Page 35 of Alpha’s Conquest

David’s voice chimed in at the same moment. “He has work, Dad.” I rolled my eyes. Of course, they were teaming up on me. “How about dinner?”

And just like that, my plans for the day were decided for me, and Marshall practically shoved me out of the door on his way to work. I gave their apartment door one last look before following my son to the elevator.

TWENTY

Adam

Adam

Night could not have come sooner. With nothing to do, every hour felt like a week of waiting. What was I supposed to do all day, sightsee? I would if Casey asked me, but alone? Not a chance.

When it was finally time, I put on my nicest clothes. Jeans that didn’t have permanent dirt stains around the knees, and a button up shirt that wasn’t plaid. Then I drove to the restaurant an hour before we were supposed to meet up. The seating hostess found us a table, and I anxiously sipped my iced tea as the minutes ticked by. My phone battery was already dangerously low from how often I kept checking the screen. I glanced around the restaurant, watching the other guests at their tables. The smell of hot food mixed with pheromone incense was making my stomach rumble.

There.

Casey appeared in the lobby with Marshall right behind him. They quickly walked over to our table, and I shot up from my chair without thinking about it. Casey looked okay. A little pale, but his cheeks were flushed pink. My shoulders slowly relaxed, knowing he was fine.

I sat down, digging my nails into my palms to stop myself from pulling his chair out for him. “You made it,” I said with a wide smile, my eyes locking onto Casey’s when Marshall turned to remove his jacket. The red in his cheeks deepened, and he quickly picked up his menu, purposely hiding behind it. Oh. So that’s how he was going to be? Pretending I’m not here just because we were in public?

“Pops!” David hollered from across the restaurant, raising his arm to catch my attention. All eyes were on him as he approached our table with a tall, dark-haired woman. Dina came with him to Hanford. I guess they were done pretending they weren’t a thing. He pulled her chair out for her and took his coat off, laying it over his seat. “Hey, Casey! Nice to see you again. This is Dina, my deputy.”

“And his girlfriend,” she added, crooking her eyebrow at David with a smirk. They looked so happy.

Marshall sat between us, obscuring my view of Casey. He still had the menu pulled over his face, as if that would make us forget he was there. “You two finally made it official, ehh?” Marshall flopped his hand over the back of Casey’s chair and leaned over to kiss him on the head.

Calm. Just stay calm, Adam.

This was a regular dinner with my sons and their partners. That’s all it could be. Right now, Casey was just my son’s boyfriend. My son’s boyfriend, who was being kissed on the lips right in front of me.

Trying not to rip my menu in half, I ignored the PDA from both of my sons. They pawed their partners like we weren’t in public, as if the menus were coated in an aphrodisiac. I cleared my throat and gave them both a pointed stare over my menu. “We’re in public,” I reminded my sons.

“Aww, come on, Pops,” David complained as he leaned against Dina’s shoulder with a grin. “Let us live a little. You should, too. I bet there’s plenty of single omegas in Hanford that would love to make out with you inside a restaurant.”

“Yeah! We should find you a date,” Dina chimed in.

“I bet Marsh knows a few omegas at the hospital, right?”

The topic wasn’t new. Ever since my boys were teenagers, they’d been encouraging me to date again. I hadn’t been interested at all, not for a single moment, until I met Casey. Having this conversation with him at the table was almost too much.

“Alright, enough,” I barked out. “Let’s just order. I’m starving.”

When the server arrived to take our order, David and Dina recruited Marshall to help them decide what to eat. With the three of them distracted, my eyes shifted towards Casey, and his gaze met mine over our menus. The timid, almost panicked look in his eyes sent pangs all over my body.

I wished I could tell him everything would be fine. I wanted to hold him in my arms so badly, my arms ached. Instead, I dropped my menu and glanced at Marshall, where he was bent over David’s chair. I couldn’t spend this entire meal pretending my omega wasn’t here.

“What would you recommend, Casey?” I asked.

Marshall quickly glanced in our direction and gave me a pleased thumbs up. He assumed I was being friendly and making an effort to be nice to his boyfriend. I was, but not for his benefit.

Casey, on the other hand, looked like a startled deer as he lowered his menu and reached over to point at something on mine. “This.” Steak with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Mouthwatering. A hot, hearty meal was exactly what I needed. But then again, there was something else I’d rather be eating, and he was sitting two seats away from me.

I leaned back and cleared my throat, pushing those thoughts far, far away. “That sounds delicious. Thank you, Casey. I’ll have the ribeye steak platter, and an extra side of broccoli. Medium well on the steak.”

Marshall returned to his seat in time to order his own meal: something fried with more fried things beside it. “Typical dad,” he said with a grin. “Can’t go any meal without vegetables.”

I gently smacked him with my menu. “You should eat your vegetables too, Mr. Doctor.”

“He never does,” Casey remarked. Our eyes met again, and we shared a smile across the table. I wished he was beside me so I could hold his hand under the table. But that would probably just make me even more turned on.