7. A Mushroom-Shaped Date

7

A MUSHROOM-SHAPED DATE

Instead of walking ahead, Jag fell into step beside Niall, placing his hand lightly at the small of Niall’s back.

Niall’s heart skipped a beat. This isn’t a date, he tried to tell himself.

They stopped next to Jag’s scuffed-up truck, and Jag opened the passenger door.

“That’s high up.” Niall stared at the black steel step that would help boost him the rest of the way.

“Can you manage it?”

Niall shrugged. He heaved himself up by his wrists, feet scrabbling against the narrow step.

He slipped.

For a stomach-jolting heartbeat, he thought he was going to fall backward and crack his head on the driveway. But strong hands caught him—one under his arm, one against his ass—pushing him the rest of the way up.

Niall landed on the seat dazedly, turning back to look at Jag. His hand was just on my ass.

And Niall had been too distracted to memorize what it felt like.

“I’ll let you close the door. You don’t like loud noises, right?” There was nothing in Jag’s expression but patience.

Niall flushed. “Y-yeah. Thanks.”

He hooked his hand against the door and yanked it shut, watching as Jag climbed into the driver’s seat. Jag looked over to make sure Niall was watching, before closing his own door. “Ready?”

“This feels strange,” Niall blurted. “I’ve never gone out without Evan. I mean, since... After.”

“Is this okay?” Jag asked gently.

Niall nodded. Between his two weeks of spying, Jag making him breakfast, Jag coming over to fix the tub, Jag being so careful with him... Niall really did feel safe. Enough to trust that Jag would protect him when they were out.

Even if Jag eventually lost interest in Niall, when he found out just how messed up Niall was, for now, this was good.

It’s research, Niall told himself.

He fumbled with his seatbelt. Without a word, Jag leaned over, his hands brushing against Niall’s mittens as he clicked Niall’s seatbelt into place. Niall blushed again.

Jag turned on the radio, filling the truck with quiet country music.

“Is that an oldie?” Niall asked.

Jag glanced over with a grin. “Are you trying to say I’m old?”

“No! It just sounds old!”

“I’ll have you know, I was young when this song first came out.”

“When you were in jail?”

Jag laughed. “No, before that.”

“How long were you in jail for?”

“‘Bout eight years.”

“Eight!” What could he have done to earn such a long sentence? Niall paused. “That’s... That’s longer than me. When I was trapped.”

Jag tightened his hands around the steering wheel. “I’d listen if you want to share your history with me,” he said lowly. “But preferably not while I’m driving.”

Niall shook his head quickly. “Nope. We’re not going there today.”

“Okay.”

Niall gnawed on his tongue. He hadn’t expected to think of it that way, but both of them had been stuck in very unpleasant places for a long time. “Did you like being in jail?”

“Nah. The food gets boring real fast. The facility I was in, there were a lot of alphas spoiling for a fight. There’s not much you can do in there.”

Niall’s experience had been that, except several times worse. “Do you regret doing the thing that landed you in jail?”

“No. I don’t regret what I did, but I’m going to be more careful about going back.” Jag glanced at Niall, and back at the road. “Troy made those years more tolerable, though. I’m glad I had him. He sent me books and called whenever he could. Helped me stay sane.”

“I’m glad you have him, too.”

Jag smiled and reached over, squeezing Niall’s thigh. Niall looked down to hide his smile.

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you had Evan. After.”

Maybe Jag might know, a little, how Niall had felt all those years ago, when he’d been reduced to a number.

Niall nodded, looking up when they pulled into a familiar parking lot.

“Don’t worry about the seatbelt. I’ll handle it.” Jag cut the engine and hopped out. Before long, he was opening Niall’s door, reaching over Niall’s lap for the seatbelt release.

It reminded Niall of their hug. Would it be okay if he asked for another?

Jag met his eyes. “Still feeling good?”

Niall nodded. He turned to clamber out of the truck, hesitating at the drop to the ground.

Jag hesitated, too. Then he leaned in and scooped Niall off the seat, one arm wrapped around Niall’s waist, his other arm supporting Niall’s thighs.

