Chapter 7: I Heard He’s Chasing After You Now.
Max takes a deep breath, wanting to scent Leo as much as he can, while he can. The omegas pheromones thicken the air around him, clinging to his clothes, to the strands of his hair. All the while the alpha watches with eyes of a predator as a flustered Leo hurries back to the front counter, starting up a conversation with Ethan.
The beta glances over at him, and Max smiles with a half hearted wave. Ethan may think Max is a scum of an alpha, but in all honesty, he could care less what he thinks. Ethan may have lied to him yesterday about Leo calling off of work, but Max doesn’t hold it against him. Leo is a hard worker, despite his constant need to party. Not to mention he saw Leo ducking beneath the counter through the window before he came in. If anything, the lie Ethan told him, reassures him how loyal of a friend he is.
Bathing in the lingering scent of pumpkins and fallen leaves on a stormy day, Max reluctantly tears his gaze away from his little omega, and scans the lobby of the restaurant. He pauses when he spots two familiar alphas in a window booth, his sharp eyebrows raising. He leaves his table near the door and walks over to them.
He pauses at the end of the table, halting their conversation and drawing their attention. "You’re not keeping tabs on me, are you, cousin?" Max bears a mean smile down at Beau. He shoves his hands into the front of his jeans pockets, and tilts his head.
Beau frowns up at Max, his jaw ticking in annoyance. "What are you doing here?" He frowns when Max nudges him to scoot over and he takes a seat beside him.
He leans forward, resting his forearms on the table and nods his head at Zander who only glares in return. "I’m a regular here. Their coffee is delicious."
"Delicious? Really?" Beau scoffs and reaches up to smooth a loose strand of red hair, "What a load of fucking shi-" There’s a loud thud as Zander kicks Beau in the shin. "Fucking damn it." Beau finishes with a grunt. He glares at his friend and reaches down to rub at the sore spot. Two hits in one afternoon, there will surely be a bruise.
"What are you doing here? You hate places like this." Though his question is directed at his cousin, he glances at Zander, but the dominant alpha barely acknowledges him. How typical.
"I’m only here because he’s here." Beau nods at his best friend. "If I had any say, we’d be at Charla-meins, sipping on wine and eating sushi."
Max returns his gaze to the alpha across from him and smirks, "How’s that pheromone obsessed omega doing? I heard he’s chasing after you now."
"Now?" Zander asks, his shoulders tensing. "Were you Chris’ poor target before me then?"
Max flashes a mean smile, and leans back against the booth, "Watch your tongue, pup." The last word comes out sharp, full of disdain.
Zander smiles back, but there’s little humor behind it, "He’s no longer after my tail." At least, he hopes. He hasn’t heard from Chris since the incident yesterday afternoon, so he’s assuming he’s taken the hint and moved on.
"What a shame." Max sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. Then he leans forward, his brown eyes glittering with mischief, "I sent him your way, thinking you two would make such a lovely couple." Max smirks. "Seeing as you’re both rotten to the core."
"Don’t." Beau snaps, but whether he’s saying it to his cousin or his friend is unclear. Zander clenches his jaw, shoots a glance towards the front counter, and then readjusts in his seat.
"He slipped a rut inducer into my coffee." Zander bites out between clenched teeth. "I’d say he’s worse than I am."
"Oh no," Max frowns, feigning concern. "That’s the worst combination."
"So he’s done it to you too." Beau sighs and rubs his hand down his face. "What a bad boy." Then, "Is it truly that bad of a combination?"
"The worst." Max and Zander say at the same time.
Meanwhile, at the front counter, Ethan and Leo watch as the three alphas casually converse among themselves.
"Do they know each other?" Ethan asks, his eyebrows furrowing. He stops wiping the counter top and glances at his friend.
"Of course they know each other." Leo mutters, his tone bitter as his fingers curl over the counter top. He openly glares at them, not bothering to hide his dislike. "Just my luck, huh?"
Ethan bites his bottom lip, his eyes straying to Zander who looks tense. "What does Max do again?"
"My guy," Leo lifts on his tippy toes and throws his arm around Ethan, tugging him down so he’s bent over and closer to Leo’s shorter frame. "You really know nothing of the upper class world huh?" He tuts and then points at Max, not bothering to hide that they are talking about them. Hell, the entire lobby was whispering about the three hot alphas.
"My stalker, Max Carment, is the owner of multiple high end hotels, a self made billionaire." His last words end on a wistful sigh. He shakes his head, most likely to get rid of the hearts in his eyes, and points at the man next to him, "The red head, is Beaumont Vescily. He’s Zander’s right hand and secretary. Probably even a body guard based on the size of him. I’m surprised he’s not a dominant either." Leo explains. "They all belong to the same social circle."
"You know what?" Ethan stands to his full height, making Leo drop his arm. "This is all your fault. You keep attracting weirdos."
"My fault?" Leo scoffs, his eyebrows raising at the accusation, "Excuse me sir, but I only attracted one weirdo. You attracted the other two."
"I don’t even know the red head." Ethan mutters defensively. He glances over at the booth that everyone else seems entranced by and watches as they exchange a few heated words. What could they be speaking about?
"Should I go eaves drop?" Leo asks, his words barely audible. Ethan chuckles and watches as Leo grabs the coffee Max usually orders. It was made a few minutes ago, but it seems the omega was putting off delivering it. Ethan watches as he walks over, immediately grabbing Max’s attention.
They exchange a few words, Leo growing flustered, before he spins around and marches back.
"Well?" Ethan raises an eyebrow at him.
"Well, what?" Leo huffs out in annoyance.
"I thought you were going to eaves drop?"
"Oh. I forgot."