by Esme Beal
“Maybe you’re right… But Queen says she can bankroll me.”
“What?”
“She said she can give me a loan. You know, I can borrow money from her and then pay her back when I win.”
I blinked my eyes, not sure if Charlie was serious. But the excitement on his face couldn’t be faked. I sighed a deep breath and shook my head because I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get through to him.
“Charlie,” I said as I put a hand on his shoulder. “How well do you know Queen?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I only met her last night. But when I started winning, she got me a room to sleep in. Had a fancy dinner and a fancy breakfast, so I say she can’t be that bad.”
“If she’s offering you money, that means she’s a shark.”
“Maybe. But she’s a lot nicer. You heard what she said about me.”
“It doesn’t matter. A shark is a shark. You don’t know what Queen is capable of.”
“All I know is that she’s willing to spot me some money. Think about it, Noah. She gives me some cash and I beat some high-rollers. Then I get out. I’m not trying to be greedy here. I only want enough to live comfortably for a few good years. Maybe I’ll bankroll someone else so they can play for me.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell Charlie not to go through with it. That would be like telling him I didn’t believe in him.
“What if you lose?” I said.
“What do you mean? I’m not going to lose—”
“But what if you lose? You said Queen is going to bankroll you. But what happens when you lose. That’s not your money you’re losing, it’s hers. Do you think she’ll be okay with it?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess she won’t be too happy.”
“And what do you think she’ll do to you? You saw how big that man was standing with her.”
The enthusiasm on Charlie’s face was replaced with a sudden frustration. He furrowed his brow and started shaking his head at me.
“What are you saying then? Are you telling me that I should just give up?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying—”
“You might enjoy working at this restaurant but I don’t. You think I want to clean tables and wash dishes for the rest of my life? No… I want more than that.”
“I’m not telling you to give up. I…”
I sighed because it was going exactly how I expected it to. Charlie was young. He was optimistic. It would be wrong for me to dash his hopes. I knew there was no way I could stop him.
My hand dropped from his shoulder.
“Listen,” I sighed. “I’m not telling you to quit or give up or anything like that. But when it comes to someone like Queen… There are a lot of people in this part of town who are trying to take advantage of others. I just want you to be careful, okay, Charlie?”
“I’ll be careful—”
“Promise me that you won’t get in over your head. You know I only want what’s best for you.”
Charlie sighed a deep breath and calmed down.
“I promise,” he said with a nod.
The smile came back to his lips. It was enough to make me do the same.
I leaned up against the wall and Charlie joined me.
“You want a bite of this?” I said as I held my sandwich up.
“I had a huge lunch already. I won, remember.”
“Right… I should’ve guessed since you’re already late for work.”
“After I win again, I’m gonna be really late for work.”
“When you win big, just make sure you stop by every now and then to pay me a visit.”
“I won’t have to. I’m gonna make enough to buy Chan’s so you won’t have to work here either. I’ll get you a place in North County. A big mansion. How does that sound?”
I laughed and took another bite of my sandwich.
Hearing about how successful Charlie planned on being reminded me of the most successful person I knew at the moment.
It was a few hours until I would see Ashton again. I couldn’t wait.
Chapter 8
ASHTON
I leaned up against the wall and watched from a distance.
“Watch out!”
Noah put his arms up to make himself look as big as possible.
“Don’t let him get you!”
The children around him started running, screaming their heads off in the process. Despite the terror in their voices, their smiles were as huge as could be.
“I’m coming for you!” Noah yelled.
He snatched one of the children and picked him up from the ground.
“Save him!”
They all gathered around Noah and started clawing at him. Noah laughed as he was slowly taken down by the sea of children surrounding him. He was forced to release the child from his grip and they stayed on top of him until Noah finally pleaded for help.
“I give up!” he shouted. “You win! You win!”
The children all cheered in unison, pumping their fists in the air. Their victory was short-lived when an older blond woman stepped into the room.
“What are you all doing?” she said. “It’s time for all of you to get ready for dinner. Everybody to the dining room.”
The young ones all groaned and pouted as they were forced out of the small living space where Noah was playing with them. Noah remained on the ground for a moment to catch his breath before pushing himself up to his feet.
The blond woman tended to him.
“Oh, Noah,” she said. “You know you’re not supposed to get them so worked up.”
“Kids need to waste all of their energy,” Noah said. “That means they’ll finish their vegetables.”
“You should play with them after dinner. Getting them to sleep is a lot harder than it is getting them to eat. Though neither one is an easy task…”
Noah walked over to me. He looked exhausted but there was a big smile on his face.
“Eunice,” he said. “I’d like you to meet someone.”