He was so close, his chest so broad. Niall clutched his strong shoulder. “Jag, wait.”

“Yeah?” Jag kept him up in midair, meeting his eyes curiously. He held Niall as though Niall was weightless, his muscles hard against Niall’s own body.

It was only now, with Niall in Jag’s arms, that they were the same height.

Niall wrapped his arms around Jag’s shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Jag brought Niall closer, hugging him in return.

“Feels good,” Niall whispered. He leaned in and greedily gulped down Jag’s mahogany scent.

Jag tucked his nose against Niall’s throat and breathed in. “We can hug for however long you want, you know. Just tell me in advance, and I can set time aside for you.”

Niall’s heart skipped. “Oh.”

Then his stomach rumbled, and Jag laughed. Niall made a face. How could his stomach betray him like that?

Jag gave him a squeeze and set him back on his feet, locking the truck. Then he walked with Niall into the restaurant, his hand on the small of Niall’s back.

It kind of felt like a date.

The omega host, Robin, brightened when he saw Niall. “Niall, hey! You’re here with—” His eyebrows shot up when he noticed Jag.

“Not my dad,” Niall said quickly.

Jag snorted, but he slipped his hand to Niall’s waist, and squeezed him there.

Niall flushed hot; Robin grinned.

“Gotcha. I’ll give you guys the usual booth. No hanky panky!”

Niall couldn’t meet Jag’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to—I don’t even know what just happened.”

“It’s fine,” Jag rumbled. “We’re here to talk about books, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” Niall had almost forgotten about that, with Jag’s arm oh-so-casually wrapped around him.

Robin led them to the corner booth that Niall always shared with Evan, setting the menus on the table. “I’ll let you settle in and come back for your order.”

Before Jag could take the opposite seat, Niall nudged him with a mittened hand. “Could you, um, sit next to me?”

Jag raised his eyebrows, but waited as Niall tucked himself into the booth, all the way up against the wall. Then he dropped his weight next to Niall, accidentally bouncing him into the air.

“Sorry,” Jag said sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Niall said hurriedly. “I like bouncing.” He froze. “I mean, uh, bouncing in the... child-friendly way?”

Jag’s grin was quick and sharp. “The baby-making way?”

“Oh, gods.” Niall fumbled his hood over his head, hiding in it.

“Do you always sit like this when you come here?” Jag slid one of the menus in front of Niall.

“Yeah. It—It helps me feel safer. When there’s someone between me and everyone else.”

“I get it.” Ever so casually, Jag stretched his arm along the back of the seat, behind Niall.

Niall flushed. And carefully leaned into Jag’s side. His hoodie muffled a lot of Jag’s body heat, though.

“What do you like here? Do you need help with your menu?”

Niall shook his head. “You won’t like the stuff I like. Well, not all of it. Evan always gets the shroom burger, the strawberry shake, and the curly fries.”

“What about you? ”

“Um. Well, at most places, I just get a drink and a soup. I like iced lemon tea. And the mushroom soup here is amazing.”

Jag frowned. “Is that enough for you?”

“I’ll eat more when I get home.”

“Is this because of your hands? Because I can slice stuff up for you, no problem.”

That was really nice of him. Niall shook his head. “It’s just... easier to go with liquids.” At Jag’s confused look, Niall said, “I use a straw.”

“Ah. Okay. Just know that if you see anything on my plate that you want to try, tell me, and it’s yours.”

Niall’s heart fluttered again. “Why are you being so nice?”

Jag smiled, looking up from the menu. “As crazy as it sounds, I would like to get to know you better. And provide for you.”

“Me?”

“Do you see me talking to anyone else?”

“My shadow?”

Jag snorted, leaning in to nudge Niall with his body.

Robin came back to take their orders. “Iced lemon tea and a large bowl of mushroom soup for Niall? What about you, sir?”

“I’ll have the shroom burger, a large bowl of mushroom soup, a side of sweet potato fries, and coffee.”

“Are sweet potato fries really sweet?” Niall asked when Robin had left.

“They’re good. Most places don’t get them real crispy, and often, they’re soft in the middle. You’ve never had them?”

