"That scaffolding is unstable," Teddy said to no one in particular as he walked across the muddy construction site. It had rained yesterday, which was helpful for Nana's roses, but terrible for his shoes. The sweltering heat was made worse by the added humidity, and the puddles were very slow to evaporate.

The workers going past ignored him entirely, focused on getting their Friday shifts done and getting home for the long weekend. Traffic was already snarled all the way to Galveston with people fleeing to the beach for 4th of July weekend. He barely made it to the site on time this morning, and the streets around the project were a gridlock all the way to the highway.

"Mr. Connelly," Bill boomed across the site when he saw Teddy coming. He was covered from the waist down in a thick coating of mud, but he smiled just as cheerful

as ever. "I heard we have plans. The boys are excited."

The men working around him snorted without pausing as they shoveled fragments of sopping wet drywall into the dumpster.

"The committee is looking over the plans now. They'll have their decision to us by next week." Teddy adjusted his hard hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "What's the status of the demolition?"

"Just finished the last of Building 2 this morning," Bill said, flipping through the pages permanently attached to his hand. They were smeared with dirt this morning, wrinkling and wet just from the muggy air. "My boys will have this cleaned up before they leave for the day, and we'll get started on Building 1 next week." He stomped across the shattered drywall leaving big, dark footprints. "You know how the city is," he said amiably. "It'll be weeks before they've debated everything to death, and you'll have to make a few adjustments here and there. We'll be ready weeks before the plans are approved, don't you worry about that."

Teddy frowned at the thick hand that clasped his shoulder. "You make a thought-provoking argument," he said. It wasn't a very good argument, but he managed to keep that thought behind his teeth. He'd been working on that ever since the night Carlos had mistaken him for a mental patient. Maybe if it had been the first time that had happened...

He also didn't mention he requested the council provide a list of other possible builders in the area that he could work with. Bill and his boys were now six weeks behind on the demolition phase, and Teddy didn't want to see how long they would stretch out the construction if he let them. Skulking around the site for the last week, he made a few notes of workers he wouldn't mind keeping on, but the names would fit on a postage stamp.

Bill laughed, the sound turning heads around the site. "I'm not just a pretty face," he said. "You wanna take a look at Building 2?"

Most of the men looked amused, but a few made Teddy's skin crawl. He wasn't sure if it was their rough appearances that made him think they were malevolent, or if they really were glaring at him. "I'll do a quick walk through before I leave," he said, shifting until the meaty hand fell away from his shoulder. "There's no need to trouble yourself."

"No trouble at all," Bill said, dusting his hands together. "I could use a chance to dry off."

The workers laughed, louder than the simple joke warranted. Teddy made a note of that, too.

"After you," he said, stepping after the builder carefully as the debris shifted under their feet.

The building was a mess, the floors covered in the shattered remnants of cheap construction. Even the windows, drafty single-pane numbers with aluminum frames, had been removed. The team had been told to be as careful as possible, but some breakage was inevitable.

Teddy had to repeat that to himself several times as he stepped around a pile of crushed cabinetry and watched the men sweeping up a sizable pile of glass.

Thankfully, the bones of the building looked good. Consistent with the rest of the construction in both layout and quality, it would be easy enough to get it all updated to the new plans after the holiday.

Bill talked. After the second derogatory comment about the neighborhood, Teddy tuned him out entirely. It was a better use of his time to imagine what the finished units would look like, and how the families would use them. If he knew that, he could do his best to make each home more efficient.

They were halfway through the tour when his phone went off. Bill didn't even seem to notice as Teddy fished it out of his pocket.

"So what did you buy your Carlos? —Marcus"

"He's not my Carlos. —Teddy" He shoved his phone back in his pocket and ignored it the next two times it buzzed.

Bill was giving him a sidelong glance as it buzzed a third time. "Trouble with the missus?" he asked with a broad wink.

"No," Teddy said more coldly than he intended to. "Meddling friends," he added, forcing himself to relax a little. It never paid to irritate people you had to work with.

Nodding sagely, the builder clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll leave you to it, then, shall I? You've seen about all there is to see. Just more of the same on the other floors. Inspector already cleared them, so it's just a matter of sweeping up the mess."

"Thank you," Teddy said as the other man walked away. He took a few steadying breaths before he could convince himself to pull his phone back out.

"You didn't actually give him anything yet. —Marcus"

"Have you at least talked to him? —Marcus"

"I was just teasing, Teddy. I didn't mean to upset you. —Marcus"

Swallowing hard, Teddy tapped out a reply. He wasn't sure why the comment bothered him. Carlos wasn't his. They had a pleasant conversation, but that didn't mean anything, and it definitely didn't mean the omega had any interest in Teddy.

