Chapter 29 Tray
TRAY
LOS ANGELES…
A cat. I was still so damn excited.
I’d raced out to the biggest pet store at dawn, but the damn thing wasn’t open.
My bad really. I should have checked its hours, but I’d never been much of a planner.
I liked to jump in the car and go wherever fate and fancy took me.
It didn’t always work out in my favor, obviously.
Feeling like a dumbass, I’d sat in the parking lot ordering everything—practically the whole damn store, Dixon had joked—for same day delivery, before picking up five fancy-as-fuck lattes and jetting back home.
The guys had hated the drinks, probably because I’d ordered them all the same. A Tray special, but at a new coffee shop that had popped up after a quick phone search. My only requirement had been ‘Wants Too Much’ Todd didn’t work there.
The Blend House off Sunrise hadn’t had marshmallow fluff, big freaking bummer, but the fresh whipped cream was nearly as good.
And the barista—a rainbow-haired Beta with piercings galore and absolute CAKE that, strangely, didn’t ping my fuckable radar—hadn’t skimped on caramel.
I’d walked out feeling strange about that.
Not about the generous caramel, that was righteous, but the fact that I hadn’t, even for a second, thought about hooking up with the hottie gave me pause.
Cat at least was still sipping happily. She liked bougie drinks. I was on my second, with two more in the kitchen waiting to be reheated.
I sipped my latte and thumped a palm rhythmically against my thigh.
Dixon had given me the stink eye earlier when I’d begun tapping out a beat on the floor, so I was trying to control my manic energy.
Or, at least, I was trying to release it in a quieter way.
Wasn’t sure why the hell it bugged him. Everything around us was freaking loud right now, my faux drumming barely registered.
I think it was all just too much for him right now though, which was why he was out in the courtyard with his legs in the pool.
Ryder as on the sectional, doing something on his laptop.
Mac was pretending to read a book. Pretending, because he’d not flipped a page in the past thirty minutes.
Hours had passed since popping the contract addendum back to Eros and getting the official green light. The sun was high in the sky heating the day and the mansion was a flurry of activity.
Racks of clothing blocked the garage door and a couture-clad stylist, along with his two assistants, were continuing to carry garment bags inside despite running out of hanging room.
The general contractor Cat kept on speed dial was busy repairing the fireplace mantle; he’d already tackled the kitchen cabinet and the coffee table—which no longer held Tessa’s precious medical gown; that was now safely situated inside the pack suite’s hidden safe.
I wondered if the other guys were feeling antsy about that.
It unsettled me that I didn’t like it being out of sight.
Unsettled me? Jesus! I was Tray Rivers. I wasn’t clingy. Hell, I’d just had to deal with a clingy-to-the-max dude who couldn’t take a hint. That wasn’t my bag.
Couldn’t deny though, what everyone said about an Alpha meeting a strong Omega scent match was true: once you feel that connection, there’s no going back.
Carrying my insulated to-go cup, I walked closer to where a pair of Pet Paradise employees were building not one, not two, but three complicated cat towers in the wide hallway leading to our rooms. They’d basically taken over that space, making it impossible to walk past. They seemed to be struggling.
Not trying to be obvious that I was supervising off to the side, I dropped to my knees and started going through the delivery bags to the left of the hall archway.
Each paper sack was filled to bursting with cat food, toys, and pampering products.
Every few moments, I’d flick a look at the cat tree progress.
“No, that’s D. We need E. There should be two. Those connect with bolt size 2. We need the washers and nuts as well.” The gal’s voice was harried, as if she’d had to explain things too many times already.
“I don’t see an E. Read it again,” the responding guy was obviously not paying attention. Even from where I stood, I could see the E stickers on the side of two upholstered, angled attachments.
Pulling out a remote-controlled mouse, I looked over the box to see what kind of batteries were needed.
It was rechargeable via USB. Which was great.
Batteries hadn’t been on my shopping list. My attention was pulled back to the cat trees.
The third still in the box, the second a pile of unorganized parts, and the first.. . still challenging the duo.
“If you’d just listen, this wouldn’t be so hard,” the girl groaned out.
