“Remi? What’s up?”
Remi snapped back to attention, realizing he’d been lost in admiring the kitchen for way too long.
“Sorry, I was just looking at your kitchen. It’s so nice. Ugh… the things I could cook here.”
Dimitrios laughed at the starstruck look on the omega’s face as he continued to eye his kitchen.
“Maybe you can use it sometime. I don’t get a lot of home cooked food, so if you wanted to make dinner some night, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Really?” Remi turned to him with an expression of pure excitement.
“Yeah. We’ll figure something out.”
As they reached the entryway, Remi grabbed his backpack, stuffed the bag with his dirty clothes into it, and slipped the check in the front cover of one of his textbooks. He turned back to Dimitrios and pulled out his cell phone.
“We should exchange numbers so we can keep in touch.” Remi said, unlocking his phone and opening the option to add a new contact before handing it over to Dimitrios. “Here, put in your number.”
The omega’s cell phone was ancient and cracked. Dimitrios was surprised that it worked at all. He added a new phone to the list of things he needed to buy for Remi, but for now, he just typed in his number and handed the phone back. Remi sent a text with his name and they heard a little chime from the other room, as the message went through.
“You’re not taking the bus, are you? It’s kinda late for that. Do you need a ride?” Dimitrios asked, glancing at the dark windows.
“No. I was just gonna grab a cab outside.”
Remi shrugged his backpack on and turned around with a smile. He held his hand out and Dimitrios laughed and grasped it, shaking hands. It seemed like a weirdly formal way to end a night of sex, but the alpha kind of liked it.
“Goodnight, Dimitrios. I’ll text you my schedule so you have it.”
“Goodnight, Remi. I’ll call you when I have more free time.”
They let go of each other and Dimitrios opened the door to let Remi out. He watched as the omega disappeared between the closing elevator doors before closing the door to his apartment and leaning back on it.
That had been the best sex of his life and now he was exhausted. He locked the door and headed back to his bedroom. As soon as he entered, he slammed into a wall of vanilla bean scent mixed with sex. He quickly changed the bedding, tossing the used ones in the hamper for the housekeeper to wash, before taking a quick shower. The alpha plugged in his phone, double-checked his alarm, and flopped into bed. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.
Remi rode the elevator down and got out at the lobby, walking quickly outside and into the cold. The thick hoodie was actually warmer than his usual coat, and helped block most of the chill. He jogged to the curb and flagged down a taxi, hopping in and giving his address. The cab ride was almost 30 minutes, and cost him most of the cash he had in his wallet, but it was worth it.
The omega stepped out in front of his apartment complex and rushed up the stairs to his unit, turning on the heater as soon as he entered. With the money Dimitrios had given him, Remi could allow this one luxury of running his heater.
The apartment smelled like burning dust as the neglected heater kicked to life, but it warmed the small space quickly as Remi went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and by the time he came out, the place was slightly less of an icebox. He took the sweats off and threw them over the back of his tiny, sagging, olive-colored couch, but left the warm hoodie on as he crawled up into his nest. He plugged in his cell phone and set his alarm for the next day, before curling up into a little ball under the piles of blankets on his bed, warm and cozy for once.
Chapter 6
Well-Wishers and Suspicions
Dimitrioswokewellrestedand smiling, as the first thing he smelled was the vanilla bean scent of Remi. He hadn’t realized how much sex affected his mood, but he felt much more like himself than he usually did as he got up and got ready for work. It was like the cloud that constantly hung over him was gone and he was all the better for it. Dimitrios smiled as he walked into the office, a real smile with teeth and everything. People were looking at him with puzzlement again, but some of them smiled back and gave small waves or nods, even a few, ‘Good morning, Mr. Cirillo’ here and there.
He took off his coat and hung it up, sat down at his desk and started going through emails, counting the minutes until Leon would appear. The other alpha always seemed to know when something was going on with him. It was his weird superpower, and Dimitrios was right when no less than fifteen minutes later Leon appeared in his office and sat in his usual seat across the desk, looking like his usual serious self.
“You got laid.” It was a statement. Not a question.
“Leon… seriously.” Dimitrios rolled his eyes, but his friend ignored it like he knew he would.
“I thought that maybe you had the other day, but no. You definitely got laid this time. You reek of vanilla and you haven’t stopped smiling.”
“Okay, you caught me. I got laid. Can I work in peace now?”
“Who was it? Did you find a boyfriend?”
Dimitrios sighed. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend. It’s none of your business. Didn’t we just have this conversation?”