“No one in my family liked sweet potatoes,” Niall said. “I’ve wondered about their taste lately, but I don’t want to commit to a whole order.”

“I’ll let you have some of mine,” Jag said easily.

“You don’t mind sharing your food.”

“Do you?” Jag laughed.

“Evan used to steal mine when we were kids. It became a habit to hoard all of my food.”

“Ah. Well, I’ve got my own soup. I won’t steal yours.”

“Thanks,” Niall said, a smile spreading across his lips. Jag smiled back.

“So, books.”

Niall perked up. “Why do you want to know about them?”

“Because you like them. I’d like to get to know you better.” Jag paused. “Also because I started reading the lumberjack book.”

Niall froze, his heart suddenly thumping. “Y-you’re reading it? ”

Holy crap! His face burned. Those books had every single one of his guilty pleasures described in graphic detail. Because he never thought that someone he knew—especially a very hot alpha neighbor—would start reading them.

Jag gave a half-shrug. “I wanted to know why you enjoy reading them so much.”

Niall made himself breathe. He just thinks I’m a reader. If I’m a reader, not all of those kinks are necessarily mine, he told himself. Then, he braced himself for rejection. “Are you... Are you enjoying it?”

At that, Jag’s gaze darkened. “You wanted to know why I was off my schedule today. That damn book kept me up until 2AM, rock-fucking-hard because it was such a damn tease.”

Niall’s eyes grew wide. His brain melted a little. “Y-you like it that much?”

“I came before he even put his cock into his omega,” Jag murmured. “Too embarrassingly fast. Then I read the rest of the heat scene this morning. At breakfast.”

“Oh, gods,” Niall whispered. “I thought you were watching porn.”

“I was reading porn.” Jag was still watching him, his eyes half-shuttered. “So, tell me: Which Hardcox book is your favorite?”

Niall’s insides heated up at the way Jag said ‘Hardcox’. And at his implication. “Y-you’re going to read them?”

Jag grinned. “I usually read crime thrillers. But this is a nice change of pace.”

Niall buried his face in his mittens. He’d been looking forward to telling Jag all about these books. But knowing that Jag was going to read them—that changed everything. “I don’t want to spoil you.”

Jag shrugged. “He’s got seventeen books. I’ll probably get the events mixed up by the time you’re done. Feel free to hit me with spoilers.”

“You counted them?” Niall squawked.

“I was curious. But what’s even more curious is that you already had the billionaire books and the lumberjack book on your bookshelf.”

Niall was glad his face was still hidden. He thought quickly and looked Jag in the eye so his words would seem more believable. “Um. They were for someone else.”

“Friends?”

Niall shrugged. “I guess you could call them acquaintances.”

He had interacted with some of his readers on social media, but not the ones these books were intended for.

Jag raised an eyebrow. “Can’t say I’m too surprised. I’d give them to people, too, if I knew anyone who would read things like that.” Before Niall could think of a response, Jag continued, “So, top three favorites.”

Niall bit his lip; Jag’s gaze dropped to his mouth. Niall quickly hid his teeth. “I love them all,” he admitted. “For different things. Like Omega Teacher’s Secret is about an omega who self-harms—”

Jag’s gaze dropped to Niall’s hands.

“—And The Secret Omega is about an omega who hates his body, and he’s trying to hide from his alpha because he thinks his alpha will reject him.” And maybe Niall’s picks said a bit too much about himself. He quickly tried to backpedal. “Um. And I also loved The Mountain Alpha’s Wicked Plan because, um. He does things. To his omega.”

Jag seemed thoughtful. “That’s... a variety.”

Niall shrugged helplessly. “I told you, I love them all for different reasons.”

“Well, let’s rephrase the question. Which one made you smile the most?”

“That’s probably His Alpha’s Greatest Surprise.” Niall smiled wistfully, kicking the table leg. “It’s about an alpha and an omega who go on a treasure hunt. They’re childhood friends who reconnected; they used to do treasure hunts as kids. When they bump into each other again as adults, it’s because they’re geocaching. They start talking and they come up with new hunts for themselves. At the end of the book, the alpha’s proposal is a giant treasure hunt full of all the ticket stubs and receipts they collected since they started dating.”

