Chapter 1
ONE
JAE
“You can stop giving me pathetic beagle eyes. I’m ready to go,” Jae said as he clipped his fanny pack around his hips.
“Are you sure?” Hollis asked, flicking his blonde fringe out of his face before resuming his sad puppy dog look.
“One would think that after an hour of getting ready I would have more faith, but I don’t want you to forget anything.
We’re not coming back until we’ve tried all ten drinks, and hopefully slept with at least two shifters each. ”
Jae rolled his eyes and cast one last glance in the mirror.
His tousled black hair was finally cooperating, and he’d gotten it to fall perfectly across his forehead, occasionally obscuring one of his eyes in a way he thought looked coy but still sweet.
He’d been vacillating between the two moods—and aesthetics—all afternoon and finally landed on a combination of the two.
His red terry cloth booty shorts were just the right combination of sassy and cute, especially with the bar crawl t-shirt he’d cropped to hit right at the bottom of his rib cage.
The name of the crawl, Fuck Fate, turned the little shirt from sweet to snarky.
Paired with his black distressed Converses, he figured he would either be the bubbly best friend or the chaotic life of the party, depending on the attitude he chose to bring tonight.
Lord knew it was better than what he’d been the past few months: a sad sack, still hung up on an ex that everyone swore he was better off without.
Unfortunately, Jae hadn’t seen it. He’d been convinced Robert was his forever person, even if fate hadn’t agreed.
Jae had their whole life planned out and was even beginning to look at engagement rings when he’d gotten that final text.
“I’m aiming for one shifter at every bar, so a nice even ten drinks and five fucks,” Jae said. He tried to ignore the way his smirk didn’t reach his heavily lined eyes. He’d almost been able to hide the bags under them with Hollis’ best concealer.
“The only way to get over him is to get under someone else. Or five someone else's,” Hollis said, his own smile lighting up his golden brown eyes.
Robert hadn’t really liked going out, and after their breakup, Jae had barely been able to drag himself to work each day, let alone to a bar or club.
This was their first time going out together in months, and he knew Hollis was beyond excited.
He’d arrived at Jae’s house two hours early for the bar crawl, prancing around Jae’s house like he was wagging his tail—no doubt mimicking his inner omega beagle.
Jae’s own omega, a Mandarin duck with gorgeous plumage he’d been neglecting to groom the past several weeks, was currently preening and fluffing out his feathers.
It seemed no matter their lingering exhaustion and heartache, they were both ready to try and get back out there.
Truthfully he had no intention of sleeping with five shifters.
The thought of finding even one person to flirt with, let alone sleep with, felt untenable, but maybe he could at least talk to five people who weren’t Hollis.
Hopefully the two specialty drinks offered at each of the bars on the crawl would help.
Hollis’ phone chimed, and he pulled it out and clucked his tongue. “Alright, darling, we really should get going,. Keys, phone, wallet, condoms?” Hollis recited, and Jae patted the fanny pack.
“Yes, yes, yes, and yes. And before you can ask, I never stopped taking the pill, and I got tested, like you recommended, and everything is negative.”
Hollis’ smile dimmed, but he nodded his head. “Okay, that’s good. I know you had faith he wasn’t cheating, but I just can’t believe he would pick up and move to Europe to ‘find himself’ without something—or someone—spurring him on.”
“The ‘something’ was his parents stupid obsession with fated mates.”
Or at least that’s what Robert had said when he’d texted Jae from the plane that was carrying him away from their cozy apartment and, at least as far as Jae had been concerned, happy life.
“Well, you know what we have to say to that?” Hollis said as he followed Jae out of his bedroom.
“Fuck fate?” Jae said, a goofy smile spreading across his lips that only his best friend could elicit.
“Fuck fate, my dear!” Hollis said, throwing his arm around Jae’s waist as he locked his front door.
Hollis ordered them a rideshare to the first bar, because even though they both looked great, they were absolutely not dressed for Valentine’s Day weather.
Before he met Robert, Jae used to go clubbing a lot more often and was an expert at stashing his coat and belongings at whatever venue they ended up at.
