Chapter 14
14
CONNOR
We stopped for gas and a bathroom break in Barstow around ten. We had another three hours to go. Instead of being bored, or worse, frustrated with me, Ben seemed to like having me around, especially when I introduced myself to an aggressive alpha as his boyfriend.
"Sorry," I whispered as the alpha walked past us, off the bus, and out into the parking lot. The only sign of the previous night's storms was the wet pavement.
"For what? I hate pushy alphas." Ben sighed and leaned closer in his seat, which was still too far away. "I get so tired of it all. Look at us. I can't take my eyes off you. We've been talking the entire time we've been on this bus. Why would anyone think I'm available after seeing us together?"
I blinked at him a couple of times while my mind tried to register his words. "Wait. Does that mean we're boyfriends?"
"I practically asked you to move in with me." He sank into his seat with his coat hunched up around his shoulders. "I think we're dating, or mating, or whatever you call it."
I laughed at that. "We are not mating right this moment, or this would be a very different bus ride." I reached for his hand.
"When we're bonded, mated, whatever, will people leave me alone?" he asked. "I'm tired of alphas hitting on me."
"Shifters will know you're my mate." I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles in an attempt to soothe him. "Humans aren't as perceptive, but I can scare them away."
"You scared that guy away," he teased. "I'll be right back."
"Want me to come with you?" I asked. The alpha was still lurking in the parking lot.
"Do you mind staying with our bags this time?" he asked. "I don't want to take them with us."
"Not a problem."
I remembered the poor ruined sweater he still had in a zipped plastic bag inside his suitcase. Once I found another job, I would buy him sweaters just like it, one in every color.
I would buy him one of everything, simply because he was my mate. Not only that, but he wanted to be my boyfriend!
We had a long way to go before we would know and trust each other, but we'd made a lot of progress. Ben still hated alphas, but he was starting to like me. Well enough to be my boyfriend, anyway.
I was still nervous about meeting his family. They all sounded wonderful, and he was so proud of them, even if he acted as though he could do without them. His parents and alpha brothers seemed more protective than overbearing. His sister sounded like an absolute delight. She made naughty confections in her bakery. Penis-shaped cookies, vulva-shaped pies, and cupcakes filled with baby batter. I'd spent the morning giggling nonstop as Ben shared story after story. I felt like I knew his family better than my own, which wasn't saying much. I hadn't seen my family since I turned eighteen.
Thankfully, Ben hadn't asked about them.
The wail of sirens made me cringe. I glanced around to make sure our bus wasn't smoking this time. Two intersections beyond the corner station, flashing lights crossed a closed street. Behind that, a green car with a giant green top hat tied to the roof announced it was the Barstow St. Patrick's Day parade.
People filed back onto the bus, and the alpha who had tried to steal Ben from me stood beside the driver's seat. He hunched over our omega driver with a menacing glare.
"Is everything all right here?" Ben asked from behind the alpha.
"Yes. Just taking out the trash." The driver stood up. I couldn't place his scent, but his size marked him as a shifter. The human alpha didn't stand a chance.
"What? Me? I'm not?—"
"You're the alpha who refused to stow his bags, right?"
The man nodded.
"Could you all pass this gentleman's bags to the front, please?"
When the army duffle and backpack got to me, I stood and carried them to the driver.
"Thanks." The omega gave me a head nod and took the bags. "Any alpha that tries to intimidate me can take the next bus."
"Intimidate you?" Ben asked from behind him.
"He wanted me to leave without all my passengers."
I grabbed the alpha's shoulder and turned him toward the door, shoving him down the steps. Ben backed up and gave us space. With my second shove, the alpha stumbled onto the pavement. As much as I would have liked to let him fall, my hold kept him from dropping face first to the wet pavement.
Ben wasn't even the last person to return. Two women emerged from the gas station, each carrying a giant bag of popcorn and a fountain drink.
The driver handed the alpha his bags and stood between him and the door, allowing Ben and the two women to board.
I nodded for the driver, keeping a firm grip on the alpha's shoulder. He returned to the driver's seat. Then, it was my turn. I let go with a shove, not enough to knock the alpha over but enough to force him a step back. I hopped onto the bus and the driver shut the door in his face.
"My hero," Ben joked as he let me back into my window seat. He took a deep breath and let it out, and then another. "I've been thinking."
My heart pounded against my rib cage. Whenever someone thought about me, it usually ended badly.
"I have a spare bedroom."
Not where I thought this was going. I relaxed my death grip on the sides of my seat and took a breath.
"Instead of getting a hotel room tonight, I'd like you to stay at my place."
I made him repeat it, to be sure I heard what he said over the rush of blood in my ears and the roar of the bus as we rolled out of the parking lot.
"I'd love that," I said. "What made you change your mind?"
He shook his head. "I know that guy is no reason to change my mind. He barely did anything to me."
"He wanted the bus to leave without you and the others. I'd say that's a dick move."
"True, but … before I met you, I thought all alphas were like that. You're not." He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. "I almost wish you were. You're destroying my worldview."
I chuckled and caressed his cheek. He leaned into the touch, toward me, and I captured his bottom lip between my teeth for a quick nibble before letting him go. "I will happily continue to dismantle all your alpha stereotypes for as long as you'll have me."
He opened his mouth to say something else, but the bus stopped a block from the gas station, jarring us against our seatbelts.
"Bit of a delay, folks," the bus driver said. "I can try to find a way around, or we can pull into this parking lot so you can watch the St. Patrick's parade."
"How long can a parade last?" Ben asked.
"Let's watch," shouted the two women who had been last to board.
"Yeah," some of the others said, while the couple across the aisle from us clapped and cheered.
"Our connecting bus will wait on us," the driver said. "Last chance for anyone who needs to get home on time."
Ben glanced at me and grinned. Then, he pulled out his phone and texted his parents.
"Going to be late. St. Patrick's Day parade."
When the bus eased to a stop in the parking lot and the driver turned off the engine, Ben unbuckled his seatbelt. He plopped down in my lap and kissed my cheek. "My nephew hates St. Patrick's Day because it's his birthday."
"I would love to have my birthday on a holiday," I said.
"When is it?"
"July 15. I've taken a few vacations around Independence Day, but it's not the same as having a holiday on your birthday."
"My dad's birthday is Christmas Eve," Ben said. "He would probably disagree with you, though he's never really complained. Not the way Jeffrey does."
I couldn't wait to meet Jeffrey, to see if he really was as annoying as Ben thought, or if Ben's alpha stereotypes skewed his opinion.
The parade ended a half-hour later, and the police removed the barricade soon after, making our delay only forty minutes. I missed Ben when he buckled back into his seat, but my whole body tingled when he slipped his fingers between mine in the space between our seats and tugged my hand into his lap.
"What?" He asked when I frowned at him. "I like holding my boyfriend's hand.
Once again, I was blown away by that simple fact. My human fated mate wanted to be my boyfriend. The lightness in my chest only grew the more I thought about it.