“You’re humming again,” Julian said.

“Hm?” Gabe looked over at the other Omega.

Julian shook his head, grinning. “I said you’re humming again. You’ve been doing it all day, you know.”

Gabe grinned back. “Have I? I guess I’m just in a good mood today.” The truth was, he couldn’t stop thinking about last night, how perfect everything had been. Even his own worries about the future seemed far away in the bright morning light.

“Uh huh. Just a good mood for no reason at all. Got it.” Julian had a knowing look as he went to go organize the new shipment of yoga mats, but Gabe didn’t care. He kept glancing out in the parking lot, looking for Logan’s old man car, but so far the Alpha hadn’t appeared.

Gabe was a little embarrassed at how giddy he felt. He hadn’t known sex could be like that: powerful and tender and amazingly hot, all at the same time. Much like Logan himself, come to think of it.

He had to groan at that one, glad that Julian wasn’t a mind reader. What was the matter with him? He had come to Bright Beach to focus on himself and build a business, not jump into bed with a new Alpha. But Gabe sensed that last night had been more than just a fling. He’d felt a connection with Logan, a feeling that he’d found his true mate.

Gabe covered his face with his hands. When did he get to be so sappy? It was pathetic, really. He was glad Logan couldn’t see him like this.

“Are you ok?”

The deep voice made him jump and yelp, uncovering his eyes. It was Logan, and the Alpha was looking quizzically down on him. “Why are you covering up like that? Did you hurt your face?”

“No! I was just… doing a breathing exercise,” Gabe lied. “It’s a yoga thing. Yeah. Anyway. Hi.”

“Hi,” Logan said, smiling down at him. The warmth of that smile made Gabe’s toes curl. “What have you got for me today?”

Gabe stared at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“You hired me to do work for you,” Logan said patiently.

“Oh! Right,” Gabe said, mentally kicking himself. “The left sink in the bathroom is draining a little slow if you want to take a look.”

Logan nodded. “I’m not an expert, but I do know a little about plumbing.”

Julian leaned around the corner of the front room, grinning up at the Alpha. “That’s good, Logan. Go lay some pipe for Gabe.” Gabe flung a pen at Julian, making the other Omega duck and cackle.

“Are those yoga mats unpacked and set up?” Gabe asked pointedly, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“Working on it, boss.” Julian winked. He paused, looking back over his shoulder. “And by the way, you two should just fuck and get it over with.”

Logan waited until the other Omega left the front desk before he leaned down to whisper in Gabe’s ear: “Too late.”

Gabe lost it, laughing so hard his stomach ached. It was too ridiculously perfect. “I guess now that the secret’s out we might as well do it again,” he teased, looking up at Logan. “Want to come by my place after work?” He was being bolder than he’d ever been before. Something about the Alpha brought it out in him.

“I’d love to come… by,” Logan drawled, making Gabe shiver. “I’ll see you then.”

* * *

The rest of the day crawled by. Logan left at around three as usual so he could be home when his little brother got done with school, and Gabe found himself watching the second hand on the clock drag slowly past the numbers.

He tried to work on a flyer advertising a new yoga and hand weights hybrid class, but it was no use. Knowing that Logan would be in his house in a few hours was too much of a distraction.

Julian kept smiling at him, and finally Gabe called him over. “Look, I hate to do this, but…”

“You want me to close up today?” Julian asked.

“If you wouldn't mind,” Gabe said. “I don’t have any more clients today, and I know you have Mrs. Riley at 5:30…”

“I got it, Boss,” Julian said, winking. “You go home and have a good evening.”

Gabe hugged Julian, making the other Omega laugh. Julian already had a spare set of keys, so Gabe didn’t waste any time grabbing his stuff and heading out to his car.

Part of him felt guilty. The gym was supposed to be his big project, his whole reason for being here, and he was leaving it to spend time with an Alpha. But the part of him that longed to be held by Logan didn’t care, and that was the part that made him speed all the way home.

The Omega parked in his driveway and paused to grab the mail. Juggling his gym bag, water bottle, and the stack of letters, he let himself into the little house.

Luckily, he’d cleaned up a few days ago, so the place wasn’t in too bad of a state. He set his stuff on the table and quickly sifted through the mail. He tossed the junk catalogs, smiled at the latest baby picture from friends back in Orlando, and paused when he opened the last envelope. It was a cashier’s check, one of the automatically issued ones, and it had come from his ex-husband’s bank. It was his alimony payment, the monthly support money the judge had granted Gabe in their divorce.

At the time, Brian had been furious that he had to “pay for his lazy ex-husband to sit around,” but Brian had been the one who never wanted Gabe to get a job while they were married. Gabe hated the idea of taking anything from his ex on principle, but the money had helped when he was just starting out on his own. Now that his gym business was picking up, he hoped he would one day be able to tell Brian where he could put those monthly checks.

The thought of his failed marriage depressed him, as it always did. It was better these days: more of an annoyance than making him dissolve into tears like he used to. But that check made him wonder if he would ever be able to marry ever again.

His wedding had been a dream day, and he’d meant it when he swore to love Brian for the rest of their lives, no matter what. Now it was just a hollow promise, one that hadn’t meant anything after all. What if he and Logan ended up the same way?

Gabe shook his head. He knew he was being ridiculous: one night with Logan and he was already wondering if they’d get married? If the Alpha knew he was thinking like this he would probably run the other direction, and Gabe wouldn’t blame him one bit. He swore to himself that he would just take this one day at a time. Doing anything else was just asking for trouble.

