Waking up with an ache in his throat and a pounding headache meant Carter went wild last night with drinks and Erick.
Erick…
At the thought of the omega, everything came flooding in.
The cheating, the drive, the walking in two alphas fucking, the vomiting.
Fuck.
There was so much vomit.
He groaned as he turned in his bed.
Bed? How did he get into bed?
Carter cracked his eyes open, immediately shutting them because of the blinding light. After giving them a few seconds to adjust to the light, he opened them again to take in his surroundings.
Thankfully, the two alphas did not leave him at the reception couch. He was actually in the usual room that Tim and Jo gave him.
Fuck, Jo will have his skin for puking in her plants.
Think of the devil, and she appears.
A woman in her sixties, dressed in a gray skirt and a thick cardigan, knocked on his bedroom door and walked in.
"Ah! Sorry. I did not think you were awake." She said curtly. Jo was not in a good mood.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as she walked to him and placed her palm against his forehead.
"Like an asshole. I am so sorry for your plants, Jo. I will clean it up and have it replaced." He promised as he sat up on the bed.
"You'd better. It was quite the expensive plastic plant." She snorted out, making Carter chuckle.
"You hungry?" Josphine asked as she picked up his dirty clothes. Perks of being him, he got his laundry done.
"Starving, actually." He replied just before his stomach rumbled.
"Good. Then join us for breakfast."She offered as she walked out, leaving Carter by himself.
Hunger did not allow him to overthink; after a short shower to stop him from feeling like the dead, he got dressed and walked downstairs to the dining area.
"Well, if it isn't the puke-a-tron 2.0," Timothy called out the minute he saw Carter turn the corner to the dining area, making him groan silently as the others turned to him.
The others were just Jo and the two alphas he had walked in the night before.
"Please spare me, Tim. I already have to deal with your face this morning."
"Well, good morning to you, too, Mr. Everson." Tim jabbed as Carter walked to the dining table, where everyone was seated.
Sitting next to Jo, who was on Tim's right side. Top alpha was on Tim's left side while the wailing alpha was beside the top alpha.
What a fucking line-up. Carter thought to himself.
It was rude to refer to them as such, but he did not know their names. Nor was he interested in doing so.
"Hey there." He greeted both of them, getting a shy "hi" from the wailing alpha and nothing but a glare from top alpha.
Weird. Carter has been nothing but amicable; maybe the top alpha was just feeling shy?
Still, it was quite rude of him to stare at Carter.
"So, how are you feeling this morning? Tim asked, "Gave us quite the scare when Ashton here told us we had a sick visitor."
Carter paused from stirring his coffee and looked at Tim, then Top Alpha, Ashton.
"Ashton? Your son Ashton?" Carter asked in pleasant surprise.
"Yes, "Tim replied joyfully. "Decided to come home and help out at the BnB."
"That is amazing. Pleasure to meet you finally, Ashton. Your parents have told me much about you." Carter said with a pleasant smile, but got nothing of the sort from the alpha.
"Ash, behave." Jo tutted.
"And you must be his partner, right? Pleasure to me-" Carter's words were cut off by the alpha spraying coffee in surprise, startling Carter too.
"Are you okay?" Carter asked, genuinely worried that the wailing alpha was about to cough up a lung.
"I'm fi-"
"Avery, Love, are you okay?" Another guest came into the dining room looking every bit worried for the wailing alpha, Avery, who was still coughing.
A look at the guilty alpha who was pleading with Carter and Ashton, who stopped glaring at him but now could not meet his eyes, made everything click into place.
Carter let out a humorless laugh and then sat back down in his chair.
"Avery, are you okay?" The new alpha asked his cheating partner softly, which made Carter's heart break.
"I am fine. Just the wrong pipe." Avery answered.
"That is good. Hello Tim, Jo Ashton. Sorry, we have not had the pleasure yet. I am Jack." Avery's partner greeted Carter.
"Carter." He replied stiffly. "Pleasure."He added, stretching his arm out in greeting.
"It's all mine," Jack replied warmly.
"Jack and Avery here are on vacation," Jo explained.