“It’s only hard because you’ve always got to play the leader.”
“Fine,” she barked. “Show me how it’s done, oh wise one.”
She launched the booklet at the guy, and he lunged forward to grab it, missing by a mile.
His face turned pinked from embarrassment as he retrieved the manual.
He scowled at the girl, and she smirked back while waving both E parts in the air.
It was funny, and I might have laughed, if I wasn’t more concerned with them getting the damn cat trees built before Tessa and her cat arrived.
Betas could be so strange. Alphas and Omegas were straightforward. But...I wondered...
I sniffed gently. They didn’t have badges on, or it would be easy to know their secondary class for sure.
The guy was an older teen, about the age when an Alpha has had their rut for a while and starts settling into their mature smell.
He was soaked in a heavy cologne though.
The kind made to mimic Alpha pheromones.
Without a doubt he was Beta. The girl seemed Beta too, but unlike the guy, I had a sneaking suspicion she was suppressing her true nature, not trying to fake the wrong one.
She had on long sleeves, but they’d ridden up her arms while she worked.
I clocked the dark wristband and took that as confirmation.
It was a decent, wearable blocker disguised as a nice watch.
Not a back-alley knock-off. She was cute, and I wondered why she’d chosen the Beta life.
Just cute though... nothing about her sparked the nether regions.
Did I suddenly become a damn pod person?
The egotistical dude was rotating the manual, as if he couldn’t tell which side was up. The girl now waited, arms folded over her chest with her hands still gripping the two labeled parts. Her patience didn’t last long.
“Honestly, just give it back and go do whatever. I really don’t care.” The girl sighed out the words, shifting the parts into one hand and reaching for the manual. She seemed used to this guy being incompetent.
“You go. I’m just fine,” he scoffed in return, finally deciding how to hold the manual.
Part of me felt a little bad that the cat trees were a pain in the ass, on top of the fact these kids were having to rush the job. Then again, that’s what they were paid to do. I’d give them a good cash tip when they were done anyway.
Bringing the to-go cup to my lips, I tipped it back and frowned when nothing came out.
Grabbing another was a good excuse to get away from the cat-tree-building bickering, so I padded into the kitchen to bin the empty.
After taking the top off a third latte and reheating it, I dug through the fridge to find whipped cream.
I typically kept it shoved in the back next to a few bananas.
Nothing like a banana split with cold bananas so the ice cream stays frozen longer.
I filled the cup too much and whip topping spurted out of the sipping hole when I replaced the lid.
I licked the excess happily. Nothing like creamy, dreamy white on your tongue.
I was going to have the fucking zoomies later after all the caffeine, but no way in hell was I wasting a drop of the s’more like deliciousness. When I returned about ten minutes later and glanced into the hall, I frowned. The Paradise Pets employees had made little progress.
“Yes, that way. No, turn it back the way you had it.” The guy was giving the orders now. And he was no better at that than he was at following instructions.
“You’ve had me spin it twice already. Give me back the directions.” The girl was losing her cool. “Seriously, I don’t know why they keep sending you on the delivery with set up jobs.”
“Hey, I’ve got seniority,” he hit back.
“And that means jack shit if you can’t perform,” she snapped.
I stood up and approached them, leaning over to peer at the cactus-like outcropping that was threatening to topple over the five-foot cat tree. “Is it supposed to branch out that way?”
“Yes, sir,” the sharp-nosed guy glanced up from the directions he held, “There’s a few more attachments and then circular platforms go on top.”
As he spoke, I saw the girl shake her head as if each word out of his mouth was a fabrication.
“Great,” I nodded, eyes glancing down at the manual.
“Hard stuff’s done for this one, sounds like.
Let your partner take over and you can unpack and inventory the other two.
That’s the job part that requires an eagle eye.
” I gave him my best smoldering look. He didn’t ping my queer-dar, which probably meant turning on the charm wouldn't work, but I was also betting he was the kind of guy who acted big with women and backed off fast otherwise.
He looked at me confused for a moment before nodding vigorously. He’d registered the compliment.