"I'm not upset, I'm busy. —Teddy"

Unless that was the reason it bothered him. He liked Carlos. He was smart and funny, kind even when he thought Teddy belonged in a psychiatric ward. Not to mention the thick muscles of his arms and broad back.

"Okay, I'm a little upset. —Teddy"

"Sorry. —Marcus."

"I didn't give him anything yet, but I did talk to him. —Teddy"

"He helped me fix my project. —Teddy"

"He's an engineering student. —Teddy"

"So you said. —Marcus"

Teddy chewed on a bit of dry skin on the corner of his nail and tried to decide if Marcus was laughing at him. His phone buzzed again before he got very far.

"You really like him, huh? —Marcus"

"Yes. —Teddy"

There was no reply for long enough he was having nightmare flashes of his whole loud, insane, pushy friend group discussing the situation and drawing straws about who's turn it was to deal with Teddy this time.

"Don't tell Kurt. —Teddy"

"And don't fly down here. —Teddy"

The phone rang a moment later.

"I don't think we've reached that dire of a situation just yet. Do you?" Marcus said as soon as the call connected. "And if you think I haven't already told Kurt..."

Groaning, Teddy ran a hand through his hair. "He's going to give me advice," he said, spitting the last word like it was a curse.

"You don't have to take it." He was laughing. Teddy could tell by the way his voice had gone entirely monotone.

"He's very persuasive," he snapped.

"Do you want to be persuaded?"

"Don't try to psychoanalyze me. You're not nearly as good at it as Cody." In fact, if Cody wasn't out of the country on a training mission, he wouldn't be in this situation.

The only omega in their frat, Cody had majored in psychology only as a backup plan. His first love was the military, and he blazed quite the trail for himself as the first omega special forces team leader.

"That's not an answer," Marcus said, ignoring the insult.

"I don't know, okay?" Teddy leaned back against one of the exterior walls, ignoring the poke of a twisted nail in his back. "I like him, and I have no idea what I'm doing." It wasn't that he was a virgin, but picking up a one-night-stand at an industry conference was an entirely different field of study from the flowers and chocolates, getting to know you, nice restaurant dates that Carlos made him think of.

"Repeat after me: Would you like to go to dinner?" Marcus didn't even try to hide his laughter this time.

"It's not that easy," Teddy growled.

Marcus snorted. "It really is. Just ask the guy out. The worst that could happen is he says no."

"What do I do if he says yes?"

"Whatever you've been doing," Marcus said. "If he says yes, he obviously likes what he sees."

"He's not going to say yes," Teddy muttered, muffled by the way he kept chewing on his nail. "He thinks I'm nuts." The hot iron taste of blood filled his mouth, and he cursed, trying to blot his bleeding finger with one hand. "I should go."

"I'll call you later to see how your date went," Marcus said, the threat delivered in a cheerful singsong.

"I'm going to become a hermit," Teddy swore as he hung up, wrapping his finger in a relatively clean corner of his shirt. "I'm going to move somewhere they can't find me and become a hermit."

Stomping out of the site fifteen minutes later, he took the side entrance to avoid walking too close to the unsteady scaffold and stepped straight into a mud puddle. His shoes squelched all the way to his car, and then he spent forty-five minutes just getting on the highway. By the time he pulled into a parking spot at the mall, he was on the verge of calling off life in general for a while.

"Can I help you find anything?" the perky sales clerk asked as he walked into the store.

His shoe was still leaving muddy smears with every step, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at her. It wasn't her fault he was at the end of his rope, and he wasn't going to take it out on her. He wasn't.

"I need a gift. Something for a...date." It was harder than he'd expected to force the word out.

"Sure," she said, her voice scraping down his spine. "We have a lovely selection of jewelry—"

"First date," he said, looking away from the watches and cufflinks so he wouldn't be tempted. Besides, if he brought Carlos a diamond-encrusted tie pin, the omega really would think he was crazy.

"Oh," she said, her voice getting even higher until it made his teeth ache. "That's so sweet. You can't go wrong with chocolates, but if you know what she likes, we also have a really good perfume section."

It was so obvious, he almost smacked himself. He was a connoisseur of chocolates. He kept emergency chocolate hidden in his work bag, his desk, his bedside table, and in a special insulated box in his car. He'd have to remember to check on that, now that he was thinking about it. In Connecticut, he hadn't had to worry about it melting, but even with the insulation, he wasn't sure it was going to survive the Houston summer.

"Thank you," he said, striding away. There was a decent chocolatier in the mall, and he knew exactly what kind of mix he'd get for Carlos. Something with just a touch of spice.

