“Sure thing!” Hazel whizzed out again, the doors swinging shut behind her.
“Nervous?” Wyatt grinned, squeezing Sam’s shoulder.
Sam laughed. “It’ll be so awkward, you can’t imagine.”
“But they look good?”
“I dated one of them in the past. And, uh. Now they’re roommates.”
Seemed like the safest way to explain it, anyhow.
“Sounds good. Have fun tonight,” Wyatt said. “I’ll cover for you. Hazel will, too. Raph’s coming in to help serve.”
“And Ben?”
“Penny’s babysitting him tonight.” Wyatt grinned. “But we’ll still miss you.”
Sam smiled back, wishing he had his life as sorted out as Wyatt had. From the outside, everyone had their ducks in a row—Wyatt had his restaurant, Harris and Valen had their jobs at the station, and even Sam’s brothers were doing okay.
Sam? His hours at the college bookstore had been cut again—down to five hours this week. In a month, he’d lose the roof over his head. At this rate, how would he ever save enough for a house?
He was always making terrible choices. If he saved a little more, if he bought less food for himself... That would help.
He rinsed off the cutting board, wiped down his knives, and hung up his apron. Grabbed his tote bag from the fridge. “I’m leaving now, Wy. Call me if you need something.”
Wyatt laughed. “If it’s sex-stopping dire, I will.”
“It’s just a cooking lesson!”
Sam left with a smile, stepping through the back doors of the diner. Under the orange glow of a streetlamp, he found the black convertible with its roof up, and Harris leaning against its driver-side door, feet crossed, his eyes fixed on Sam.
Then his gaze raked down Sam’s body, head to toe, hot and appreciative.
Sam’s blood swooped between his legs. If that didn’t make him want to drop his pants, he didn’t know what would.
He hurried over, hoping the breeze blew his musk away. He didn’t need Harris to know he was wet, had been wet all week thinking about today.
“Hello.” Sam waved awkwardly. Shoved away the unease from his eviction notice. “How are you?”
“Doing fine,” Harris rumbled. He walked with Sam around the car, pulled the passenger door open for him. “What about you?”
Sam tucked himself into the seat, his cheeks heating. He hadn’t had an alpha do that for him since... Well, since Valen. “As good as ever, I suppose.”
Harris smiled, closed the door behind Sam, then got into the driver’s seat.
Unlike the truck, the seats of the Porsche were close, enough that their shoulders bumped. Sam had noticed it last week, first the proximity in the convertible, then the vast distance in the truck. Back in the Porsche now, he wondered what Harris could smell of him.
Harris’ nostrils flared; his chest rose. Then he looked at Sam, his gaze questioning. “You’ve been spending time with a pregnant omega?”
Sam blinked. That was an odd question to start with. “Yeah. My best friend—he owns the diner—he’s pregnant.”
“Ah.” Harris started the car. “You have that honey scent. I was wondering.”
Strains of country music drifted from the speakers, and Sam winced. He wasn’t a fan of talking over music—it was tiring, having to shout for anyone to hear him. His voice had always been soft. “Did I smell sweet last week?”
“Sorry?” Harris leaned closer, turning the radio off.
Sam breathed a sigh. “Sorry about that.”
Harris made a face, but shrugged. Had Sam offended him? “It’s fine. You were saying?”
“I was asking if I smelled sweet last week.” Sam couldn’t remember. It was difficult to pick the scents apart, when the scent of broth had soaked into his skin. But maybe he did smell a little like honey. Had that been from Wyatt?
Harris chuckled. “You smelled like you were in heat last week. That’s about all I remember.”
Sam blushed. That was all he remembered, too, Harris’ mouth on him, Valen’s chest against his back. Stop thinking about them. “I’m looking forward to today—mostly it’ll be kitchen basics, but I thought we’d go through knife skills first, the different methods of cutting and cooking.”
“Sounds perfect,” Harris said. He smiled at Sam, his crinkled eyes warm. Sam’s heart tripped. Harris had no reason to extend such kindness—he was just an acquaintance.
They drove for a while in silence, the engine’s purr filling the car.
“Sorry about the radio,” Sam said. “You should probably turn it back on.”
Harris gave a crooked smile. “Seems like I’m getting old, if I can’t hear you over some music.”
Sam blushed. Harris was that interested in him? Enough to turn off the radio? Valen had done the same for Sam, way back.
“Did... did Valen tell you to do that? Turn off the radio?”
Harris laughed then. “Naw. But he would, wouldn’t he?”
Sam looked at his hands, remembering the times Valen had smiled at him, showing up on Sam’s doorstep with a bouquet of flowers. “He’s not bad.”
“V’s a good alpha,” Harris said. “Not too serious, but he has a big heart.”
“He does.”
“He’s won employee-of-the-month awards at the station, you know. Best new staff. Helped an old lady once, crawled into her rat’s nest attic to find her missing photos. There was a rat infestation there. Pretty damn bad, but V volunteered.”
That image made Sam smile. Couldn’t believe he missed Valen, all over again.
And it made him curious, too, if Harris saw the same things in Valen that Sam had. Why was Valen dating Harris? Was he committing to Harris, when he couldn’t to Sam?
“Sounds like you’re in love,” Sam said.
“Naw.” Harris smiled lopsidedly at Sam. “Just fond of him. He’ll do better with an omega, you know. He cares about you.”
“It almost sounds like you’re selling him to me.”
Harris laughed, a booming sound that warmed Sam’s bones. Harris glanced at the traffic, then at Sam. “I just want to be certain that there aren’t bad feelings from the past.”
Sam leaned into the bucket seat, twisting the tote bag straps around his fingers. In the years after the breakup, he’d second-guessed himself, wondering if he should’ve kept the baby a secret. Maybe he should’ve stayed
