Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to Me
Stephanie Burke
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2021 Stephanie Burke

"Excuse me?" Maxie narrowed his eyes as he glared at the alpha, who was slowly but surely digging himself a deeper grave.

"Come on, Clancy." Marco grinned at him, his chocolate-brown eyes gleaming, his tan skin looking like golden sand in the candlelight. "You know I was kidding." He tried to send out enough alpha scent to make Maxie agreeable. Maxie only arched an eyebrow and gave Marco the coldest stare he could muster.

"Look, we're getting off track here, Clancy." Marco leaned in close, pushing aside a six-hundred-dollar bottle of wine he'd insisted they share -- and sent back five times because it wasn't the right temperature. "How about you come back to my place and we, you know, get a little loose." He pushed more scent that only served to make Maxie more irritated.

"Loose, huh?" Maxie asked, his voice all but devoid of emotion. What the hell was this idiot talking about?

"Back in Brazil..."

Marco was dropping places now? God, he had already dropped the names of several Vegas businessmen who really didn't impress Maxie, so now he was moving on to countries? Hell, most of the names he'd dropped were men Maxie had personally set up for private lap dances with his omega dancers. No matter how powerful they were in the real world, once you've seen an alpha trying to keep it in his boxers and not develop an embarrassing uncontrolled knot, there was something a tad less powerful about his name.

"Yes?" Maxie leaned forward. "Brazil?" Maybe he could get a good laugh out of this poor excuse for a birthday pickup. For all the fun he was having, he could have stayed back at his strip club and washed dirty thongs.

"In Brazil, we alphas have a few secrets to help us relax."

"Go on," Maxie urged. Only his strong sense of proper omega etiquette was preventing him from rolling his eyes and walking away from the huge lout.

"I have a guy who brings me -- some fun treats." He grinned and plucked a red rose from the arrangement on the table, reaching out to stroke it over Maxie's face. "That's what you pretty boys like."

Maxie stared at the red roses and wanted to strangle the grabby bastard with his own tie. This alpha was too much to be believed. "No, I don't like to trip the light fantastic, pop a pill, do a line, or pop bottles like it's going out of style." Maxie's left eye was twitching.

"Aw, babe --"

"Clancy," he returned, his patience coming to an end. "My friends call me Maxie. You may call me Clancy."

"Don't cop an attitude with me, omega," Marco growled, narrowing his eyes as he tried to stare Maxie down.

"Copping an attitude requires that I give enough of a shit about you to actually pay attention," Maxie growled, his muscles tensing as he recognized the symptoms of an attack brewing.

Marco was glaring, his respiration increasing, one hand fisting around the wine glass as the other snapped the stem of the rose in half. "You'll fucking care when I'm done with you --"

"You would do well to sit your ass down or get out of my way." Maxie slowly rose to his feet, all systems ready to repel attack. Maxie was no fool. He had dealt with enough alpha assholes during his short-lived modeling career and as a beginning omega dancer to know when things were going to get physical.

Just as the asshole was rising to his feet, Maxie preparing to punch him in the fucking throat, a large, dark hand landed on Marco's shoulder, shoving him back into his seat.

"What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?" a gravelly voice rumbled.

Maxie turned and his mouth dropped open. The sheer scope of the new alpha in front of him stole the words before they formed.

"My date and I --"

Marco's words snapped Maxie out of his shock and right back into the fray. "Oh, I don't think so, jackass. Either you or I are leaving this club, and we won't be leaving together."

Marco narrowed his eyes as Marco turned to face the huge man who was looming over them both. "You know how the little ones get -- wanting attention and all," he clarified to the stranger.

"Little --"

"Oh, I see." The stranger snorted before turning to Maxie. Maxie expected a glib comment about controlling the pushy omega bottom, but the man surprised him. He looked over at Marco and the two exchanged some sort of big man secret eye fuck before he offered a polite smile. "I think you've had enough, and it's time for you to go."

Maxie blinked as he realized that those delicious-sounding words were not directed at him.

"What?" Marco stammered, and tried to rear up, uber-masculine style, but the man merely crossed his arms, his aura enough to knock the toughest of alphas on their ass. Marco stifled his own power play and shrank in on himself when the arms of the man's expertly tailored suit jacket began to strain to confine his biceps. This new male was pushing out alpha pheromones that easily overcame the small scent of defiance Maxie's stupid alpha date had managed to muster.

But Marco was a troll for a good reason. He visibly pushed down his fear and exchanged his blush of embarrassment for one of anger. "This is a private conversation."

"Which is about to lose one of its parties." This new alpha leaned forward and growled... and Maxie felt his spine tingle with a telltale burst of arousal.