It had been a lot of fun, thinking up all the gifts they’d hidden for each other in those mini adventures.

“Hmm. You like gifts?”

Niall shrugged. “I used to, as a child. It’s not like I get many these days.”

Jag watched him carefully. “Was there a book that made you feel conflicted?”

Niall opened his mouth and paused. He hadn’t given the newest book a title yet, and he couldn’t tell Jag he was in the middle of writing it. “It’s Neo’s, I think. He—” His breath hitched. “He has trust issues. He doesn’t think his alpha will stick around, and... and his alpha breaks up with him. And the worst thing is that he predicted it was going to happen.”

Jag frowned. “Why did they break up?”

“Because of Neo’s body,” Niall mumbled. “It’s... It’s not great.”

Jag narrowed his eyes. “If an alpha breaks up with an omega because of his body, he doesn’t deserve to be in that relationship.”

Then why was he so adamant that Niall’s teeth had to be perfect?

Niall hunched his shoulders, looking at the polished surface of the table.

“Hey,” Jag said gently. “Let’s change the subject. Which of Hardcox’s books do you think are the hottest?”

Niall blinked himself out of the depressed fog he’d worked himself into. “Um. I already told you about The Mountain Alpha’s Wicked Plan. And... There’s Stuffed by the Billionaire. And probably The Alpha Boss’ Orders.”

“Yeah?” Jag cupped his hand around Niall’s shoulder lightly. “What’s so hot about each of them? In the Mountain Alpha book?”

It felt so strange to hear Jag repeat bits and pieces of his titles. It was as though he was holding parts of Niall’s most intimate secrets, but he didn’t know it.

“The mountain alpha ties up his omega,” Niall said quietly, his insides growing warm when he remembered the scenes in that book. “His omega is all up for it, so the alpha ties him to the bed and fucks him through his heat. He—He’s trying to breed his omega. So he doesn’t want to pull out until he knows his omega conceived. The rest of the time, he makes his omega wear a plug so his come is all locked inside.”

“Fuck,” Jag hissed. Niall glanced surreptitiously at him. Jag palmed his bulge. “Guess I know what I’m reading next.”

“Y-you like that?” Niall croaked, his mouth suddenly dry.

Jag’s gaze was dark. “What’s so hot about Stuffed by the Billionaire?”

“There’s a lot of knotting in that one,” Niall said, unable to look Jag in the eye. “It’s kind of the same as Mountain Alpha, but instead of a plug, he uses his own knot, and he walks around with his omega knotted on him.”

Jag released a slow, controlled breath. But Niall could see the thick bulge trapped in his jeans, too big for his hand to hide completely.

“What about Alpha Boss?” Jag asked roughly.

“Oh, um.” Niall blushed. “He bends his omega over his desk and—and makes him spread wide. And he fills his omega in his office while everyone’s still at work outside.”

Niall was half-hard; he couldn’t get fully hard, knowing the risk of saying the wrong thing and exposing his identity. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Jag, either.

“Fuck if I’m not gonna come my brains out, reading these books,” Jag muttered.

“I think your brains are better left inside your head,” Niall said, fighting his blush. “But I also don’t know why people say ‘brains’ when we only have one brain.”

Jag grinned. “I doubt anyone’s too concerned about how many brains a person has when they’re about to blow the biggest load of their life. As far as I’m concerned, my brains are right there in my balls ready to explode.”

“Maybe they mean the two halves of the brain,” Niall said, trying to hide his smile.

“Well, the lumberjack book made me come so hard, I didn’t think I had a brain left.”

Niall flushed, soaking in the compliment and the mental image of Jag coming.

“How did you stumble across Hardcox, anyway?” Jag asked. “There must be a bunch of authors out there writing similar books. Gods know there are in the crime thriller genre.”

Niall froze again. He opened his mouth and tried to think of an answer.

Like a superhero, Robin returned with their drinks and soups. “Everything all right?”

Niall nodded eagerly, sitting up from his slouch when Robin set his mushroom soup in front of him. Jag’s bowl of soup came with two little packs of salted crackers, but Niall was enough of a regular that Robin left them off his order.

