“Don’t,” Felix says, grabbing him by his shirt. “Kade, he’s not worth it.”
Rick swings a punch at him. Kade snarls, deflecting it with a sharp jab. He’ll listen to Felix because Felix asked. Rick’s arm swerves to the side, and Kade catches his wrist, gripping it and yanking him forward.
“Diss my omega again,” he growls, digging his fingers into Rick’s tendons, “and I’ll rip your eyes out.”
Rick sneers. Kade flings his arm against the shelves, hard enough to leave bruises. Then he turns to Felix. “We’re going,” Kade says, flipping Rick off. “If we come back, it’s to crack his skull.”
“Okay,” Felix says, his face pale, chest heaving. He slips his hand into Kade’s, pulling him out of the store. The entire place reeks of bitter-wood.
“You’re fired, you omega slut,” Rick yells after them. Kade almost turns back and punches him. Felix’s fingers tighten around his.
It isn’t until they’ve rounded the corner to Kade’s bike, that Kade sucks in another deep breath, his hands shaking. Felix is fine. They’re both fine, and they’re going home now. It doesn’t matter if he’s not worthy, or whatever.
“Are you okay?” Felix steps in front of him, eyes darting over Kade’s face. He brushes his fingers over Kade’s forehead, down his cheeks, over his mouth. His eyes glimmer with worry.
“Yeah,” Kade growls, baring his teeth. He needs to hit something, needs to make that bastard hurt. “Would’ve got him nice and bloody.”
He would have thrashed Rick if Felix hadn’t stopped him. Kade checks the store to make sure the bastard stays inside, before looking over his omega.
Felix is still pale, his pupils constricted, his hands trembling as he tucks Kade back into his jeans. Kade blinks. In the standoff, he’d forgotten that his cock was hanging out. “We’re going somewhere else.”
“I’m fired,” Felix mumbles, looking down. “My things are still in there.”
“Damn it.” Kade scowls. He hadn’t thought about that. And they aren’t going back into the store right now, with that dick still in there. “Anything important?”
Felix shakes his head. “I’ve got my phone and wallet. It’s just... the giraffe is still in there. In my locker.”
Kade swears, but his heart thumps anyway. He’d seen the giraffe in the locker, but Felix liking his gift enough to want it back... “I’ll get you another one.”
“It’s not the same.” Felix shakes his head. “But it’s fine. I’ll get it some other time.”
“Tell me when you want to go. I’ll pick you up,” Kade says, baring his teeth. He’s not letting Felix in there alone again, not when Rick could be in there with his filthy hands.
“Yeah, okay.” Felix breathes in. Kade mirrors him, sucking in a breath to calm down. They’ve got Felix out of the store. Felix doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and Kade has his company for the next few hours. “So where do you wanna go now?”
Felix looks down at his hands. He’s still trembling a little, so Kade pulls him close, tucking his head under his chin. Felix’s hair tickles his jaw. “I don’t know. My rent’s due and I... probably still needed my pay, actually. The payments on the paintings don’t process until the shipments arrive.”
“That’s a damn underhanded way to pay artists,” Kade mutters.
They’d spent all of Felix’s day off on the watercolors: buying frames, mounting the pieces inside, packaging them, then riding down to the post office to mail them off. With forty paintings, it had taken all day. It wasn’t until ten PM that he’d left Felix that night.
Felix shrugs. “I was kind of counting on this paycheck. But Rick’s probably not even going to process it.”
“Fuck that bastard.” But Kade was also the one to start all this. He was the one to slip up, not seeing Rick until it was too late. “Look, whatever you need for rent, I’ll cover it. Look for another job if you want, but I’m not sorry that you’re out of that place.”
Felix grimaces. “I’m not sorry about leaving, either. It’s just... you don’t have to pay my rent.”
Kade breathes his omega in—lavender, musk, honey. He wants Felix close to him, and he wants Felix... “How about you stay at my place? Rent’s whatever you want to make it. Free if you stay in my room.”
Felix chuckles against him, trembling slightly. “Free in your room, huh?”
Kade imagines Felix sleeping in his bed, curled up against him, and the thought sends warmth sweeping through his chest. So maybe the baby isn’t his. But Kade will care for the child like his own, and that’s the right way to do things.
Rick steps out of the store at that moment, looking in the opposite direction. Kade bristles. Low-ranking alpha, the bastard had said. As if it’s anything important. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”
Felix catches sight of the manager, and nods.
They pull into Kade’s garage fifteen minutes later, the bike exhaust oily in their noses. Kade watches as his bondmate pulls his helmet off. Felix said it wasn’t his fault that he left. But Kade also can’t provide luxuries for him, and maybe he doesn’t deserve to have Felix as his own, after all.
“Take my bed,” he says. “I’ll use the couch whenever you move in.”
Felix looks away. “I’m not sure your mom wants me around. I mean, the child...”
“She’ll be happy if you stay for a while.” Kade sets their helmets into the bike’s trunk, shutting it. “She doesn’t have anyone else to talk to while I work.”
Felix chews on his lip. “Okay. But I really don’t want to impose on either of you. You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”
Kade sighs, wrapping his arms around his omega. The thought of Felix living with him makes his heart race. It’s as though they’re restoring their past, a little at a time. “It’s not imposing. You’ll be fine here. Just tell me when you want to move in, and we’ll rent a trailer to haul your things.”
Felix nods, pressing his nose to
