Beta Complex

Chapter 80: Basically Eye Fucking

"Woah!" The fingers around his wrists tighten, forcing Ethan to loosen his grip on the bottle. "You can kill him like that if you’re not careful." The guy pulls the makeshift weapon out of the betas grip and sets it back onto the table.

"Awe, come on. I was so close." Ethan grumbles beneath his breath. He continues to glare at the alpha, who holds Leo hostage.

"Why don’t you let the omega go, Brad." The man who still holds Ethan’s wrist says with a soft voice. "You’ll get another felony on your record, and you know what your dad said if that happened."

Ethan curls his lip and yanks his wrist out of the man’s hold. He doesn’t hesitate to pull the alpha’s hand away from Leo, which works, seeing as his grip has loosened. Ethan pulls Leo behind him and stands protectively.

"Ugh, whatever. Just wanted a fucking threesome-" The allha grumbles under his breath. He reaches up to ruffle his red hair. He glares at both Ethan and Leo before walking away towards the exit, an unsteady wobble evident.

Ethan doesn’t move until the man is out of sight. He turns to the newcomer, his brown eyes narrowed. Maybe if he were less intoxicated, he’d be more appreciative. He did save Ethan a trip to a jail cell and a felony on his record, and even de-escalated the situation. However, a tipsy Ethan is not a logically smart Ethan.

The beta doesn’t back away from Leo, despite the main threat being gone, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Is this guy going to cause an issue too?

The guy raises his arms in surrender and smiles. Long strands of brown hair hang over his face, most of it pulled back into a knot at the top of his head. "I’m not going to hurt you or your friend. I just wanted to help."

Leo peaks over Ethan’s shoulder, his blue eyes narrowing as he scans him up and down. The image reminds the guy of a mouse hiding behind a Chihuahua.

"And, I also thought his pheromones smell crappy." The man shrugs, before he arches a thin eyebrow, "What about my pheromones? Are they off putting as well?" He asks. His gaze shifts from Ethan to Leo.

The omega purses his lips and takes a small sniff of the air, his hands curling into the sleeves of Ethan’s shirt. "No. But I still don’t like them."

"That’s okay." The guy chuckles, "I’m not trying to sleep with you so I don’t really care." Then his gaze shifts to Ethan, and he gives a soft smile.

Leo shrugs and comes to stand beside Ethan, his hand still clutched to the fabric of his shirt. The beta relaxes, noticing the tension is gone from his friend.

"That was very brave." The guy continues, "Brave but stupid. You could have gotten seriously hurt, that alpha is known for breaking jaws around here." He jabs his thumb towards the door that the other alpha had left through.

Ethan rolls his eyes and slumps back into his booth, his hands resting on the surface of the table. He looks tired now, with a deep frown and hooded eyes, "Then why let him in?"

"He’s a regular, he brings in money." The new guy shrugs. "Not to mention he compensates for anything he breaks."

Ethan turns away, his frown deepening. Of course, money does make the world spin around. It only reminds him of Chris. His hand moves to the crook of his elbow on his other arm. Sometimes he can still feel the needle sinking past his flesh and the drug seeping into his veins.

Leo tilts his head as he scans the guy up and down, "You work here?"

"Yeah, I’m a bartender. And security." He flashes a toothy grin. Then he turns his gaze back to Ethan, eyeing him with curiosity. Ethan doesn’t seem to notice as he frowns down at the table.

Leo raises an eyebrow, and a smirk rises on his lips.

"Neither of you are hurt though, right?" The guy clears his throat as he scans them both. There’s no blood or broken bones, so he’ll call it a win.

Ethan looks to Leo, his brows furrowing. When Leo shakes his head in confirmation, Ethan visibly relaxes. He reaches out for the whiskey bottle and pours them two more shots. Might as well celebrate not escalating a bad situation.

"Good, good." The alpha clears his throat,, watching as the beta knocks the shot back, his throat working to swallow the vile liquid. "How about I bring you a couple of beers on the house? As an apology."

He walks away without an answer from either of them.

Leo immediately sits back down and leans forward, his delicate hands resting on the surface of the table. He wiggles his eyebrows at his friend, his smile turning into a Cheshire cat smirk. "He was totally checking you out."

Ethan’s dark eyebrows raise before he laughs and shakes his head, "Just because one alpha has shown interest in me before, doesn’t mean all alphas are interested in betas."

The troublesome alpha seemed like he’d screw anything that happened to have a hole, and the bartender was friendlier than he was flirty.

Leo deadpans, "Why can you never see how attractive other people find you? He was basically eye fucking your ass the entire time."

Ethan’s face flares red, and he clears his throat. He reaches up to rub the back of his neck, his head tilting down. "There’s no way."

Before Leo can respond though, the alpha is back and sets two bottles of the same beer they had last time on the table.

"Thank you." Ethan looks up to find the bartender smiling down at him. This time Ethan really takes in his features. He has curly brown hair that reaches his shoulders, and he has a piercing on his eyebrow that shimmers even in the low lighting of the bar.

"I actually have to go to the bathroom." Leo coughs and Ethan shoots him a sharp look.

The omega ignores him, smirking all the while as he gets up and walks towards the other side of the room.