The woman turned to me. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw me.
“This is—”
“Ashton Webb,” she said. “I saw you in a magazine just the other day. It was about your company.”
“I remember doing that interview,” I said with a laugh. “What did you think?”
“I don’t think my opinion matters much. You’re in charge of the most successful company in all of Snow Falls.”
“Your opinion is as important as everybody else’s.”
“Eunice is one of the heads in charge of the shelter,” Noah explained. “She’s mostly responsible for the younger Omegas.”
“There seems to be a lot of them,” I said.
There was a sadness in Eunice’s blue eyes. She sighed a deep breath and put her hands on her hips.
“That’s just the way things are,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s here in Snow Falls or anywhere else in the world. Just because they’re orphans doesn’t mean they deserve any less love than anybody else though. I try to give them all the love they deserve.”
“She sets a good example for all Omegas,” Noah said. “I wish I could be as good of a person as she is.”
“There’s no need for such flattery. I enjoy what I do. That’s all there is to it. Mr. Webb… Is there a reason you decided to come visit us?”
They were both smiling in a way that made me feel so welcome even though I’d only been in the shelter for so long.
“Noah said he volunteers here,” I said. “I was curious to see what it was like. And now I know why he comes here. Spending his time playing with the young ones… It’s a fun way to pass the time.”
“He’s doing more than just passing the time,” Eunice said. “Everybody in the shelter looks up to him, especially the young ones.”
Noah’s cheeks started to flush red with embarrassment. It was cute in a way that I almost felt teasing him about it.
“Come along,” Euni
ce said to me. “Everybody is in the dining hall. Let me show you.”
Eunice led us through the halls of the spacious shelter. Even though it was large enough to house a good amount of people, it wasn’t the most appealing place to be inside of. The paint was peeling off the walls. There were stains and holes all over the ceiling. The floor looked like it was dirty no matter how much they were trying to clean it.
You wouldn’t have known what kind of shape the shelter was in though with how much of a good mood everybody was in. I stepped into the dining hall and saw everybody smiling just as dinner was getting started. To see so many different people conversing and joking and laughing with one another was enough to make me forget that we were in a shelter.
“I’m sorry,” Eunice said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to help get dinner started. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Webb.”
“Please. Call me Ashton.”
Eunice excused herself.
“So… What do you think?” Noah asked.
“This place has a certain charm about it.”
“Charm. That’s not the word I would use but I guess it works in a way. You can be honest. Everybody knows what’s happening, even if they don’t acknowledge it.”
“And what is happening exactly?”
“This place is falling apart. The Broadway shelter has been around for decades, getting by on sparse funding from city council and donations from the citizens. Can’t hold it against them though. There are better things to spend money on these days.”
“Well… It’s a good thing I don’t have anything better to spend money on.”
I smiled at Noah. I would’ve expected him to do the same after what I just said. But his head dropped. There was a disappointment on his face that left me confused.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he sighed as he shook his head. “It’s just… I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“And what idea would that be?”
“That I invited you to the shelter because I wanted to get a donation from you. I know that you’re rich. A donation to the shelter would make a big difference to everybody here but it wouldn’t make a difference to your bank account.”
“All the more reason for me to do it.”
“Still… I don’t want you to think that I invited you here because I wanted you to feel sorry for the people here.”
“I understand what you’re saying. That’s no reason for you to look so sad.”
Noah slowly raised his head up and smiled.
“I’m not sad,” he said.
“Good. Because I’m still giving this place a donation. You’re not making me do anything. I’m doing this because I want to.”
“That means a lot to everybody. It means a lot to me.”
“Remember. You didn’t invite me here. I invited myself. If I should be mad at anybody for being forced to make a donation, I only have myself to blame.”
“I just want you to know that it’s always your decision. You can change your mind if you want. I won’t hold it against you.”
“I don’t think there’s a chance of that happening.”
We both looked out on the dining hall. Dinner was in full swing, with everybody from the young children to the elderly stuffing their faces. To see all of the joy they got from eating was enough to make me smile.
I looked at Noah and saw that he was smiling just the same as them.
“Eunice was right,” I said.
“About what?”
“About how good you are with those children. I’d never seen a child smile that way around someone.”
“Oh, well…”
His cheeks started to blush again. It was funny in a way to see a man as rugged as Noah so embarrassed.
“Anybody would have been able to do what I did,” he said. “Those children just wanted someone to play with.”
“Anybody could’ve done what you did but you’re the one who did it. You deserve all the credit.”
“I don’t think I deserve credit for something I wanted to do. It’s just like Eunice said—”
“You’re amazing, Noah.”
