Read Omega in A Bottle {BL} :: Riding

Rian smiled as the beta got up to use the bathroom, but as soon as they disappeared from sight, he let the expression drop from his face.

The half-empty glass on the nightstand glinted in the low light, condensation pooling beneath it like sweat on skin. The sheets smelled like sex and shampoo that wasn’t his, a scent he already knew wouldn’t stick in his memory past tomorrow. He was already considering whether any of his other sheets were clean or not as he slid a hand behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.

The silence in the room had weight, thick enough to breathe in, like steam in a closed shower. He heard the sink turn on in the bathroom, a brief hiss, and then the soft rustle of a towel.

“Hey, mind if I shave?”

“Razors are in the cabinet,” Rian called out, hearing as the beta dug around for his disposable razors. He wasn’t really sure why he kept them, besides the fact that there was always someone who would ask if he had one. Rian learned after having a particularly clingy alpha over that it was better to not keep his personal razor out in the open. People took liberties they shouldn't when they thought they mattered more than they did.

The bathroom door stayed cracked open, letting out the soft glow of overhead light. He could see the silhouette of the beta moving past the frosted glass of the mirror, pausing every few seconds. A rhythmic motion. Shaving, like they said.

Rian’s eyes shifted toward the ceiling again. The faint hum of the central air filled the silence between them. Everything about the apartment was designed for quiet, curated calm; stone countertops, recessed lighting, double-pane windows that muted the constant thrum of the city outside. The beta had complimented it earlier, used words like tasteful, intimate, sharp.

The beta hadn’t asked about the reinforced locks on the bedroom door.

Rian exhaled slowly, then sat up, dragging his hand down his face. His skin was cooling now, the sharp edges of sensation dulling to memory. He blinked at the wall across from him, where a framed print hung off-center, tilted from the last time he’d had someone over who hadn’t known when to leave.

“Hey,” Rian called out, looking for his clothes as he stood from the bed. “Do you want a ride home?”

“Oh, sure!” Was the cheerful response, and Rian nodded, a bit of his tension easing. He had worried that the beta seemed a bit too into him, but they didn’t seem to be upset that Rian hadn’t invited them to stay the night. He hadn’t even intended to have sex with them, but the guy was eager and a little charming, and Rian had been bored more than anything.

That happened sometimes. Boredom disguised itself as curiosity, or a temporary hunger for company, and he let it. After all, the only time he could enjoy sex was outside of his rut, and Rian saw no reason to deny himself when the opportunity wasn’t laced with risk.

The beta returned wearing only his jeans, damp hair pushed back from his face, and a lazy smile still tugging at his lips. He leaned in the doorway, watching Rian tug on a shirt. “Thanks for offering the ride. I was going to call a ride-share, but your car’s probably faster.”

“It will be,” Rian agreed, reaching for his keys from the top of the dresser. “Just need to grab a jacket.”

The ride down to the garage was quiet and Rian preferred it that way. The elevator’s soft hum filled the space, their shoulders brushing once before the doors slid open to reveal the dim lighting and polished concrete of the private lot. His car, low-slung and silver-blue under the halogens, chirped softly when he hit the unlock.

The beta whistled low. “I forget every time how nice your ride is.”

Rian shrugged, closing the door as he slid into the driver's side. The guy slid into the passenger side, almost immediately reclining the seat. It was clear that he intended to sleep on the drive and Rian cleared his throat.

“Need to know where I’m going.”

“Ah, Apostle Route. I live on the corner of there and 34th,” the beta’s tone was sleepy, already drifting. “There’s a café on the bottom floor. Green awning, kind of ugly.”

Rian gave a wordless nod as he pulled out of the garage, the smooth hum of the engine drowning out the end of the beta’s half-mumbled sentence. Traffic had thinned out since midnight, and the streets gleamed with moisture from a passing drizzle, halos of streetlights stretching across the windshield in long smears.

