Page 102 of Not Looking
It was probably only a few seconds, but his words ate at me for what felt like forever. “Ok.”
∞∞∞
“Come in!” welcomed an alpha with a booming voice as he opened the door.
Craig leaned in for a side-hug with the other man—who was careful of the pan of stuffing in Craig’s hands. “Thanks for having us! Aaron, this is Randy. Randy, Aaron.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
He grinned. “Likewise. I’d offer to shake your hand, but I see you’ve got food. What did you bring?”
I shook my head. “Nothing fancy, since I didn’t know what everybody else was bringing. Just a meat, cheese, and crackers board.”
“Is that one of your own boards?” he asked, eyeing the charcuterie board.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Excited to see your work!” he replied with a grin. “Joey says his sister loves the piece he bought from you, and Craig’s always talking about what you show him.”
“Oh… um…”
“Come on,” he said, motioning deeper into the house. “Nate and Robbie haven’t arrived yet, but Spencer and Joey are here.”
I followed him to where he had space at an appetizer table. I set the board down and quickly laid out the food on it, then was led to a spacious living room where the other two men sat—engrossed in a football game.
Joey was the first to look up from the television. “Randy! It’s good to see you again!”
I smiled softly as he got up and walked over to give me a side-hug. “You too.”
“And who’s this?” asked the other man with a smirk.
“Spencer, this is Randy. Randy, Spencer,” Craig said.
Spencer stood, crossed the room, and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same,” I replied as I accepted the handshake.
I was introduced to Nate and Robbie when they arrived a short while later, and by the time we all sat down to dinner, my nerves had mostly settled.
Craig’s friends were good men, and some small part of me hoped that they’d become my friends, too.
∞∞∞
Thanksgiving dinner with my family came and went. Everybody loved Craig’s green chile cornbread stuffing, and he seemed relaxed with my family.
Then it was straight into the holiday shopping season. I spent both the Monday and Tuesday after the long weekend solely packing up online orders that had come in.
But even as my thermal printer kept spitting out shipping labels, my mind kept returning to the two words that had plagued me since the day I introduced Craig to my parents.
My alpha…
Chapter 22 - Craig
~December~
The mill was slow. The hustle and bustle of the summer building months had come to a close as winter weather set in, and contractors gave way to cabinet and furniture makers who worked indoors.
Even the background whine of saws had diminished as the crews in the back took advantage of a similar lull in logging to do equipment maintenance.