He looked away from me, sputtering with his mouth half-open as he tried to search for something to say. The way he struggled to speak just made me laugh.
He eventually managed to collect himself.
“I never expected to hear something like that coming from Ashton Webb,” he sighed.
“I know you think I’m some rich and successful businessman. You think I’m some magnanimous Alpha from high school.”
“All of those things would be true.”
“Perhaps. But I don’t want to be those things when you look at me. I only want to be your friend, Noah. Do you think that would be possible?”
He smiled softly at me and nodded.
“I’d like that.”
I couldn’t make it clearer to Noah how I felt about him. It gave me a warm feeling to know that he felt the same way.
I leaned in closer to him, whispering into his ear.
“Tonight,” I said. “What do you think about spending time with me… Omega?”
He swallowed loud enough for me to hear it.
“I’ll do anything you ask of me… Alpha.”
“I’d like to take you out. Spend some time alone with you. Dinner and then we’ll see where that leads.”
“I… I can do that. There’s just one thing I’d like to ask of you.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
I pulled away and arched an eyebrow at him.
“We’re already here at the shelter,” he said. “There’s good company here. I don’t need a fancy dinner tonight.”
I look out into the dining hall. Seeing all of the smiling faces was enough to convince me.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Dinner here sounds perfect. And then…”
“Then we’ll see where things lead us tonight.”
Chapter 9
NOAH
Being back in Ashton’s place was just as amazing as it was the first time. The view was enough to give me an excitement I couldn’t remember feeling in a long time.
I sat comfortably on Ashton’s couch, curled up against the cushions while I looked out at the stars that illuminated the city down below. No matter how hot or cold of a night it was outside, I couldn’t have been cozier than I was now.
“Something to relax with…”
Ashton placed a glass of white wine down on the table in front of me.
“Wine,” I said. “That’s not something I usually drink. Then again, these past few days have been far from usual…”
A sip of the sweet alcohol sent a tingling sensation up and down my spine. It didn’t hurt that Ashton was sitting right next to me.
Wow…
I couldn’t help but stare at him. Just a pair of denim and a plain t-shirt, nothing you’d expect from the millionaire that he was. But he could’ve been in rags and the magnanimous confidence he had was always present. Ashton was the most notable Alpha in the city. He couldn’t be less charming no matter how hard he tried.
He took a sip of his glass then set it down, relaxing comfortably in his seat with his arms splayed across at his sides.
“There are days at the office that seem a lot longer than the others,” he said. “I talk to one person and as soon as I’m finished with them, another one walks through the door. I finish with them, and another one calls me. Just an endless stream of business meetings over and over…”
“I imagine that’s what it’s like. You didn’t get to where you are without working hard.”
“You would think that I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t have to work at all. But even with all of my success, there’s just more work.”
“You poor thing…”
I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. The scruff along his jaw was rough against my lips. His strong scent filled my nostrils, so familiar yet still new all at the same time.
Ashton gave me a chuckle.
“Yes, poor me,” he said. “My life is just miserable. This is what I asked for though.”
“I remember hearing about you in high school. You played sports. You had the highest grades. Student council. Doing all of that must’ve prepared you for what you’re doing now.”
“I guess I’ve been used to a busy life for a long time. It does get a bit weary from time to time…”
I snuggled up next to him. He didn’t seem to mind that I was so close to him, my body pressing up against his.
Wow…
Cuddling with Ashton on the couch was a dream. Even if we didn’t go any further, my younger self wouldn’t have believed it.
Ashton wrapped an arm around me and gave me a deep kiss. Our lips pressed together. His tongue slithered its way between my teeth. I didn’t resist.
He pulled away and stared at me. His gray eyes were as focused as they always were. I swallowed to clear my suddenly dry throat. I had to say something to avoid becoming even more hypnotized.
“Eunice likes you,” I said.
“Does she? She seems like a kind woman. I can’t imagine getting on her bad side.”
“Getting on her bad side would be difficult but it’s possible. Not everybody treats the people at the shelter fairly.”
“It wasn’t hard for me to take some time out to visit.”
“I don’t think it’s hard either. But so few people do it. She appreciates the visit. I appreciate the visit.”
“Then perhaps you can return the favor.”
“Of course… Anything.”
“There’s a banquet. Next week. It’s a company gathering. A chance for people to mingle and put a face on the company.”
“That makes sense.”
“I’d like you to attend. I’d like you to be my date.”
“Me?”
I couldn’t hold back my surprise. I leaned away from Ashton and shook my head.
“I don’t think—”
“What’s wrong? Are you not interested in spending time with me?”
“Of course not. I just don’t think I’m the kind of person who should be at the banquet of a million-dollar company.”