A soft tap on the glass sliding door made him look up. Logan was standing outside, holding a beautiful bouquet of tropical orange roses.

“What’s this?” Gabe asked shyly as he opened the door. He bent down to breathe in the faint fragrance, the velvety petals tickling his nose.

“Red seemed a little… too much,” the Alpha said, grinning. “But I wanted to get you something and I thought these were pretty.”

“Very pretty,” Gabe agreed, stepping back to let Logan enter. The Alpha seemed bigger in the small living room, like a caged wild beast. “Let me put them in water.” He was digging around in one of the cabinets for a vase when he felt strong arms encircle him from behind.

Logan’s touch lit up Gabe’s nerves like Christmas lights. It felt so good to be held. Gabe turned so he could look up at Logan, his arms coming up to rest on the Alpha’s broad shoulders. The Alpha was smiling as he gazed down at Gabe’s face, but the smile suddenly faded.

“Is everything ok, Gabe?” he asked.

“What? Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

“You look a little sad,” Logan said, his eyes roaming over Gabe’s face.

The Omega shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just got my monthly check from my ex and thinking about him always makes me a little sad.” He felt like he was ruining the moment. “It’s nothing, really,” he said quickly. “I’ll get over it.”

To his surprise, Logan paused. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t want to depress you too,” Gabe said, embarrassed that he’d said anything at all.

“It’s your history, Gabe. And everything about you is important to me.” Logan was looking at him with such kindness that it made Gabe’s eyes sting with sudden tears. “I understand if you don’t want to share it. But if you need someone to talk about it, I’m here.”

Gabe stared up at him in disbelief. Was he serious? But yes, the Alpha was waiting patiently for him to answer. He suddenly longed to tell Logan everything.

“I think this is a couch conversation,” he said, leading the Alpha over to the little living room space. Logan sat down next to him, the warm bulk of his muscular body absurdly comforting to Gabe. More than anything, the Omega had missed simple physical contact the most after his divorce.

He looked down at the carpet, remembering, and then began to speak. “Brian and I met at a friend’s party. He was an executive at the branch of a tech company, but I didn’t know it at the time. I was just flattered that he noticed me. He was one of those guys who takes up a whole room, you know?”

Logan nodded.

“We only dated for a few months before he proposed. I accepted. People joked that I was pregnant, but he was just very… insistent. Intense. Now I would hate it, but when I was younger and dumber it was very flattering.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, still embarrassed to this day.

“Well, you know I screwed up when I was younger,” Logan said, gently stroking Gabe’s back. “It’s easy to look back now and think you were dumb, but I think knowing that you made a mistake is a sign that you’ve changed for the better.”

Gabe hadn’t thought of it like that before, and he smiled gratefully at Logan. “Damn, you’re good at this. Have you thought of being a therapist?”

Logan chuckled. “I’m not the one to solve anyone’s problems. Anyway. Go on.”

“We were together for about a year, and it was pretty good. He was gone a lot for work, so I tried to stay busy around the house. Lots of crafts, lots of classes. Then we decided to start trying for a baby.

He told me not to bother getting a job since we both agreed I would be the stay at home dad. I started working out a lot to keep myself busy, like I told you before. I didn’t expect it to happen instantly, so the first few months were no big deal. But then it was a year, then two.” Gabe swallowed, feeling his throat start to burn. But he had to finish it now. “Anyway, Brian found this Omega fertility specialist, but even after a bunch of tests, they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. But the doctor made it very clear that I was the problem, not Brian. Well, being an Alpha, of course he wasn’t. But when the doctor told us I would never be able to have children, he turned so cold to me. It was like I didn’t exist in the house anymore. He would just… look through me.”

Logan had been watching him as he spoke, but now he scowled. “As if you did it on purpose?” he growled. “God, what an asshole.”

Gabe laughed, but his vision had started to shimmer with tears. “He decided an Omega who couldn’t breed wasn’t worth his time, so he divorced me. I didn’t fight him. Maybe I should have tried harder. But I couldn’t get over the way he looked at me when the doctor told him the results. Like I was a thing, a broken thing.” His voice cracked on the last words, and Logan’s arms were suddenly around him again.

“Shh,” the Alpha said, stroking his hair. “You are not a thing. You are a brilliant, hilarious, smart, fierce Omega. Your ability to have children or not doesn’t change that one bit. You hear me?”

The words were like medicine to Gabe, and he felt the wound he’d been carrying around since the divorce heal just the tiniest bit. He turned his face up to Logan, his hand sliding up the Alpha’s back as he kissed him. The Omega tried to put all the gratitude and love he felt into that kiss, to show Logan how much he meant to him.

Then Logan was kissing him back, and the hot press of his mouth made Gabe forget everything else. He savored the contrast between the slight stubble on the Alpha’s cheek and the silkiness of his lips. “I need you,” Gabe whispered, his breath catching in his throat as Logan traced the tip of his tongue slowly down the side of the Omega’s neck.

“I’m here,” the Alpha murmured, his lips brushing Gabe’s skin as he spoke, making him shiver with desire.

The night blurred then, the Alpha’s strong arms carrying him to the bedroom, gently undressing him, big hands caressing and kneading his skin. He surrendered to Logan gladly, trusting the Alpha with his body. If he could only trust him with his heart, life would be perfect.

But this time, when their bodies joined together, it wasn’t just the hot fire of lust. It was the warmth of hope, and Gabe let it carry him away.