Ari spent the day trying not to think about Adam.

He felt conflicted on one hand, Gabi and Alex could take the next step, But on the other hand, Adam was drifting farther away from him. 

He promised himself not to check Adam’s information in the database. He didn’t want to know who he matches, it just made it more real. 

His phone ringing pulled him out of his misery. It was Gabi.

“Good afternoon,” Gabi said. Something in his tone was off. 

“Is it?” Ari asked, as he got up from his position on his bed. “Why do you sound like that? Did something happen?.”

Ari began to suspect that the results were not what they thought they were.

“You won't believe it if I tell you.”Gabi said, for a moment Ari could hear Gabi talking to someone else, but he couldn't catch the conversation clearly, Gabi sighed and added “Do you mind if I come to you after I finish here?” 

“Since when do we need permission to visit one another?” Ari asked.

“Since Dani told me he almost caught you and your playmate one night.” Gabi said, Ari gasped in surprise.

“I don't want to interfere. At least one of us is getting some…” Gabi added.

“When Dani was here….?” Ari mumbled. In the past Ari wouldn’t have minded sharing about his ‘playmate’, but with Adam, everything felt more intimate and precious, and he wanted to keep it to himself.
“You know what is not important right now. Do you know Alex's test results come in today? I thought you were calling me because of that.” Ari said, attempting to change the subject.

“I didn't know. Thank you for telling me, though. Now it explains a lot of what happened to me today.” Gabi said, half sarcastic, half angry.

Ari frowned. Something must be really wrong if Gabi starting to sound like that. 

“Everything ok? What happened?” Ari asked, concerned.

“I'll tell you when I come over. All I want is to relax with a cold beer.” Gabi said, letting out a frustrated sigh.

“I need to finish a couple of things here. I will see you at your place.” Gabi said before hanging up.

Ari's mind ran through scenarios,trying to think of everything that could have happened to Gabi to make him sound like that.

He gets up from his bed, to check if he had any beer. Luckily, Adam wasn't much of a drinker. So there was enough for both of them to drink their sorrow away.

He turned to look at his living room and saw how messy it was. He began gathering the clothes that were scattered across the living room, from the couch cushions to the floor. As soon as he finished cleaning up, a sound from his computer drew his attention.

It startled him, so he walked into his workroom where the sound was coming from. On his big screen was an alert. He almost forgot he had set it. 

He never knew he could feel more miserable than he did that morning when Adam left his apartment.

The alert was for the database. Since he had been the only one without a match, he had built an algorithm to notify him whenever a match was found.

He couldn't shake the feeling that the world was playing a cruel joke on him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knows he has to find out what the information said.

‘At least we have this month,’ he thought to himself.

He typed on his keyboard and uploaded the information he wanted. When the results appeared on the screen, he froze. He didn’t know what to say, do, or feel.

It felt like he stood still for a while. Then he ran out of the room, only to stop in his spot in the living room. 

His hands started to shake, his heartbeat picked up speed, his breath caught in his chest, realizing he was starting to have a panic attack.

He dropped to the floor, placing his head between his knees, trying to control his breathing: Breathe in, hold it for a few seconds, then breathe out slowly.

He had no idea how much time had passed before he heard his apartment door open.

He stood up, thinking it was Gabi. As he walked to the front door, he met Adam instead.

“Little Bear, I missed you so much, so I came to see you. You won't believe what I have to tell you” Adam said cheerfully.

Adam opened his arms with his big, foolish smile for Ari to jump into for a hug.
Adam's smile faded when he noticed Ari’s teary eyes. Ari runs towards him and hugs him tightly. Tighter than he’d ever hugged him before.

“Hey…” Adam said gently, Stroking Ari's head. “I’m here now. Don't cry. Little bear don't cry.”

Ari pulls back slightly and wrapped his arms around Adam's neck,jumping up and wrapping his legs around Adam's waist like a koala bear.

Adam held him from underneath for stability. 

Ari began to cover Adam’s face with kisses. Between kisses Ari whispers loving words. Adam's body heats up. The whole situation could have turned him on, if Ari had not been crying.

“Love… what happened?” Adam asked more firmly but gently.

Ari pointed to the direction of his workroom. Adam carried both of them to the room.

When he entered the room, Adam saw that the big screen was on. He looked at the information displayed on the screen.

Adam was taken aback by what saw.

“You checked my information?” Adam asked, a little disappointed.

Ari turned Adam's head to look at him. “It's not your information.” Ari said. “It's mine.” He added when he saw the confusion on Adam's face.

“It's mine,” Ari replied with trembling lips.

Adam looks back at the screen, checking the information again.

“Really??” Adam asked excitedly. Ari nodded, and Adam spun them around. Laughing.

He spun them until he bumped into the couch. He sat down, breathless, with Ari sitting on top of him.

“I can only guess that when your taste results come in, they are added to the database. I set an alert for my data to notify me when new information appears.”

Ari starts kissing Adam again. Adam kissed him back. They kissed deeply, and their hands traveled on each other underneath their clothes. Just before Ari told Adam to take off his shirt. The doorbell rang.

It took Ari a moment to remember that he was expecting a guest. “crap… I almost forgot. Gabi called me to let me know he dropped by for a beer.” he gets down from Adam and Walked to the door. When the doorbell rings again. Ari shouted, “You have a key! So why don't don't you…what the hell happened to your hand!?” Ari asked in the middle sentence. Gabi held a bag of snacks in his left, and his right hand was a cast. His shirt was wrinkled and dirty, and hair was a mess, like a bird's nest.