Robin held up two straws and spoke to Niall. “Would you like me to?”

Niall glanced at Jag, who raised his eyebrows.

“I’ll get them,” Jag said.

He unwrapped the straws and tucked one into Niall’s bowl of soup, and the other into his iced tea. And he moved both so they were closer to Niall.

“This is good,” Niall mumbled, a blush creeping up his cheeks. “Thank you.”

Robin grinned. “Flag me down if you need anything else!”

He disappeared. Jag crumbled up his crackers to sprinkle them into his soup. “You don’t like crackers?”

Niall shrugged. “They’re kind of inconvenient. I eat them at home, when they have time to soak long enough.”

“We can sit here for as long as you want.”

Niall shook his head. “It’s awkward to eat solid food in restaurants. I have to use my hands, and I don’t like it when people stare at them.”

“Alright.” Jag slipped his arm around Niall, and didn’t let go.

Carefully, Niall leaned in to drink his tea. It was sweet and cool, a little tart, and it was so refreshing. “Mmm.” Then he sucked carefully on the soup straw—the heat was always a shock. And the larger chunks of mushroom got stuck at the end of the straw sometimes, but that was okay. The soup was glorious and creamy all over his tongue, just the right amount of savory.

Jag was watching him sidelong. “You really like the soup.”

“Mm-hm. It’s the best.” Niall said it around his straw, before going back to sucking on it.

It didn’t escape his notice that Jag was staring at his mouth again.

Just that the restaurant doors opened suddenly. Jag stiffened.

Alarmed, Niall looked up.

Troy Gardner stepped in and looked around, his mouth curving into a smirk when he saw them. He looked really similar to Jag, all broad and strong, his hair dark brown like Jag’s.

Troy didn’t come over, though. He tucked his hands into his pockets and sauntered over to Robin.

“How did he know we’re here?” Jag muttered.

“Oh. Evan.” Niall winced. “He said he was going to send Troy to sass you.”

“Fucker.” Jag flipped his brother off when Troy looked at them again.

Except it only made Troy wander over, looking very smug.

“Go away,” Jag grumbled.

Troy snorted. “And pass up the chance to embarrass you in front of Niall?” Troy glanced at Niall, his smile growing. “When he was eight, Jag tried to shove a popsicle up his nose. His nostrils changed colors after that.”

Jag growled.

Niall tried to picture Jag with the popsicle. “Was it one of those rocket-shaped ones?”

“Banana-shaped. But considering where we are, it might as well have been mushroom-shaped.” Troy laughed. “I have a picture of it, you know. Remind me to show you sometime, Niall.”

“Remind me to tell Landon some juicy stories,” Jag muttered. “You’re not the only one with blackmail material.”

“I’m so scared,” Troy said dryly. He glanced at Niall as though checking on him, then gave them a two-fingered wave. “Anyway, my lunch is calling. Talk to you later.”

He disappeared just as quickly, leaving Niall staring after him. Jag turned his entire body away from his brother. “I hope that didn’t change your opinion of me.”

“I want to see the picture,” Niall blurted.

“Of course you do.” Jag sighed. “I’m sure Troy will have that picture ready to wave around the next time you meet him.” He reached up and gently scratched his fingers through Niall’s hair.

Niall moaned. “That feels good.”

“Same thing goes for head-scratches—if you want more, tell me, and I’ll make time for it.”

“That’s too good to be true,” Niall blurted.

Jag’s smile was so very soft. “Having you want my touch— that’s too good to be true.”

Niall sat up straight and wrinkled his brow. “Really?”

“Yes.” Jag kept working his fingers over Niall’s scalp. “Prison is a very lonely place, you know. I had no omega to hold for eight years. I’ve been without for longer than that, but prison was where it really sank in.”

Niall hadn’t thought of it that way. And suddenly Jag seemed a lot more lonely than he’d realized. “Sorry.”

Jag shrugged. “I’m free now. That’s something to celebrate.”

He trailed his fingers down Niall’s head, down his neck, stroking down his back to his hip. Niall’s heart pattered.

