fine.”
Kian nodded at Mason before closing his eyes once again. He was so worn out after a tiring day in school he dozed off within minutes. The last thing he heard was Mason’s excited voice talking to Blake on the phone. After that, he drifted off into dreamland.
Chapter 5
Blake had been amused when Mason had asked him out to go to the carnival the previous afternoon. He was excited when Kian and Mason picked him up at his apartment. He was also thankful when Kian alighted from the car and told him to take the seat next to Mason, who would be their driver for the day. He didn’t mind sitting at the back, but he was too tall to be able to squeeze himself comfortably into the seats. The front seat allowed him to move it back in order to make space for his long legs.
After that, the three of them spent the entire fifteen-minute journey chatting about the activities of the past couple of days. Since he worked from home, Blake didn’t have much to contribute to the conversation unlike the two alphas, who entertained him with stories about interesting people at the diner or the hilarious children in the school. He enjoyed hearing about all these things because he was, more or less, a self-imposed hermit due to the nature of his work.
When they arrived at the carnival, he could only stare at some of the booths as Kian and Mason trailed after him. There were so many sinful, unhealthy foods that he wanted to get his hands on, but he didn’t know where to begin. He wanted them all. Then, there were the various