Gabi entered Ari's apartment and said,“I didn't use the key because I got a heads-up about your playmate from Dani.” As he reached the living room, he saw Adam. “Hey, playmate,” Gabi said to Adam shamelessly.

Adam didn't get embarrassed. He just smiled brightly in response until he noticed Gabi's cast.

“What happened to you?!” Adam asked, concerned. He didn't want his future brother-in-law to get injured.

“I really need a beer before explaining that,” Gabi said in a tired voice “But I haven’t eaten all day, and if I drink on an empty stomach, I’ll get a really bad hangover.”

Gabi emptied the bag onto the counter, took out one snack, and opened it.

“That’s not going to fill you up,” said Adam.

“It's not like I can cook something,” Gabi said, holding up cast hand. “And it’s not like I can count on our lovely Ari and his cooking skills.”

“No argument there.” Ari replied. 

“I can cook something for us,” Adam volunteered. “And I can promise you, I can cook more than a grilled toast and peanut butter and jelly.” He added jokingly.

Gabi sighs, “why don't surprise me” he said.

Adam walked toward the kitchen, opened the fridge, and started to take out ingredients.
Ari took out a beer for all of them and opened it.

“Speak” he ordered Gabi while handing him beer.

Gabi took a big sip before he started to talk.

“Usually, I go to a farmer's market on this day of the week. I have a standing order from a regular client at the restaurant, and I buy some ingredients for it.” Gabi paused to sip. “So once I was done with my shopping and heading to the car…” Gabi paused again, this time to take a deep breath trying to control his anger. “... When I get to my car… two thugs were lening on my car… At first I didn't know what they wanted from me… and then when they started to talk about Alex, and how I should keep my distance from him…” Adam froze at the mention of Alex. “So when I told them to fuck off, that's when the fists started flying. Eventually, the police showed up and arrested them. I ended up spending the whole morning at the police station giving my statement. Then I went to the hospital for a checkup. And they found a fracture. They called it ‘wrestling-related hand fracture’. They put a cast on my hand ,just to be safe.” Gani finishes, wrapping up the story of what had happened to him.

“Do the police have any suspects?” Ari asked, concerned.

“ They did not say much, but from what I gathered, they are connecting it to another open case.” Gabi replied.

“What are you making?” Gabi asked Adam, trying to guess what he was cooking based on the ingredients Adam was chopping.

“I call it ‘everything in eggs’. I used to make it all the time in college for Alex.” Adam said proudly. 

“I'm definitely looking forward to that,” Gabi said, “so, you know about my day. What about yours?” He asked them.

Adam and Ari exchanged a glance and both blushed. 

“Wow… that's good?” Gabi laughed.
“Today, Adam and Alex got the result.” Ari said excitedly.
“Is there something new I should know?” Gabi asked softy.
Ari chuckled, “you could say my data got updated.”
“Please,” Gabi sighed, “after the day I had no riddle.”
“My results came in,” Adam said, looking at Ari with stars in his eyes, “and Ari and I were a perfect match,” He paused, then added, “But that is not the big news. We wanted to help Alex get some clarity, With the whole two mates situation… When they told us he declined his match,nothing made sense anymore, Alex kept insisting he had accepted. Then the lady there offered to let us hear the  call recording, and you know what we heard?” he paused. “Alex did get the call. But the person who declined… was Kelly. She answered his phone, listened to what they said, and turned it down. Then she  went further, she hired someone to call him later, pretending to be from the program, just to make sure he believed she was his real match. just to keep him tied to her..” Adam said, dropping the last ingredients into the pan.
“Holy shit” Ari muttered, wide-eyed.
“I swear, people with money and power think they can do whatever they want,” Adam said bitterly. “They treat people’s lives like it’s some game and think they can walk away.”
Gabi and Ari exchanged a confused look, trying to process everything .
“what are you talking about?” Ari asked. There was something unsettled in his eyes.
“you know the powerful family, the one that basically owns half the country? They think they can do whatever they want.” Adam said.
“WHAT?!” Ari and Gabi together.
” Kelly… she’s from the Bouffe family,” Adam replied, his voice low but steady. “She is the only child of the family head.”
Ari froze. Gabi shook his head in disbelief.
“NO, she is NOT,” Gabi snapped. “Call Ryan. NOW”
Ari grabbed his phone and dialed. “Get over here. Now!” Ari said and hung up.
Adam looked between them, confused. He could feel the tension in the room shift.
“What's going on?” He asked.
Gabi looked him in the eyes. “Kelly did not just lie about the mate situation. She lied about her family, too.”
Adam frowned.“Are you sure?”. Ari stepped closer and placed a hand on Adam’s arm.
“Adam, babe... You met the Bouffe family at the ball. They are my uncle and aunt, Aaron and Lucy.”
Adam's eyes widened as the realization hit him.
At that moment,  a tall Alpha burst into the apartment, breathless from running.
“What do you need me to do?  Should I throw him out of your apartment?” He asked sharply as he stepped forward, coming face to face with Adam.
“No,” Ari said sharply, stepping between them, protective of his mate.
“Ryan, calm down and listen,” Gabi said firmly. He pointed toward Adam. “He just told us someone has been using your family’s name. Pretending to be part of the Bouffe family.”
“Perfect” Ryan muttered, a dark smile spreading across his face. “I have been tracking them for more than a year”