Chapter 26

"How was it? Delicious right?"

Alex nodded. It was indeed delicious but with the Alpha in front of him and blatantly staring at him, he could really not enjoy the food. Also his stomach hasn't calmed down yet.

"Common eat more. I especially cooked this for you." Chad urged Alex to take another spoonful of the porridge he whipped when he learned about the Omega's upset stomach.

Alex shyly looks at the Alpha who's sitting in front of him with the latter's elbow prop up on the table staring at him. He was surprised earlier when a man suddenly barged in their room. For a moment he thought some drunkard wrongly went inside their room then he realized how stupid that thought is. They are in a high end restaurant and drunkards who suddenly barge in to wreak havoc do not exist. What surprised him more was that the person who barged in is actually the chef and owner of the restaurant who turned out to be Keith's best friend.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything else?" Keith asked Alex while caressing his back, ignoring Chad who's glaring at them. He pulled Alex closer to him leaving Chad dumbfounded at the openly displayed affection which is out of Keith's character.

"Is he okay?" Chad couldn't help but asked. The man beside Keith looks pale and weak.

"He's not. So go and cook him some porridge." Keith ordered without even looking at his best friend.

"What the!? I'm not your servant asshole." Chad replied, crossing his arms while continuing to glare at Keith.

"I'm okay, there's no need." Alex whispered shyly to Keith. He does not want to trouble anyone and besides porridge is not even on the restaurant's menu.

"Shhh it's fine. You need to eat." Keith said sweetly, kissing the top of Alex's head. "Besides that man can cook anything, he said so on national television." Keith said grinning mischievously at Chad.

"Fine! But I'm doing this for a pretty boy right there, not for you." Chad stomped out of the room.

Chad came back twenty minutes later holding a tray with a bowl of porridge. Now he's sitting in front of Alex and urging him to eat. "If you leave this annoying guy here, you can always eat delicious food like this. I'll cook for you everyday. I'm a better lover than him, you know!" Chad said sweetly to Alex who almost choked on his food.

"Want me to kill you? I can buy him any food he wants." Keith countered.

"See! He's violent. He threatens people." Chad complained to Alex like a kid. "When we were kids he used to pull my pants down. He's such a bully." Chad further complained while faking a tear.

"That's you idiot. You're the one who always does that pants pulling thing. You traumatized Jules because of that he can not have a girlfriend." Keith said, smacking Chad's head.

"Ohh I thought Jules' just afraid to have sex." Chad replied while touching his chin as if thinking. Both friends grin afterwards.

Alex chuckled at the two friends. He doesn't know who Jules is but he can assume he is one of their friends. Otherwise these two will not talk about him like that. He didn't know Keith has this side of him, I guess he can be pretty relaxed around his friends. Also, he didn't know the nation's favorite chef can be childish like this.

"My mom likes you." Alex blurted out to Chad. It's true though, his mother loved watching Chad's cooking. He said the Alpha is the real deal and not some celebrity chef who cooks only for tv.

"See! The mother already approved of me. Sorry Keith, better luck next time." Chad said teasingly. Keith hasn't formally introduced him to Alex, but he can deduce who the man is in his friend's life. He's definitely the Omega he bonded with. Initially he thought Keith was with Martin but the maitre reported that his friend brought a different companion. He got curious and when he was told Keith returned the food untouched, he took that opportunity to take a peek. He got the surprise of his life to find his friend being intimate with someone. He's even speaking in a gentle voice he hasn't heard before. The way Keith is looking at the Omega tells him that his friend is completely smitten with his mate.

"Ahmm my mom loves to cook and she enjoys watching Chef Chad's show." Alex explained when he noticed Keith's annoyed expression.

"Just call me Chad. Don't mind this guy, he's just jealous. Anyway, I should leave you to finish your meal. Let me know if you need anything else." Chad said, smiling at Alex. " By the way, can I borrow Keith for a minute?" He said pulling Keith with him outside.

Alex watched the two Alpha walked out of the room and with Keith now out of sight, he put down the spoon and pushed the bowl of porridge away from him. He couldn't eat anymore. He's afraid that he will throw up again but he doesn't want the Alpha to worry too much so he forced himself to eat.

******

"He's your Omega right?" Chad asked, confirming his suspicions.

"Yeah." Keith replied.

"What's your plan now? Are you marrying him or something?" Chad asked curiously. The way Keith looked at Alex, like he wouldn't want to be apart from the Omega, Chad is sure his friend is already thinking of settling down. They have bonded anyway.

"Well that's the plan." Keith replied.

"He agreed already?" Chad asked, surprised. He knew that Keith looked for the Omega for over a month and if the Omega would agree to marry Keith so easily, why hide in the first place?

"Of course not. He doesn't know yet. We're still getting to know each other. I don't want to rush him." Keith explained while grabbing his hair in frustration.

Chad tapped Keith's shoulders. He doesn't know what's really happening but he can sense his friend's frustration. Well whatever he is planning, they will support him anyway. "Does your mom know about your bonding with Alex?" Keith's mom is hell bent on marrying him off, she should be ecstatic that Keith is thinking about marriage now.

"Not yet and don't you dare say anything to her. I have just found Alex and he's not fully into this bonding relationship yet. There's also his family to consider, they don't know yet about me, about us being bonded to each other. I don't want Alex to be overwhelmed by my family." Keith replied frustratingly.

"Man, it's so hard to be you. Good thing I'm more into living life without commitments. Serious relationships are not for me." Chad said. He'd rather go his merry way than be shackled into a relationship with a lot of complications. He's not berating his friend for choosing that life, it's just not for him.

"Never say never buddy. I never thought I would bond with someone nor even think of settling down but look where I am now." Keith personally resigned himself to being alone, marriage was not in his plans, let alone bonding with an Omega. However, Alex came along.

"By the way is he sick or something?" Chad asked curiously, based on what he heard from their conversation, the Omega threw up that is why Keith asked him to cook porridge for his mate. Threw up? "Wait.. don't tell me?" Chad's eyes widened as he asked Keith.

"Yeah. Probably."