Terrance shot out of bed when he heard an alarm blare from Mason's room. He didn't know what it was so he rushed to Mason's room, slamming the door open to find the Omega stretching and only wearing underwear.
"Can I help you?" Mason asked groggily, shutting off the alarm on his phone and covering his body with his blanket. "You can go back to sleep, I have to go set up for the day."
"It's four thirty in the morning!" Terrance exclaimed. "You need sleep."
Mason smiled at him, taking off the blanket so he could get dressed. He kind of loved watching Terrance squirm when he clearly wanted to pin Mason down and make out with him but knew he couldn't. He slowly pulled on his shirt and pants, making sure to move at a snail's pace so Terrance could see every curve.
However, when Mason looked over he saw the Alpha distracting himself by looking through Mason's battered sketch book.
"Hey!" Mason snapped, rushing over and trying to snatch the book, but Terrance held it away from him. "Give it back!"
Terrance shook his head, flopping down on Mason's bed and going through the drawings. "These are really good," he said, opening to a page that held a pencil drawing of a wolf sitting under the moon with trees and stars surrounding it. "Is this your wolf form?"
Mason growled and climbed on Terrance's back to try to reach his book, but Terrance rolled over so he was laying on top of Mason on his back. Groaning angrily, Mason tried to shove the Alpha off, but Terrance just held the notebook above them so they were both looking at the pictures.
"Why are you so embarrassed?" Terrance asked. "These are so cool."
"I don't like people looking at my art!" Mason whined, pushing at Terrance's shoulder blades. "You're crushing me, fatty!"
Terrance climbed off of him but stayed on the bed, continuing to turn through the drawings. "These are so intricate," he said, once again in awe, before going back to the wolf drawing. "Is this your wolf?"
Biting his lip, Mason nodded. He looked away from Terrance, trying to convince his gay brain that he was not attracted to Terrance's bed head or his adorable look of admiration as he looked through Mason's drawings, most of them being wolves and landscapes.
"He's not adorable," Mason thought firmly. "Alphas aren't cute, they're douches who like to take and take without giving anything except knots and headaches."
Terrance, oblivious to Mason mentally scolding himself, continued to shuffle through the pages, occasionally leaning over to gently rest his body against Mason's, showing subtle affection. He whined when Mason got out of bed, saying he had to go help Henry prepare to open the cafe.
"No, stay with me!" Terrance cried, dropping the sketch book and grabbing Mason, holding him to his chest.
Irritated, Mason elbowed Terrance in the stomach. "I told you not to grab me," he scolded, and Terrance immediately let go. "I don't like being grabbed."
"Why not?"
Mason scowled, moving away from Terrance. "Don't mess up my stuff while I'm at work," he said, ignoring the question. "You can hang out here if you want, but if I find anything messed up, I will be kicking you out."
Terrance nodded before grinning. "What do I get if I'm good?"
"You get to avoid my wrath."
"Sounds like a win." Terrance walked over to him, trying not to scare Mason or piss him off. He opened his arms but stayed a few feet from Mason. "Can I hug you before you go?"
Mason's heart jumped for some reason, and he couldn't say no to the adorable, innocent look on Terrance's face. He walked into the embrace, trying to keep his happy pheromones at bay but Terrance could smell them filling the room.
"Aw, you like me hugging you?" Terrance cooed, kissing Mason's forehead. "Cutie."
"I'm too tired to fight my wolf," Mason mumbled as he pushed his face into Terrance's shoulder. "There's a laptop in my studio if you want to use it for work."
Terrance smiled at the generosity. "Thanks, but I have drives saved to my personal computer so I need to run home and get it, but can I come back here for work?" he asked.
Mason agreed, knowing that Terrance's wolf would be able to relax and focus in a room filled with his mate's scent. Besides that, Mason couldn't deny that he didn't mind Terrance being around; Mason was a naturally tense person and Terrance had a natural sense of ease that calmed Mason for the most part.
Together, hand in hand, Mason and Terrance went downstairs to the bakery where Henry was already at work. He turned away from his bowl where he was mixing a bowl of frosting for pound cake and sniffed the air.
"Well, it doesn't smell like sex so I'm not going to assume it was a good night..." Henry said with a smirk on his face. "How was your night?"
"Great!" Terrance said, winking. "We left the sex smell upstairs, no worries."
Mason snarled at him, the hostility of it making Terrance jump away. "We did not have sex. I'm not a whore or desperate."
"No one said you were," Henry responded, turning back to his bowl. "You two could've stayed in bed for a while longer, though. I can take care of this place on my own for setting up so you can cuddle with your mate."
"We didn't share a bed," Mason growled, embarrassment written all over his face as the two Alphas shared a look.
Henry just hummed in disbelief. "Mace, I smell his scent all over you."
"He looked at my sketch book so I had to attack him!" Mason whined, irritated that the two Alphas were teaming up on him.
Henry was his best friend; he wasn't allowed to bully Mason in front of Terrance.
"I don't blame him," Henry said, making Terrance perk up. "You're amazingly artistic, Mace."
Mason just scowled and dragged Terrance to the front. "Do you want a coffee for the road? Or will you wait until you come back? Or you could have two, it's really up to you." He spoke quickly, as if he was embarrassed and sounded shyer than he had the entire time Terrance had been with him.
"You're adorable when you get shy," Terrance said, poking Mason's nose with his finger and moving it quick when Mason tried to bite it. "I don't have any cash on me, though. So I'll wait until I get back."
Mason rolled his eyes and got to work making a coffee anyway, pouring sugar and cream into it before making a foam design on the top and adding cinnamon. "You don't have to pay for it. This is just in return for the date last night," he said.
Terrance kissed his cheek, making Mason shriek and push him away. "I have the best barista mate in the world!"
Blush worked its way over Mason's face, but he didn't smile or giggle. He just cleaned up and told Terrance to go get his laptop and come back.
"Already ordering me around?" Terrance asked.
"I've been ordering you around since yesterday, mate," Mason said, adding the last phrase sarcastically. "And you heard the cops. I need the big, strong Alpha around to protect me from the other Alphas of this city."
Terrance scoffed. "If any of them mess with you, splash hot coffee on them."
"I'm not wasting my stores on idiots who hit on me," Mason growled. "Henry usually helps out. He just didn't sense it yesterday because I was on break."
"Just be safe, mate," Terrance said, only love and concern in his tone. "I'll see you in a bit."
Mason only cracked a genuine smile when Terrance was faced away from him.
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