He was startlingly similar to Linus; nervous and short-sighted, his glasses almost slipping off his nose. But at the same time, Maiz was also so different—he was a young omega, closer to Storm’s age, and he was chubby.
“You should probably call him Dr. Bentham,” Storm said, his arm tightening around Linus’ waist. “He has a PhD and everything. Sooo sexy.”
“Storm!” Linus hissed, elbowing him lightly.
Storm grinned. “I’m allowed to compliment my omega.”
Linus glanced at Maiz. “Maybe don’t mention Storm to my mom. Is that okay?”
Maiz bobbed his head, all starry-eyed. “Okay. You’re so lucky.”
“I’m...” Linus looked down to hide his smile. “Hey, Maiz, go take a break. I’ll cover you for the next half hour.”
“But my break isn’t until—”
“This is an extra break, on paid time. Don’t worry about it.”
Maiz beamed and scurried off to the back room.
“Have I mentioned how hot you are when you get all professor-like?” Storm whispered in Linus’ ear. “So bossy and generous. Plus, extra paid breaks?”
“It’s an excuse so we can have this place to ourselves,” Linus whispered back. He grabbed Storm and led him behind the counter, making sure to wash his hands thoroughly. “Wash your hands. Don’t touch anything unless I say you can.”
“Not even you?”
“It’ll look really terrible if a customer steps in and sees you with your hands down my pants,” Linus said dryly. “Then my mom will hear about it and we’ll be stuck in a pit of embarrassment for the rest of our lives.”
Storm snickered. “At least we would both be in the same pit?”
“No, thank you. No pits. I don’t want to be perpetually embarrassed!” Linus paused in front of the cooler. “Here are the new flavors, right at the very end. Mom makes small batches and tests them out on willing customers.”
“Kinky.” Storm grinned.
“Storm,” Linus groaned. “Don’t say that about my mom! It sounds terrible.”
“Alright.” Storm nuzzled the back of Linus’ head, before grabbing a few small paper cups. “Are we sharing these?”
“We may as well. It’s not as though we haven’t shared other fluids.”
“Not all fluids,” Storm murmured. His gaze dropped meaningfully to Linus’ lips; Linus blushed and dug his scoop into a small tub of pink ice cream.
No, he wasn’t ready for a kiss right now.
When he had filled the paper cups with ice cream, Linus brought them over to the closest booth. “Sit.”
“Omegas first,” Storm said.
“I would agree, except I have to jump out to help any customer who walks in.”
Storm blinked, confused at first. His gaze bounced between the two seats in the booth. Then he brightened. “You want to sit next to me?”
Linus shrugged, his face growing hot.
They both sat facing the shop entrance, Storm with his arm wrapped around Linus’ waist. It felt really good, snuggled into his alpha’s side.
“Here.” Linus held out a spoonful of ice cream since Storm’s hand was occupied.
Storm grinned, closing his mouth around the ice cream. “This is pretty good. I taste... raspberry? And white chocolate. And a hint of lemon.”