It was too much to try and keep track of at a bar crawl though, and as his debut night back on the scene, he didn’t want to be hindered by something as superfluous as a warm jacket.
“I think most of the group is already there. Nico said he’d order us both the ‘Liberation Libation’ to start,” Hollis said as they slid into the back of a neon green sedan.
“These are all folks you know from work?” Jae asked, trying to remember what information he’d actually been given about the night. Last weekend Hollis had sent him a screenshot of a ticket, informing him they were going on a Fuck Fate bar crawl and Hollis had ordered him a shirt.
“Mmmmm,” Hollis hummed in thought as he swiped through his notifications before switching to scrolling social media.
“I think at least half of them work with me at Rexford Shipping Co. and the rest are friends of someone who works there. There wasn’t a limit on how many guests we could bring, so obviously I had to bring you, and I would have brought Rain, but he’s all happy and disgusting with Lyle now, so there’s no place for him on a Fuck Fate bar crawl. ”
A little over a year and a half ago, Hollis’ roommate, Rain, reunited with an estranged friend who turned out to be his fated mate. Jae was genuinely happy for him, but he was also just a tad bit jealous.
“One of the EAs sent around the invitation–without the name of course,” Hollis said with a snort.
“Although that would have been hilarious to see our CEO’s face if he got an invitation to a ‘Fuck Fate’ bar crawl, meanwhile his overprotective mother is always trying to get him to go to fated mate parties. ”
“It’s cute that his mom cares so much,” Jae said, making a mental note to call his alpha mom sometime soon.
She and Jae’s omega dad were on an extended trip to Korea to visit family, and he’d only given them the barest update about his breakup with Robert.
It’s not that they didn’t care, they’d just always lived relatively independent lives from their eldest child.
They liked to joke that Jae had come out of the womb with a planner in hand.
Lately, though, it had been more like he was living with a never-ending to-do list and a backlog of snoozed notifications and reminders.
Today was going to change that, though. He wasn’t sure how or why, but he had a feeling that this was the exact kick in the very short pants he needed to get his life back on track.
“Emory works too hard. After his dad died and he took over the company, I swear he eats, sleeps, and breathes work. I once found him asleep in the conference room at 6am.”
Jae’s duck shook its tail feathers. “Is he coming tonight? Sounds like maybe he could use some fun.”
Hollis pocketed his phone and gave Jae an unimpressed look. “Didn’t you hear me? He is without a doubt still working. Besides, you do not need another man that’s too busy to have fun and keeps you from living your life.”
Jae’s stomach sank, and his duck bowed its head.
To make matters worse, he accidentally made eye contact with the driver in the rearview mirror, and even he looked disapproving.
“I’m really sorry, Hollis. I still don’t think it’s quite as much his fault as you think it was.
I’m just as much to blame for not prioritizing our friendship. ”
Hollis’ eyes flashed as his beagle rose to the forefront for a moment.
Jae knew he’d not only disappointed Hollis but also his omega.
They used to go to the shifter park together almost every weekend, but Robert thought it was tacky to shift in public.
He also thought it was a hassle shifting in private, so Jae hadn’t been letting his duck out anywhere near enough.
“How about we go to the shifter park tomorrow?” Jae offered, and Hollis’ entire face lit up.
“Are you up for it? I know you’re still grieving the relationship, and that’s okay—”
“No, you’re right. He kept me from living my life for far too long. It’s time to focus on myself again, and that means letting my omega out more often and spending a lot more time with you.”
Hollis beamed, and Jae was pretty sure he caught the driver smiling.
Jae’s duck was overjoyed as well, quacking happily in a way he hadn’t in quite some time.
He rode that high all the way into the first venue and up to the bar where he was inundated with hugs and greetings from all of Hollis’ friends, many of whom he recognized and remembered liking before he became a recluse with Robert.
A drink was placed in his hand, and he obediently took a sip, bright notes of grapefruit and pine hitting his tongue and reviving some long forgotten part of himself.