CHAPTER 30: IT’S STILL NOT CLEAR ENOUGH

"I’ll take care of the fliers!" Leo slams his hands on the table and causes it to shake. He leans forward in his seat, his blue eyes glistening in the artificial light. Across from him, Ethan and his mother stare at him with the same blank expression.

"Of course you are," Roxanne smiles at him. "You’ll also be our mascot." Ethan’s eyes widen and he snorts, avoiding his friends gaze.

"What, Mascot?" Leo scowls at the older woman and then at his friend for laughing at him. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair with a pout. "Am I some animal, or something?"

"Uh-" Ethan tries to speak.

"Don’t. Answer that." Leo narrows his eyes.

"You’re just so pretty." Jessie speaks from beside him. She pats his shoulder, and then tucks strands of greying black hair behind her ear.

Ethan’s mom decided to open a bit later today so they can discuss the specifics of their new promotion, so the apron they usually wears is hung on the wall. It’s rare for Jessie to be seen without a fishnet around her hair as well. "If we have a good looking omega on the fliers, I’m sure we’ll get lots of customers!"

"Traitor!" Leo exclaims, making her laugh. "Oh, my woe!" He covers his eyes with his hand and then he peeks through his fingers.

"Don’t be dramatic," Roxanne chuckles.

"Plus, you’re majoring in a design class." Ethan agrees with them. The beta ignores the glare sent his way.

"It’s fashion, not design." Leo snaps.

"What’s the difference?" Ethan furrows his brows, "Fashion is just designing the human body."

Leo frowns and pinches the bridge of his nose, "Tattooing is designing the human body. Fashion," His tone of voice turns majestic, "Is about style and expression."

Ethan rolls his eyes, "Still the same thing." He mutters. "People just express in different ways." For example, his mom does it through food.

"Whatever," Leo dismisses him, "but yes, I’ll do it." He sounds annoyed, but Ethan knows he’s excited. "And instead of calling me your mascot, just use the word model." He winks at the two older woman.

He doesn’t say out loud that maybe it will catch Max’s attention. With the alpha busy getting ready to open a spot in another country, Leo doesn’t get to see him as often. Sure they text, but it’s not the same. Sometimes he thinks about video chatting, but he gets to flustered and doesn’t. Knowing Max, he’ll probably convince him to do naughty things over the camera.

As Roxanne and Jessie continue to work out the details of the promotion, Leo notices Ethan fiddling with his cellphone. He’s been doing it all morning, as if he’s not sure about something. The omega can guess what it is, too.

"Just text him already." Leo leans forward and hisses under his breath.

Ethan presses his lips together and glares at him. "Mind your own business."

Leo rolls his eyes, sometimes he hates how indecisive Ethan can be in the most random things. "The dude straight up told you he wanted you, what are you waiting for?"

"We’ll be back." Ethan tells his mom. He grabs Leo’s wrist and tugs him to the kitchen of the restaurant. "Can we not talk about this around my mom, please? It’s weird.",

"If she knew, she’d agree with me." Leo shrugs, "Just saying."

"You’re annoying." Ethan mutters. He leans back against the wall, his phone still in his hands. It’s only been half a day since Zander left, and the alpha hasn’t reached out to him.

Why would he, anyway? Doesn’t the ball lay in Ethan’s court now? Ethan chews his lip, even if it is, what should he do with it? Zander didn’t say he liked him, or that he wanted to date him. He said, I’m after you. As far as Ethan is concerned, it’s still not clear enough. Is he after a one night stand? Is he after a friends with benefits type of relationship?

Most likely, is what Ethan thinks. He’s a rich dominant alpha who definitely has a long line of omegas and betas alike waiting for a smidge of his attention. He wouldn’t let Ethan keep it all to himself. Not when he’s at the top of the social chain.

"You love me anyway." Leo waves him off, and dragging Ethan away from his thoughts. Then he snatches the betas phone from him, and runs around the prepping table. He quickly types out a message, and just when he hits send, Ethan takes it back.

"What did you do?" Ethan groans as he stares down at the screen. The blood drains from his face.

Ethan: I want you too!

"Why did you send that?" Ethan rubs his palm down the side of his face and groans. "I’ll never forgive you for this."

"Oh, look who’s being dramatic now." Leo taunts. There’s a chime from Ethan’s phone. When Ethan just stares at him, Leo moves to his side. "Don’t just stand there, idiot! What did he say?"

Ethan bites his lip and opens the messages back up.

Zander: ???

"What the hell does that mean?" Ethan frowns. How is that the response of someone who’s been waiting for a confession? The beta purses his lips and replies back.

Ethan: Sorry, that was Leo.

"No! Doesn’t say that." Leo tries to take the phone but Ethan holds it up in the air. He glares down at his petite friend and scowls. "That’s so not fair."

"Good. It wasn’t fair of you to send what you did." Ethan snaps back at him. He shoves his phone into his back pocket and sighs. He wasn’t planning on giving Zander an answer because there’s no way he is serious about what he said. But still, how could he just respond with a few questions marks?

Was Zander just messing with him last night?

"Hey, are you really mad at me?" Leo nudges Ethan’s shoe with his own.