He wasn't planning on getting anything else, but he had to pass through the perfume section to get out of the store. In the riot of overwhelming scents and sparkling bottles, he caught a whiff of a delicious fragrance, musk and sugar. It snapped his head around, and he was at the counter before he realized it.

Back at his car, he told himself that he'd save the cologne for a later date. He didn't take it out of the bag, though.

The drive back to the house wasn't as bad as he was expecting. The Caldwells were at their beach house, and most of the neighborhood was deserted. Theresa had been given the weekend off, so he wasn't expecting to see Carlos until the following week, but as he pulled in he had to edge around a pile of branches and trash bags.

His hands were shaking as he parked, and he was all too aware of the fact his shoe still squelched when he walked. He was tempted to go upstairs and change. Would that look creepy? Maybe just a change of shoes? And he had to wash his face.

Pulling down the mirror, he groaned when he realized there was drywall dust caked on his forehead. There was no way anyone in their right mind would say yes to a date when he looked like this. Carlos was definitely in his right mind, unfortunately.

Not that that was a bad thing. Sometimes he needed someone who was a little more...Grounded? Was that the word? Practical? Not boring, never boring.

He glanced in the mirror again, only to find Carlos standing a few feet down the driveway. He was watching the car with a concerned look. Here Teddy was, talking to himself like that psychiatric patient he kept claiming not to be, and Carlos saw all of it.

And he was still doing it!

Getting out of the car, Teddy grabbed the shopping bag and stomped off toward the house, his shoes squishing with every other step. Embarrassment burned up his chest and neck until his cheeks throbbed with it. He was an idiot, and he wasn't going to make a fool out of himself by asking a question he already knew the answer to.

"Hi, Teddy."

He stumbled to a stop with his hand on the doorknob. So close. He'd been so close.

"Hi, Carlos," he said. He gave a little half-wave without turning around.

"Everything okay?" Carlos was closer, his feet crunching across the gravel.

Teddy risked a glance at him, bracing for...What? Disgust? He wasn't sure what he expected, but the warm, affectionate look on the omega's face wasn't it. "My shoe squeaks when I walk, I'm covered in dust, my friends are trying to kill me, and it's not socially acceptable for me to ask you to come up and go to bed."

About halfway through the thought, Teddy realized Carlos wasn't wearing a shirt, and his brain checked out entirely. The sheen of sweat that covered his delicious skin highlighted the wiry muscles that shifted as he moved and the dark circles under his eyes. Eyes that were now staring at him wide-eyed in shock.

Fuck. "Would you like to go to dinner?" Teddy asked, thrusting the bag at Carlos until he took it, the muscles across his chest dragging attention to his flat brown nipples. Yanking his eyes back above shoulder level, Teddy swallowed. "That's not a bribe."

Carlos cleared his throat, staring at the bag like it was going to bite him. "What is it?"

"A thank you present. For helping with the project and also maybe saving me from getting beat up." He frowned. "I still don't think Victor would have done it, but Nana says it's the thought that counts."

Snorting, Carlos poked at the bag. "Did you seriously get me a bottle of Omega Angel?"

"Yes...?" Teddy said, dragging his eyes back to the fall of dark hair over the other man's temple. He kept being tempted to ogle the hard ridges of Carlos' abs where they spread above the low-riding waist of his work pants.

Carlos glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "It's my favorite."

A knot in Teddy's gut relaxed just a little at that. "Oh. Good," he said, smiling slightly. A few flakes of dust peeled off his forehead, drifting past his face. "I should go clean up."

"Yeah, sure," Carlos said, still staring at the contents of the bag. He glanced up at Teddy when neither of them moved. His eyes bored into Teddy's soul. "Hey, Teddy? You free tonight?"

Teddy nodded. There was a dark, husky note in the omega's voice that wrapped around him like a velvet vise.

"I'll come by your room at eight," he said, dragging his eyes down Teddy's body. His lips twitched when he reached the bottom, laughter at the soggy shoes overridden by heat. The return trip took even longer, the weight of those eyes like a physical caress all the way up until Teddy was trying to decide if it was worth the discomfort of gravel to pin the omega to the ground.

It must have shown on his face because Carlos chuckled, a dark, wicked sound, and winked. Sauntering away slowly, he made it very clear he was expecting Teddy to watch by the way he kept glancing back and smirking.

A nuclear bomb could have gone off next door, and Teddy wouldn't have noticed. He was glued to the spot, watching the omega until he disappeared around the corner. Only then did he reluctantly head inside, his pants uncomfortable enough to make the walk up the stairs a bit of a challenge.