Chapter 33
Chad hated Aiden Halsted. Calling what the man did teaching was laughable. After the first fifteen minutes, his class had devolved into what could only be described as a methodical beating.
Chad hadn’t been this bruised since he was in a car accident when he was nine. His ribs ached, and he wondered if he might have a sprain. It hurt to breathe.
The lingering pain from being fucked was nothing compared to what Aiden had put him through.
It didn’t reflect well on Peter that he was friends with someone like Aiden. That he would let him teach.
There was one thing Chad was sure of, and that was that he wasn’t going back to Aiden’s class. To hell with what people thought of him—though by the end of the lesson the other alphas had been wincing along with him every time Aiden put him on the floor.
Chad didn’t think they would judge him too harshly.
After the class, Chad took a taxi back to his apartment and climbed into the shower. The hot water felt amazing on his battered body, though he still moved like an old man when he stepped out and dried himself off.
Popping a few painkillers, Chad grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down on his tiny couch to watch some TV.
Listening to the sound of the traffic on the street below, the noise fading away into the background until he started thinking about it, he remembered the blissful silence of Peter’s bedroom.
Being rich sure had its perks.
Chad flipped through the channels on his new TV until he landed on a rerun of a sitcom he used to watch with his dad. He let the remote drop down on the couch and put his legs up on the coffee table.
The show was only moderately funny, but Chad enjoyed the familiarity. He leaned into the cushion behind him and let his mind wander.
Before he knew it, Chad was blinking his eyes open to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He must have fallen asleep.
Reaching over, wincing as his battered body protested the movement, Chad answered the phone with a sleepy hello.
“Hey, Chad. It’s Topher. Noah and I are watching the game, you want to join us?”
Chad frowned; trying to remember what game might be playing. If it wasn’t football, baseball, or hockey, Chad wasn’t interested.
“Sure, yeah. That sounds like fun,” he said. “I’ll be right down.”
Even if he wasn’t interested in whatever they were watching, the company would be nice. Grabbing what was left of the twelve-pack in his fridge, Chad stepped into his boots and headed down stairs. Topher opened the door on the first knock.
“Hey, man. Come on in.” Topher waved Chad inside.
“Thanks for inviting me,” Chad said, handing him the beer. He walked the short distance to the couch, greeting Noah before sitting down next to him. Then he realized that with him and Noah on the couch, there was nowhere for Topher to sit.
But Topher had thought of that. He put the beer down on the coffee table and walked into his bedroom, coming back with an oversized beanbag chair and plopping it down next to the couch.
It was the most college-y thing Chad had ever seen. Topher grabbed a beer from the table, reaching behind him for the bag of chips Noah was holding with grabby hands.
“So don’t you guys have class?” Chad asked, leaning forward and grabbing a beer off the table for himself. He winced at the pain in his ribs, and Noah shot him a questioning glance.
“Not on Wednesdays,” Topher said, shuffling chips in his mouth. “We tried to make it so that we had Fridays off instead, but we couldn’t get it to work.”
“Too bad,” Chad said.
“You feeling okay?” Noah asked. Topher twisted his head to see what Noah was talking about.
“Yeah, I just had a rough training session this morning. Bruised my ribs.”
Topher looked impressed. Chad didn’t want to admit that he’d spent the morning playing the part of Aiden’s virtual punching bag.
“I guess there’s a lot of that kind of thing in your kind of work, huh?” Topher said. There was a note of hero worship in his words, and Chad felt his ego swell. It was nice to be looked up to.
“Sometimes,” he said modestly.
“Okay, the game is starting,” Noah interrupted, his eyes glued on the screen. Chad turned his attention to the screen, the camera showing a zoomed-out view of a basketball court.
Chad watched the game, and though he wasn’t invested in either team, it was pretty exciting to watch. When it was over, Noah said he had to head home and get some studying done and headed off. Chad helped Topher clean away the empty bottles lining the coffee table.
If his mother could see him now, drinking in the middle of the day on a Wednesday, she would not approve.
“So how did it go?” Topher asked as they sat back down, turning the volume on the TV down as they popped open the last two beers.
“How did what go?” Chad asked. Topher gave him a look like he couldn’t believe that Chad had to ask.
“At the omega house! Did you… you know?” Topher wagged his eyebrows and Chad couldn’t help but blush.
“Ah… no. Actually… you know the alpha I was telling you about? My boss?” Topher nodded, and Chad took a large swallow of his beer. “Well, he was kind of there and… we ended up going back to his place.”
Topher didn’t say anything, his eyes widening as he realized what Chad was saying.
“Holy fuck! How? Why?”
Chad shrugged. Topher’s reaction was about what he’d expected.
“We got to talking, and… I don’t know. It was nice.”
“Really?” Topher looked like he was having trouble believing it.
“Very nice,” Chad confirmed.
“Huh.” Topher nodded to himself like he was making a minor adjustment to his worldview. “So does that mean that you’re gay?” he asked. There was no judgment in the question, which Chad appreciated.
“I don’t think so? I mean, it’s not like I’m not attracted to omegas… I just also like Peter.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
Chad shrugged. “I hope so. I left my number, but he hasn’t called yet. I don’t know if it was just a one-night stand or what.”
“Well… if you want him to call I hope he calls.”
Chad grinned. Topher was being way cooler about this than he needed to be.
“What about you?” Chad asked, curious about his new friend. “Are you seeing anyone?”
Topher shook his head. “Not really. I’ve been dating this beta for a while, but I’m not sure if it’s going anywhere. I think she’s just using me to stick it to her parents.”
Chad winced in sympathy. “That’s too bad. Is the sex good at least?”
Topher grinned and nodded, and Chad laughed at the sheer licentiousness of his expression.
At least Topher was getting something out of being used.
***