“Yes.”
“Great.” Storm lowered his visor so all Linus saw was his own reflection. Then he tapped on Linus’ window sill. “Let’s head out.”
He swung his leg over his bike and started it up. Linus rolled up his window and pulled back onto the road.
When they were at cruising speed, Linus blurted, “I’m not sure what to talk about.”
Storm’s laugh was tinny over the phone. “I just wanted to watch the sunrise with you.”
Linus’ breath hitched. The sky was growing brighter with each passing moment, more and more clouds gaining their brilliant oranges and golds.
Somehow, even though he was thirty-eight, Linus had never watched a sunrise with an alpha before.
“Is this your first time watching a sunrise?” Linus asked.
Storm hesitated. “Well, it’s the first time I’ve watched one since I became a free person.”
“‘Free person’?” Surely gangs had no restrictions on whether their members could watch sunrises. And if Storm liked sunrises so much, why was he only watching one now?
Did this have anything to do with his username? CagedDragon? The more Linus thought about it, the more it sounded as though Storm had been trapped somewhere, unable to get out. But he’d gotten the tattoos after he had left the gang. He should’ve been free from ages eighteen to twenty-two, and that would’ve given him enough time to catch a sunrise or two.
Storm had taken Linus’ college classes, but the thing was, Linus had never seen him before this semester. Storm had probably done all his classes online.
Because he was trapped?
Linus remembered Storm’s friends—he had seen the group of them at Olson’s bar. Aside from Rex, the other alphas had all been scarred and tattooed. As though they had been throughthingsand lived to tell the tale.
Alphas like that were commonly in gangs, or... they were ex-convicts.
Was Storm an ex-convict? Was that why he skirted around certain topics?
Suddenly, it made a lot more sense how Storm had acquired a key to Linus’ apartment. How he had sneaked in multiple times without Linus noticing.
That was a lot of effort just to protect Linus, though.
“Why me?” Linus finally asked.
“Hmm?”
“Why protect me? I know you’ve mentioned the programming videos, but... There are so many other omegas you can help.”
Storm chuckled. “Professor, those videos you posted are college level. You’ve made it so that anyone with internet access can learn from them. Hell, you answer every single question that people have about those videos. For a long while, you were my motivation to finish my classes and graduate.”
Linus blushed, glad that Storm couldn’t see his reaction. “You did great. A lot of that effort came from you, not me.”
“Aw shucks, Professor. You’re making me blush.”
Linus wished he could have seen that.
The sun had peeked over the horizon, turning more and more of the sky into a majestic canvas.
“I love watching sunrises and sunsets,” Storm said. “The colors are always so pretty.”
Even though Storm wasn’t in the car with him, this still felt intimate, having Storm’s voice in his ear. Knowing that Storm was right next to him with every mile they left behind.
“Thanks for coming along,” Linus said.
“Anytime,” Storm replied warmly.
