“A phone call would have been enough, Eric.” Riley said, letting Eric into his apartment.
“This isn’t something that should be said over the phone.”
Eric was trying to find the right words. Riley had a very different personality than his, but at that moment he was the only one he trusted and most of all, the only one who knew everything about him.
“Did you take a bath at this time?” Eric asked. Riley was wearing a bathrobe and his hair was wrapped in a towel as if he had just taken a shower.
But he didn't need to answer him, just as Eric was about to sit down on one of the sofas in the living room, he saw a man he recognized immediately at the end of the hallway that led to his bedroom.
James Reed. A retired mixed martial arts fighter who now worked as Riley's bodyguard. James Reed had an academy and he trained Chris when they were in college, so he knew him well.
“Rocky, darling… ¿Are you leaving? It’s too late, you should stay today as tomorrow you will come for me early.”
As if he had forgotten that Eric was visiting, Riley went to James, who was finishing adjusting his tie.
“I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning.” James replied.
He looked quite uncomfortable and even more so when he noticed that the visitor was precisely Eric.
Eric didn't have to speculate much to know that Riley and James had sex. In fact, he knew very well that it wasn’t the first time.Riley is a rather brash and persistent dominant omega, he became obsessed with James from the moment he met him and didn’t hesitate to make him his bodyguard, or rather, his property
James was a 31-year-old dominant alpha, but due to an injury in one of his fights, he ended up having problems with his pheromones, which became weak and now seemed more like a normal alpha than a dominant one. Riley cared very little about the problem with his pheromones, in fact, he enjoyed seeing him weak, so he took advantage of being a dominant omega to control him.
“Mr. Reed.” Eric greeted.
James simply nodded politely, stepping around Riley who was blocking his way.
Riley sighed when he saw his bodyguard leave, but he didnt feel defeated, because although he had declined his invitation to stay for the night, just a few hours ago, that man was in his bed, totally surrendered to him.
“You should call Mr. Reed by his name, why did you give him that nickname? He may be your employee, but he is ten years older than you, a little respect for him wouldn’t hurt.”
Riley sighed in stress, rolling his eyes. “I don't think you came to my apartment in the middle of the night just to lecture me, did you?” Riley sat down on the couch next to Eric's. “Tell me what is so important that it cannot be said in a phone call.”
Eric sighed deeply, his hands clenched into a fist in his lap trying not to get nervous. “Well… to begin with, Chris and I… canceled the wedding.”
A smile formed on Riley's face. “So you told him, didn't you? That you are an omega too.”
Eric flinched. He still wasn't getting used to the fact that he was an omega. Less than a year ago he was a normal beta and suddenly his first heat came to him. He was one of the few betas that mutated into omegas, since there were betas that were born with recessive omega genes. And although not all came to express that gene, there were cases where it did. But unlike Chris, Eric was the closest thing to a normal omega. Betas that mutate into omegas will never be dominant omegas.
“No… the reason the wedding was canceled was because Chris slept with an alpha at his bachelor party.”
There was a little silence, Riley stared at him. Eric didn't know what to think, his friend was quite unpredictable and in keeping with his personality, Riley started to laugh out loud.
“Haha! You’re a lucky bastard! But tell me, are you going to take that secret to the grave? Chris may find out from third parties, haven't you thought about it? When I met you and you had your first heat, you were lucky that the one who realized it first was me. But are we sure no one else noticed? Are you sure that in the future no one else will notice? You are still unstable, the medication is not as effective because you are a special case. Eric, hiding the truth is also lying.”
“He will know... in due time.” Eric's voice sounded quite unsure. “I didn’t dare to tell him that day because I thought it would be too much for him.”
“So did you let him bear all the blame? Don't you think telling him at that moment would make Chris feel less guilty? Or did you want to see him suffer?”
“Don't say nonsense, Riley!” Eric got up from his seat, his face quite angry. “I would never want to see him suffer, I still have great affection for him. I was with him for almost 6 years.”
Riley didn't flinch when Eric raised his voice. Instead, he arched an eyebrow and smiled with a slight hint of malice. “Still, you never loved him.”
The anger on Eric's face grew more apparent, but he couldn't refute. Riley was right. He had a great affection for Chris since he met him in high school. Back then he was just a little omega with a pretty and delicate face but at the same time he had a bad temper. He found him cute and admirable at the same time. Chris wasn’t intimidated by alphas and at the same time, he had a taste for betas, so he spent his entire senior year with Chris following him everywhere. He couldn't push him away, because in the end, that helped keep him out of trouble. However, he didn’t think that thanks to that closeness, Chris would fall in love with him. So two years later, he met up with an adult Chris in college and after so much insistence, he started dating him. But no matter how fond he was for him, he never loved him.
Riley shrugged when he didn't answer him.
“I guess you know what to do. I understand that you hide the fact that you don’t love him because it would be painful for him, but you should at least let him know that you are an omega.”
“I've already told you, I'll do it in due time.” Eric sighed, crossing his arms. “Anyway, it will be harder to see him now. He went on vacation for a few days with his omega father and when he returns he will be working for The New York Times.”
“Wow, you really got rid of him.”
“I will no longer fall for your provocations.”
Riley laughed again.
“So… Chris, the omega who hated alphas the most, got tangled up with one. How about you? Since you are now single again and better yet, an omega, will you tangle up with one? Even being a mutated omega, I have no doubt that there is an alpha who would like to sleep with you when you are in heat…”
“Enough! I am not thinking of alphas now, I am still trying to understand my condition. I’m leaving, I have an important project on the horizon, so I have to verify that all my equipment is working properly.” Seeing Riley's face hungry with curiosity, he explained: “I'll be the photographer in charge of the cover of the new issue of Time.”
Eric headed for the exit, turning his back on Riley. But he got up from his seat and followed him with much more curiosity and with great enthusiasm on his face.
“Oh, who will be on the cover? Any actor? singer? A billionaire?”
“None of that, he's a journalist, he won a Pulitzer prize.” From the expression Riley made, it appeared that he didn’t know of such an award. “Eh... the awards for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature and musical composition in the country?”
“Boring.”
Eric sighed at his ignorance but was a bit amused at the same time.
“See you Riley… And thanks for listening. Although believe me that if I had someone else to trust, I wouldn't have come with you.”
Riley was cold-blooded enough to not get angry and just smirked, watching Eric leave his apartment.
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