The beta, Lucas, he remembered now, was snoring lightly before they’d cleared three blocks. Rian took the time to consider his thoughts as he drove, appreciating the silence. Lucas was the one who asked for a date, but it was clear that what he had meant by “date” was “good sex with an Alpha used to betas”. After all, since betas never developed in puberty, the chance of injury was high and so it was common to seek out experienced partners.

Still, as he slowed at a light, the golden glow casting soft shadows across the sleek interior of the car, he felt a tight flicker in his chest. Rian didn’t go on dates very often, unless he thought he might feel something for the person, but it was always… disappointment. His father told him it was simply because he hadn’t found someone who lit that flame in his chest but Rian was still too polite to say aloud what he’d thought for years: maybe that flame just wasn’t there. Maybe it didn’t exist for him.

His hands stayed steady on the wheel, but that quiet ache pulsed at the back of his throat, raw and persistent like something half-swallowed. There was nothing wrong with Lucas. Or any of the others, really. Betas, alphas, omegas; he’d tried them all, carefully, respectfully. He made sure they were safe, always. Made sure they enjoyed themselves, if that was what they wanted. But in the aftermath, in the stretched silence that followed, he never felt what he assumed he was supposed to.

No comfort. No urgency to pull them close. No real desire to see them again.

He turned onto Apostle, the neon signage from the café Lucas mentioned throwing garish color across the side of the car. Rian tapped the brakes and nudged him gently.

“Hey,” he said, his voice low. “You’re home.”

Lucas blinked awake, eyes bleary, mouth pulling into a crooked smile. “Thanks. You’re the best, seriously.”

Rian gave a noncommittal nod as the beta climbed out, fumbling with his jeans pocket for his keys. The route home was shorter. He took the express, windows rolled partway down to pull in the sharp smell of rain still clinging to the city. It helped clear the air. The apartment welcomed him with its usual hush, lights dimming automatically to a low, warm setting as he stepped inside.

The sheets were still tangled on the bed. Rian stripped them off in one practiced motion, bundling them into the hamper in the hall. Clean ones were folded in the linen closet, crisp and scentless. He remade the bed, tugged the corners tight, then hesitated a moment, hand resting on the mattress edge as he let the quiet settle around him.

His phone buzzed against the dresser.

Rian stared at the message. He considered ignoring it before picking up the phone.

<Nah. Only agreed cause I thought u were interested.>

Rian sighed heavily, a dry laugh catching at the back of his throat as he set the phone face-down on the dresser. The message didn’t sting but it annoyed him in a vague, familiar way. People assumed too much when it came to alphas and he wasn’t even a regular alpha.

He rubbed a hand over his jaw, the rough stubble catching on his palm. He should sleep. It was late, nearly two now, and he was scheduled for a double shift tomorrow at the shelter near the edge of the city. Apparently they weren’t getting nearly enough appointments for all the omegas currently housed there, and they already had four that almost reached a critical condition. It was sheer luck that a backup had been nearby and able to take the emergency.

Rian walked to his kitchen, pulling out a container of chilled protein broth from the fridge and downed it in a few long gulps. It wasn’t tasty, not even remotely satisfying, but it worked fast and kept his energy up when sleep would be in short supply. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glanced8 toward the bedroom again. It still felt too warm inside his skin, that hum beneath the surface like nerves waking up from pressure. Not rut, not even close, but the residue of unsatisfying sex had its own kind of friction, and it made his body restless even as his mind screamed for sleep.

He ended up in the shower instead, forehead braced against the tile as the water pounded down in a staccato beat. Cool, just below body temperature, the kind that helped bleed away the heat behind his eyes. The scent of Lucas had already faded: some generic citrus-vanilla shampoo, nothing that lingered but Rian lathered twice anyway, scrubbing at skin that felt too tight.

When he finally lay down, the new sheets cold against his bare legs, his body surrendered easily. But his mind wouldn’t.