Robin returned with Jag’s burger and fries; it truly was a huge burger, and the fries were a towering pile of orange.

“Want a fry?” Jag asked.

“Is it hard?”

Jag glanced at him thoughtfully, before popping one into his mouth. “It’s fine. But I’ll cut off the harder parts so you can try some.”

He used a knife and fork to carefully take the ends off a few fries, spearing one with his fork and offering it to Niall.

Niall carefully ate it off the fork. He chewed slowly, humming as the subtle sweetness of the sweet potato spread through his mouth. “It’s good.”

Jag dipped an uncut fry into a small bowl of sauce and bit into it. His eyebrows shot up. “You have to try this. It’s ranch dressing.”

He dipped one of the trimmed fries into the dressing, and Niall ate it off his fork again. Niall moaned. “I love ranch dressing.”

“Yeah?” Jag grinned.

“I would marry it,” Niall said. “That’s how much I love it.”

Jag snorted. Dryly, he said, “All the dastardly alphas will watch on in abject disappointment.”

“No, they won’t.” Niall licked his lips. “But I like the word ‘dastardly’. Imagine if that went on a book cover.”

He froze the next moment, wondering if he’d said too much. But Jag only grinned.

“Yeah? One of Hardcox’s covers? Trapped on the Dastardly Alpha’s Big Knot?”

Niall bit down a grin. “You know, I think that would be the perfect title.”

“It’s a little long, isn’t it?”

“Long things are not necessarily bad.” Niall ducked his head, a blush prickling his cheeks. He went back to sucking down some soup, except Jag kept slicing up more fries, and offering them to him dipped in ranch dressing. Jag even fed him a small square of beef from the burger; Niall had to stop Jag before he gave him all his food.

By the time Jag cleaned off his plate, Niall was stuffed. “Did I eat all your fries?”

Jag gave him a smug smile. “I’m happy with what I ate.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything.”

In fact, Niall remembered eating multiple fries off Jag’s fork, all of them slathered in ranch dressing. “I... I think you spent the whole of lunch training me to open my mouth for whatever you want to feed me.”

Immediately after, he snapped his mouth shut, painfully aware of how obscene that sounded.

Jag’s mouth curved. “What do I want to feed you, Niall?”

Niall kept his eyes on the table, his ears scorching. “Food.”

Jag huffed an amused breath and signaled for the bill. “Do any of Hardcox’s books have... feeding scenes?”

“I—can’t remember.” Niall’s brain had blanked out. “Maybe. There might be a food scene in, um. Alpha’s Meat Sausage.”

Jag guffawed. “I would love to have that book on my shelf. I don’t care if Troy laughs at me for it.”

“I might be able to get you a signed copy,” Niall blurted.

Jag brightened. “Really? I’ll pay you back for it.”

Niall shook his head hurriedly. “It’s fine. You don’t have to.”

When Robin showed up, Jag shoved a credit card at him without even looking at the bill.

“I’m paying you back for lunch, right?” Niall said.

Jag grinned. “If you’re giving me a signed copy of Alpha’s Meat Sausage, I’m not letting you pay for lunch.”

“But lunch was—Lunch was because I didn’t pay you for the bathtub. Wait. That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Don’t think too hard about it. Didn’t you say you like gifts?”

Niall blushed.

Jag wrapped his arm around Niall when they got up to leave, tugging Niall closer to himself.

It felt nice. Like he belonged.

Niall floated in a cloud of bliss all the way until they got home. Jag unlocked the front door for him, and at the last moment, he leaned in to drop a kiss on top of Niall’s head.

Niall stopped breathing.

“Text me if you need anything,” Jag murmured, stepping back. “Or call. Or shout through your window. Doesn’t matter.”

“Okay,” Niall said, suddenly missing the warmth at his side.

He wished he had something of Jag’s that he could bury his nose in, so he could sniff at that alpha all day. So he could pretend to be surrounded by Jag’s presence.

Maybe he’d be brave enough to ask for Jag’s clothing the next time.

Or maybe, if Jag ever let Niall into his house... Maybe Niall could steal a pair of his underwear?

For research purposes, of course.