"Oh, quite the pick for a vacation. What are you here for? The Jacaranda trees are to bloom in October." Carter asked.
"I know. I know, but Avery was quite insistent on having our vacation here." Jack explained as he sat beside Avery.
Piece of shit.
"Did he now? Avery, what could have possibly attracted you to this piece of paradise?"
Carter turned his eyes from the shifty alpha.
"Uh…the views and the people?"
"The people are something you can definitely get under, right?" Carter asked snidely, making Avery go white and Ashton chuckle.
Fuck was he laughing at? He is as guilty as Avery.
"What about you, Carter? What brings you to Jacaranda Gardens?" Jack asked, not picking up on the weird vibe.
"Well, me, Josphine, and Timothy are in love, so I am here so that we can unite under the eyes of the universe and live together as the throuple we were meant to be." He teased, getting a laugh from the couple and a confused look from the others.
"Kidding. I usually come here when my life gets hectic and stressful. Running away and all that jazz." He answered.
"I get that. Life gets a bit too much too fast, yeah." Jack added with a charming smile.
"You get it," Carter answered, taking a bite of his eggs.
"So what are you running away from?" Ashton finally spoke, and the irony made Carter smile darkly.
"I found my partner getting fucked by another alpha." He said simply. "Eight years down the drain," Carter added venomously while maintaining eye contact with Avery.
"Erick cheated on you? I am so sorry for that, sweetheart." Joshine cooed, grabbing Carter's attention.
"Yeah. It hurts so bad, Jo. I do not know what would ever drive a person to hurt another that way."
He stated in a faux off-handed tone, but with how Avery excused himself from the table. Carter knew that his goal had been achieved.
"Love?" Jack called out to the cowardly alpha before excusing himself to chase after him.
"That is terrible, Carter. Stay as long as you like. With Ashton here, food will not be a problem. A five-star chef like him has the right recipe for a broken heart."
I would rather eat mud. But breakfast is delicious...Maybe I will give it a try.
"Thank you, Tim," Carter said softly.
"Okay, time for work," Tim announced as he stood from the table and walked away.
"I have to get started with the day, too. Enjoy your breakfast, you two." Jospine said as she stood and left the room, leaving Carter and the other alpha.
"Have a good day," Carter called out with a smile that dropped immediately when he was out of Josphine's view.
Silence fell over the room, punctuated with the clinks of Carter's cutlery.
"What?" He barked out, overwhelmed by the other alpha's stare.
"So you have no problem with alphas fucking."Ashton's crude words caught him off guard.
"I do not give a shit what two grown adults do consensually unless of course it hurts another person…Like their partner."Carter said in false sweetness.
Ashton just shrugged.
"It was just sex. If they are in love, something so minor should not break them up."
His words made Carter grow angry. How could he be so casual about it?
Fucking asshole.
"It may just be sex to you, but to others it's something they only do with the person they are in love with." Carter spat out, standing up and leaning towards the alpha, who just raised an eyebrow at him.
"Doing it with another means betrayal. It is not just sex; it is a symbol of their love." He finished quietly.
"It is just sex," Ashton repeated, leaning towards Carter, who had to lean back to avoid the alpha.
His casual view was infuriating…but Carter was not here to teach another alpha on the principles of a relationship; he was here to relax.
"Just stay away from them, okay. It would be the kind thing to do." Carter advised as he started clearing the table. Force of habit when he stays with Tim and Jo.
"Kind for who?" Ashton asked as he followed Carter to the kitchen, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Jack mostly. I have no tears to cry for Avery. But also yourself." Carter explained as he set the dirty utensils on the kitchen counter,
"Imagine if what you are doing to Jack happened to you. Put yourself in Jack's position." He added as he turned to face the alpha, who apparently had no qualms about personal space.
"I owe him nothing," Ashton argued.
"Yeah, you do not. As far as you are concerned, you do not owe him loyalty… still, to ease your heart, would it not be better not to be a dickhead?"
"I have no heart." Ashton grouched.
"Ah, yes. Pardon me, Mr. Tin Man." Carted teased, turning back to the counter to dispose of the remnant food from the dirty dishes.
"If you had not been cheated on, would you be this invested in their situation?"