I was probably looking at him like he suddenly sprouted wings and turned into a flying pig, but that was the most I'd heard him talk ever, and apparently, he wasn't done.
"That picture is absolutely horrible, but Da thought it would be funny, and nobody really likes to tell him no… except Riley. Riley seems to enjoy it a lot."
He chuckled softly, and I 'bout had an orgasm… and seriously considered checking for seams behind his ears, because I was pretty sure this man had been possessed by aliens… or whatever.
I stood there for a while, just staring at him, and wondering how the hell I was supposed to be normal after this experience, and he turned to look at me while his mouth was still doing that smiling thing… and I panicked.
"Do you have sex?"
What?
"Huh?"
"With people!" I said quickly. You know… to clarify.
It doesn't seem to be working, Bates. You know better than to try to have a conversation with Grant.
"Fuck!" I yelled loudly, making him pull back slightly. I sighed, closing my eyes. "I meant do you have an omega? But halfway through the sentence, I wanted to make sure that I didn't just assume that you only date omegas, and my mouth outran my brain. I'm pretty sure you don't have sex with animals, though I guess one never really knows that stuff. I'm pretty sure there have been several serial rapists, whose families had no idea they were into taking people against their will."
It took him a moment, and I was sure that had to do with the fact that he'd just gone through a kind of traumatic experience, and then an even more traumatic explanation, but eventually, he grunted at me, shrugging.
"I've dated both, but I'm single right now."
Duh, Bates! It wasn't like I didn't know that, since my apartment was closer to the stairs than his was, and I'd never seen him with anyone else, and you better believe, I'd definitely looked.
"Great!" I said, too loudly again, cringing when I realized how rude that sounded. "I mean, I think it's great. Not that I would judge you if you wanted a boyfriend… or even a girlfriend. Nobody should be judged about how they relationship. I haven't had a relationship in three years, and I want one."
Stop fucking talking! You're going to end up proposing marriage to him or something.
Grant must have been worried about the same thing, because he frowned slightly, before nodding toward the door, and ushering me in that direction.
Fuck. Shockingly, another failed attempt at having a normal conversation with Grant. And he'd been so open about his family. He'd even smiled and laughed. Why was I like this?
He probably felt trapped in his own house. I would bet once he got me on the other side of his door, he'd never answer the damn thing again.
"The only time you should feel trapped is if you’ve consented to being cuffed, or something," I said, once again trying to fix things.
He paused on his trek to the door, turning slightly to give me another confused grunt.
Wait. Am I starting to understand Gruntonese? Or would it be Gruntican? Gruntish? All I knew was that if I was suddenly able to differentiate the dialect, I might have a new career to consider when this one dried up.
"I'll go," I said, sighing. "I have sugar to… use. Thanks for always having sugar."
He nodded, but I felt more than a little responsible for the future wrinkles he was going to have between his eyes. I'd definitely contributed to about five years of aging today alone.
"I'll be sure to pick you some up the next time I'm at the store," he said after a moment, reaching for the doorknob. "That way you don't have to stop what you're doing to come get some."
"You don't have to do that," I said forlornly as he pulled the door open, wishing I could take back most of the last five minutes, with the exception of that smile, and the small length of time he'd talked about his family, the rest had pretty much been a shit show, and I was fully to blame for it.
Please, don't do that. I need this.
"Granty-Poo!" someone said excitedly behind me, nearly making me sling the sugar I'd just gotten for absolutely no reason, all over the damn place.
I spun to find a handsome man a bit taller than me with golden-brown hair, and a giant, mischievous smile, looking back and forth between Grant and me.
"No," Grant growled, making me gasp when he reached out and grabbed my shoulders, keeping me between him and the guy. "Nope. I told you, no."
"Grant!" an absolutely adorable omega, with the brightest smile I'd probably ever seen, and a pretty purple birthmark on his face slid in around me, and Grant sighed, his arms dropping away from my shoulders.
Damn it! I'd been too damn shocked to even enjoy it properly.
"Hi, Hinton," Grant grumbled, and I turned in time to see an almost smile on his face as he awkwardly put his arms around the man who was wrapped around him from the side, giving him what looked like a pretty amazing hug.
I tried not to frown as I watched, while jealousy burned in my stomach. Who were these two and why were they so familiar with my alpha?
Down boy. He isn't your alpha.
"Kent and Jennings are just behind us," the guy not hugging Grant said, giving me a smiling once-over when I turned back to look at him. "I'm pretty sure they both snuck out."
Snuck out? How young are these people?
"We're here," someone else said from the hallway, and I leaned out of the door slightly, to see another man walking toward the door, lacing his fingers together before popping them. "You ready for this, big guy? We're going to work you over real good."
What the fuck?
The man who apparently had those working fingers, glanced away from them and up toward the door as he walked, finding me leaning around the corner staring at him, and his eyes widened, before a slow smile spread on his face. "Why, hello there."
"Uh, hi." The man's smile was… not necessarily seductive, but there was definitely something there that was making me a little uneasy. I glanced at Grant, whose eyes were narrowed on the guy, who was looking at me like I was some kind of strange present.
"Here," the man said, slapping his phone against one of the other guys' chest. "Take our picture."
"Are you forgetting Wagoner, Jennings?" Grant growled, looking irritated as the guy moved up next to me, putting his arm around me.
"Who do you think the picture is for?" Jennings asked, smirking at Grant who was still being hugged by the cute little omega he'd smiled at. "He deserves it for all the shit he's put me through."
Were those two together? The little guy was definitely cute enough.
"Smile," Jennings said brightly as the one that had come in with him––Kent, maybe––pointed the camera at us and took a picture.
I somehow managed to draw my attention away from Grant and his little omega, giving the camera a smile, just as I heard the click of the phone.
"Come on," Riley said on a sigh. "I'm ready to get started. Da will be hunting me down soon anyway.
Grant's eyes widened, and he tried to extricate himself as gently as he could from Hinton, who was still hugging him, but the man just seemed to hold on even tighter as Riley marched through the door, grabbing the back of Grant's shirt and pulling him along… I wasn't really sure where he was planning on taking him, and I definitely didn't know what all four of them were planning to do with him when they got him there, but if he had all these attractive omegas in his life, he definitely didn't need the inarticulate idiot, who'd basically accused him of bestiality.