GENRE: Gay Paranormal Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 11,195 words
RATING:

With Valentine’s Day approaching, Oliver is determined to find a date so he won’t have to spend the holiday alone. The only problem is that, so far, he’s had zero luck. He’s also been pining over his Alpha neighbour for a long time, but he has seen him courting an Omega and knows there is no chance of them being together.

When the Alpha’s profile comes up in a dating website and they are matched, Oliver is determined to figure out why the Alpha is cheating on his Omega and makes a plan to expose his lies. After they agree on having a first date, Oliver is mortified to discover Sebastian is single and the Omega he was with is his brother.

Sebastian is not deterred by the misunderstanding and proposes they go on another date. Oliver, a romantic at heart, readily agrees, but is now completely terrified of making another mistake. He doesn’t want to ruin any chances they might have of working out before Valentine’s Day.

As they begin to learn more about each other and the holiday approaches, they must trust each other to navigate through their insecurities. Will they be able to sort themselves out in time for Valentine’s?

EXCERPT:
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

Oliver had fussed with his hair for a while before leaving the flat before finally admitting defeat and letting that stubborn cowlick do whatever it wanted. He wasn’t as dressed up as he normally would be for a date, wearing a pair of slacks, a blue shirt, and his jacket and scarf. The weather wasn’t too cold so he didn’t bother with gloves or a hat, and he wasn’t expecting to spend much time outside anyway.

The coffee shop was warm and smelled of pastries and cinnamon. He looked around for Sebastian but didn’t see him so he made his order and found an empty table towards the back of the shop. From there he could keep an eye on the door and be out of the way of other customers, just in case his temper got the better of him and he threw caution to the wind when he confronted the Alpha.

He’d woken up that Saturday morning riddled with guilt, so much so that he’d been too nauseous to eat. He’d been talking to the Alpha only for a few days but he just couldn’t keep up the charade. Sebastian’s mate deserved better, and he couldn’t just keep talking to the Alpha forever, pretending that they were going to go on a date and do all sorts of couple stuff while the other Omega was in the dark. Oliver had made the executive decision to confront Sebastian once and for all, consequences be damned.

Oliver saw Sebastian enter the shop and his stomach twisted in anticipation. The older man was as breathtaking as he always was and his scent made something inside of him purr with contentment. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but it only served to incense him further. Sebastian smelled ... divine. It was hard to put it into words, but it made him feel like he was in the right place, like a piece of a puzzle fitting perfectly in its slot.

“You look nice,” Sebastian said as he approached him. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“Not too long,” Oliver replied. “You look nice too.”

“Thanks.” Sebastian took off his jacket and sat across from him. “I can’t believe after all those months living across the hall we are finally having a face to face conversation.”

“Yeah, it’s wild.” Oliver took a sip of his drink and desperately tried to think about how to begin the confrontation. “Listen, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I know.” Oliver looked him straight in the eye. “I know your secret.”

The change in Sebastian’s expression was immediate. He tried to hide it but Oliver had caught the way his eyes had widened ever so slightly and how he had leaned back just a little.

“What secret?” Sebastian asked.

“Don’t act surprised,” Oliver said, and sat up straighter. “I know what you’re doing, how you’re playing this. You are not going to get away with it, I’m going to make sure of that.”