Harry squeezed Bikey back just as tightly. ‘I love you too, Bikey! Wow! No one has ever said that to me before! I’m so lucky! I’ve got two bestest friends now.’

Bikey pulled away and for some reason was not reflecting Harry’s huge grin.

‘I didn’t mean it that way.’

‘You don’t want to be my best friend?’ Harry frowned. ‘You think the same as Aki? Only little kids have best friends?’

For a moment Bikey dropped his head into his hands then he made the kind of sound he made when he was attempting to bench press a heavier weight.

‘Okay! We’re going to do this.’ He jumped around so he was opposite Harry and took the alpha’s hands within his own. ‘I think you’re the same as me, Hairy. I think you like cack too.’

‘Cack? What’s cack? Maybe I do like it if you tell me what it is?’

‘Ugh! No! Listen! Cack. Cack. Cack.’

Harry’s mouth twisted one way and then the other in concentration. Did Bikey mean ‘crack’, the slang for the drug? But why would Bikey be thinking Harry would like that, when even having the odd drink was pushing nutrition limits? He wished Aki was here, Aki was good at understanding Bikey and interpreting for Harry if it was something really important. But despite how serious he seemed, never even smiling he was so expertly deadpan, Aki loved winding Harry up. All summer he’d been joking about about how Bikey wanted to bed Harry, even though it was only really funny the first couple of times. So maybe Aki wouldn’t be a help at all.

‘I don’t get it.’ Harry shook his head. ‘Can you describe it?’

‘We both have one, and since the moment I first saw you, I’ve wanted yours thrust so hard into me that my insides are permanently rearranged. No. Ignore that. Well don’t completely ignore it. Not if I’m not entirely wrong. But first what I’m trying to say is that, I think you like men, like I like men.’

Harry’s mouth hung open as he tried to understand Bikey’s accent. He spoke extra slowly as if he wasn’t even sure of his own words anymore. ‘I do like people. Like you like people. We’re friendly guys.’

‘Let’s try it another way. We talk about so much, and you’re so open about all the crap in your life and the things you’re scared of. Stuff that other alphas would never mention. But the stuff most alphas boast about all the time, you’re really vague about and quickly change the subject. Hairy, what’s your type? Who are you attracted to?’

‘Is that some sort of trick question?’ Harry found himself thinking of Crystal’s books about alphas and it made his stomach tighten.

‘No. Not at all. I really need an honest answer.’

‘Omegas. All alphas are attracted to omegas. I'm a totally normal alpha. Even if I did develop later than average, that doesn’t mean I’m not like all the other alphas. You know I've a tonne of omega porn. First Coach told us all to…’

‘Okay. Omegas. All alphas are attracted to omegas. Basic fact we all know. But people are more complex than basic facts.’ Bikey scratched his head and was silent for a moment. When he spoke again his voice was somehow both softer and more insistent. ‘Do you realise you hardly ever check anyone out…but when you do, it’s always a male?’

‘I’m just too busy training to, yaknow. I don’t know why you think I only look at…it must just be a coincidence…or like, yaknow, I’m not checking them out checking them out, I’m interested in their physique in an athletic studenty way, thinking about what work outs they do. And men are more interesting as I know more about their bodies what with me being a man? Or like you’ve got it totally wrong, because you’re light headed with all the intense training we do?’

‘Hairy, I know what you’re looking at because I look in the same places. It’s not about biceps, quads or pecs. You look at their crotch. And I’ve never met an alpha who does that.’

‘Why did you bring me to this lovely place to call me out as a perverted fake Alpha?’

‘No. That’s not what I mean to do at all! The opposite. I wish you were a perverted fake alpha, because we’d never have to have this awkward conversation which I am handling really badly.’ He put his hands on Harry’s shoulders and leaned in so their foreheads touched. ‘How about I stop asking you stupid questions and just tell you about me? Real slow and simple so you can understand me.’

Harry shrugged. Then he met Bikey’s eyes and nodded.

‘My family think this is an oddity that I need to grow out of. But I know it’s a deep-down part of who I am. All my life, even before I knew what it meant, I’ve been attracted to males. Especially alpha males. The first person I saw on telly that made me just stop and stare at him. My first crush at school that I was desperate to spend all my time with. The first teacher whose attention I craved. My first wet dream simply revolved around an alpha smiling at me. My first sexual experience that made me realise how amazing my body could feel when connected to another person. And now my first love. That’s you, Hairy. When I say I love you, it means I want to be your best friend. But it also means I think about you all the time and I am yearning for a sign that you think about me how I think about you. It means that I want to know what it feels like to have your lips pressed against mine.  I want to hold your hand when we walk down the street. I want to fall asleep in your arms. I want you to be the last person I see at night and the first person I see when I open my eyes. I want us to be able to trust and confide in each other, to know each other so intimately that we can laugh and cry together and never feel insecure or lonely again. I want to be able to call you my boyfriend.’