She had a dimple! Was the first functional thought he had as his brain was trying to short circuit. How had he not noticed it before now? It was so cute that she smiled that dazzling smile! But that brought him back to his present situation where she was too close! He attempted to back up a step, to put distance between them, however, that was now impossible as Georgie was standing in the doorway behind him. How did he know this without looking? It was the laugh that gave it away.
"Ha-ha-ha! Wow! Your girl is here to take you home, eh, Erik?" Georgie teased.
Erik didn't have a working brain cell in his head at the moment as his brain effectively shut down at Georgie's comment. "U-u-u-uh…" He couldn't get the words out as he felt his face turn into an inferno. He was so sure that steam was rising with how hot his face felt.
"Oh, my goddess! Ha-ha-ha!" Liona laughed, which felt like a punch to the stomach instead of the butterflies it usually gave him. Of course, a beautiful rich girl like her couldn't and wouldn't even dream of dating a lowly poor loser like him. He was not special and absolutely not in any kind position to date someone like Liona.
"No, we're not dating, but we'll see! For now, we are just friends!" Liona said so cheerfully that instantly made Erik snap his head up and look at her face. Surely she was kidding?! There's no way she's serious! It had to be a joke! As soon as he made eye contact, he regretted it. She winked at him before laughing some more and reached down to grab his hand. Numbly, not sure how to react as his brain tried to play catch up to the events happening and words spoken, he followed Liona as she tugged on his arm, leading him somewhere. Probably to his doom…
"Well, then! Good luck to you! I hope you two figure things out. Whether you stay friends or get together, it's all good! See ya tomorrow, Erik!" Georgie called after him as he was led out the doors and to Liona's car.
He was auto-pilot as Liona practically dragged him to her car. When he got in, he automatically put his seatbelt on without thinking about it. It took a minute to register that Liona was sitting in the car with him and just staring at him grinning.
"Are you okay, Erik?" She was still grinning.
Erik slowly turned his head to look at her properly. He was trying his hardest to form a thought and words to follow that thought, but his brain was struggling to catch up. Finally, after a moment more, he got his first coherent thought process and said, "Y-ye-yeah. U-u-uh, Wh-ha-what d-did y-you me-mean, b-by… Ea-ar-earlier…" He barely managed to get out. He wasn't sure he was clear enough to be understood since he was stuttering so bad right now. However, he didn't have to worry as Liona cleared it up.
"Oh, you mean, what I said earlier? It's exactly as I said. I like you. Right now it's as a friend, but I think there might be room for those feelings to grow. I don't know yet, but what I do know is that I currently like you enough to consider you a friend. As I see it, we can stay friends at this point, no problem, but later if you feel the same way, we can give things a shot. If my attraction towards you makes you uncomfortable, I want you to be clear. I'm not in the habit of forcing my feelings on others." Liona said this with a smile, but he somehow could feel a little anxiety under that smile.
It made him wonder why she was anxious. Was it about him possibly rejecting her? Or was it something more? He didn't know for sure, but he did know that he was definitely attracted to Liona, and he enjoyed her company. Being friends, although he didn't think he was worthy, was fine. However, being more? How could she think that there was room to grow in their friendship? She was going to have to break up with him sooner or later if they ever got to that point.
She obviously came from a well-off family and from the sounds of it, her parents held important jobs in the community. Her dad, although he didn't know for sure, was at the very least employed by the EEA in the area, and her mom was a baby doctor of some kind. These were both well paying jobs that required talent and a college degree to even get your foot in the door. So that meant her parents were educated, unlike his parents.
His parents were high school drop-outs. His mom especially never graduated since she had him at 17. She had dropped out to raise him, all the while his dad had been 18 and had gotten her pregnant when he was just 17. Back then, his dad had seemed like a good and caring partner and had marked his mom when he was conceived and had drifted from job to job to try and support them after he was born.
Although, that didn't last long, as by the time his mom could think about leaving him with a sitter and going back to school and getting her GED, his dad had other ideas and when he went into rut, instead of suppressing it, he and his mom ended up with his little sister, Nicole. The story continued like that over the years, except that his dad would get worse over the years and then started to steal from them, so his mom moved them around a lot to try and prevent his dad from finding them. However, every single time, his mom's mate bond with his dad, her fated mate, allowed him to find her, and then the cycle continued on up to Tyler.
Fated mates were something glorified and weren't all they were cracked up to be. Ever since they had been proven, it had been touted by the powers that be as all good things and when your fated mate was found it was to be celebrated. What the stories of glory didn't tell you was the dark side of that fated mate bond and how your partner could and would manipulate you and could use it against you to hurt you time and time again. It was just an excuse for someone to be shitty to another, without regard for what they wanted.
"Hey, are you alright? If you think I'm being too forward, just tell me. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable with me. I'll take you to your workplace like I promised and then I'll leave you alone if you're not okay with wanting to get closer." Liona sounded slightly panicked now. Did she think that she was forcing her feelings onto him?
"I'm f-fine. I w-was just thinking." Erik managed to get out somewhat better than the last time he spoke. "I-I'd l-l-like to be friends. B-but, m-more? I d-don't know. Wh-what do y-you see in me th-that m-makes you wan't m-more?" He really hated this nervous stutter he had developed. It only cropped up when he was trying to talk seriously with Liona. Other than that, he had no problem talking to her and really liked her. He felt strangely comfortable most of the time around her.
"Well, you're cute, you're a hard worker, you also know how to hold your anger back when you're mad, and you're pretty smart. These are all really nice qualities in a person that I could see myself dating. But we can still be friends if the idea of eventually dating doesn't seem appealing to you. Besides, I basically just jumped from zero to hundred without thinking. I tend to just run my mouth and say what's on my mind without too much regard for others sometimes. I didn't even ask you if you were single. I mean if you're dating someone, I'm basically stepping on their toes! Heck, I don't even know if you like girls!"
This made Erik laugh finally. He liked how forward Liona was. He liked that she liked those qualities in a person, but he didn't think any of those qualities described himself. "You know I work 3 jobs, so I don't have the time to have a girlfriend, let alone a boyfriend. And for the record, I prefer girls over guys. I've never met a male omega that interested me enough to even be curious…" He shrugged.
"Oh, so you are an alpha? I couldn't really tell. You don't give off pheromones, so I kind of wondered if you were a beta."
"Well, I am technically an alpha, but I haven't presented yet. I used to get teased at my last school for it, so I let people think what they want about me for the most part. I don't usually say one way or another what my secondary gender is. We talked about this earlier, if you remember…" Erik shrugged again as he looked at the time on the car's nav unit. If they don't leave soon, he'll break his record of never being late to work. If Liona hadn't dragged him to her car in his daze, then he would have taken the bus to work.