Page 13 of All Packed Up

The trip didn’t last long. He stopped at the first store he saw for omegas, and thankfully, they had everything he needed. Blankets, pillows, candles in her favorite scent. The supermarket had everything else. Her favorite snacks both pre-heat and post heat, and all the things for her cat.

Nic shook his head as he pulled up by the back door.

The Stoners were outside, passing a thinly rolled joint. Confirmed when he opened the door and got a whiff of the grassy skunk smell.

“Hey, man,” the blond one, Tate, greeted.

“Hey,” Nic returned and nodded once.

Get the groceries, get inside. Don’t mention Wendy.

“Been shopping?” Arlo, the second neighbor, asked.

Nic arched a brow as he sat a paper bag onto the concrete. “Looks like it, doesn’t it?”

“Ooo, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Tate teased, and sucked on the joint, making the end of it glow bright red.

“You know the landlord doesn’t like you guys smoking out here,” he warned. They’d all gotten letters about it in their boxes.

“Dude, I know!” Arlo groaned.

“Not on the roof, not in the parking lot, and not inside. Where are we supposed to smoke?” Tate vented.

Nic shrugged, pulling the last few bags from the trunk and setting them on the sidewalk. “I don’t know. But if you keep breaking the rules, you’re gonna get fined.”

Arlo scoffed. “I don’t care about fines. We can afford ’em.”

The fines were hefty. Nic tilted his head at the alphas. “If you can pay the fines, why don’t you just move somewhere more open, so you can smoke wherever you want?”

This wasn’t a new topic, and Nic had been wondering for a while why these two didn’t just leave.

They were friendly, quiet, polite neighbors. They just liked their weed, and they liked smoking it outside. The landlord didn’t agree. Nic, personally, didn’t think they were hurting anyone. Why would they put up with it?

“This is a good location for both of us. Minutes from both our workplaces. Nowhere else is gonna be this close.”

“You win some, you lose some,” Nic offered in condolences.

“Speaking of winning…” Arlo began, and dipped his head at the bags. “That’s a lot of stuff. Need some help?”

“Here, we’ve got it,” Tate said, and picked himself up off the bench and sauntered over.

The bittersweet smell of marijuana followed him, and he leaned down to grab some of the bags. Arlo tapped out the joint and tucked it in his metal case before assisting.

Nic tried to turn them down, but they were already waiting at the bottom of the stairs patiently. They didn’t even seem bothered by the weight of the bags.

“Guess all that yoga you do really helps, huh?” Nic grumbled.

“It’s all in the core,” Tate responded. “You should drop by and join us sometime.”

Their footsteps echoed in the stairwell as they made their way to the third floor.

Nic hummed. “I’m usually into more intense stuff. You know I own a gym, right?”

“What? Dude, that’s so cool,” Tate exclaimed. The excitement was palpable in his voice, though Nic couldn’t see his face past all the bags. It just surprised him how genuine the alpha sounded. Surely he was just putting on a friendly act, right?

“Maybe I should be the one visiting.”

“Really? The door’s open anytime,” he offered, puffing out a breath at the second flight.