Gamers’ Omega (Gimme MMMMMore #5)

Chapter 3

~December~

“H ey Eric,” said Freddie as the four waited at the host station.

I waved as I rushed past. “Sorry guys, sudden rush.”

“No problem,” Ian replied.

I paused and glanced around. “You know what, you guys know where you like to go. Get seated and I’ll bring drinks as soon as I can.”

“You sure?” Tony asked.

I nodded as I heard the distinctive clink of ice on glass, a sign that somebody needed a refill. “I don’t think you’ll cause problems for me.”

Ian grinned. “We’re totally going to cause problems for you now.”

I waggled my eyebrows. “You sure about that?” I glanced at the box in Beck’s arms. “All it would take is a table bump to…”

Freddie reached out and acted as if he was going to cover my mouth with his hand. “Don’t finish that thought. We don’t need a half-hour discussion about whose pieces were where.”

I laughed. “Go on. I’ll have your drinks in a few minutes. Large pepperoni, mushroom, and green chile?”

“You know it!” Ian chuckled.

I shot them a thumbs-up, then rushed off to grab a tea pitcher. I made the rounds, and by the time I had grabbed drinks for the guys, they’d already set up their game.

“Is that one fun?” I asked as I placed glasses on the table. “I’ve heard good things, but haven’t had a chance to play.”

Beck shrugged. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“First time playing?” I guessed.

Tony nodded, eyes intent on the board. “Trying to decide if we want to introduce it during game nights.”

“Game nights?” I asked, perking up. “I need deets.”

Freddie grinned, his different-colored eyes glittering. “Yeah, we host game nights at…”

“Excuse me, waiter?” I heard from behind me.

“Hold that thought,” I said. “Work calls.”

Ian laughed. “You know us, we’ll be here a while.”

“Yep,” I chirped, then scurried off to help the other table.

It was another round of drink refills and two delivered orders before I made my way back to my group of gamers—carrying their pizza and plates on a tray.

Beck and Freddie glared at the board while Ian and Tony seemed to be scouring the rulebook.

“Uh-oh?” I guessed as I set the pizza on a clear section of the table.

Beck nodded. “Ian thought he was gonna make a big move, but it ended up being a big clusterfuck.”

“Says the man who thought he could grab that narrow strip of territory,” Ian shot back.

Tony picked up his phone, swiped the screen, then let out a sigh of relief. “When a battle is lost and a player forced to retreat, if the retreat would force them into a third player’s territory, then the losing player shall retreat as far as their own continuous non-infringing territory.”

Beck sighed and moved several pieces across the board.

“You’d think they’d be able to put that in the rulebook,” Ian groused.

“They probably didn’t have idiots do things like that during test plays,” Freddie stated.

“Hey!” Beck cried.

Freddie laughed. “Not you. Ian was so intent on preventing you from taking that strip, that he left his rear flank wide open.”

Beck studied the board, then burst into laughter. “I guess that’s instant karma.”

“What are you…?” Ian started, then he groaned. “Oh, fuck me.”

“Not here,” Beck laughed. “But I will when we get home.”

My jaw dropped.

“How many knots do we think Ian can take tonight?” Tony teased. “He did just tell us to fuck him.”

I choked on air.

“Chill, guys,” Freddie laughed. “I think you broke poor Eric.” He turned to me. “Sorry about them. Sometimes they forget themselves when we’re out in public.”

I motioned at the four of them. “So you’re all…”

Ian grinned and threw one arm across Beck’s shoulders. “Yeah, we’re a thing—a textbook example of drinking while gaming, upping the stakes, and eventually we were a quad.”

I glanced at the other three to make sure Ian wasn’t fucking with me.

Tony shrugged. “Pretty much as he said.”

I swallowed, then nodded. “Guess it’s more common out here than I expected.”

“Huh?” Freddie asked. “What do you mean?”

“Owen… the GM. Two of his cousins are in poly relationships, too.”

Beck chuckled. “Never knew that.”

“Not like it’s any of our business,” Tony replied.

I laughed. “I only know because I covered an evening shift when they came in for a family dinner. There are so many of them, that they don’t even fit at our biggest table. We had to pull tables together. Nine alphas, including Owen, two omegas—one of them pregnant—and two babies.”

“That’s a lot of people,” Ian mused.

I nodded, then remembered where I was. “Do y’all need anything else?”

Tony looked around. “Not right now. Drink refills soon though.”

I grinned. “You got it.”

I scurried back to the kitchen to run out more plates, and we were busy enough that I didn’t get more than a chance to give the guys refills or clear the table until they were packing up to leave.

“Same time next week?” I asked as I stood at the host stand, preparing for the end of my shift.

“You know it!” Ian quipped.

“See you then!”

They started to file out, but Beck stopped and slid over a piece of paper.

“You said you wanted the details about the game night we run, then got busy. Here’s the info… if you still want it.”

A grin spread across my face. “Thank you!”

He smiled shyly. “We’d like to see you there.”

I laughed. “I love games. So I’ll definitely check it out.” I glanced down at the paper and sighed. “Probably not until January though. I’m covering several Thursday evening shifts until then.”

“We’ll be there,” he stated. “We’ve been the standing hosts for a while.”

“I’m always down for games, so once I’m free you can count me in.”

“We’ll be happy to have you.”

“Come on,” Freddie called from the door. “We don’t want to get stuck in rush-hour traffic.”

Beck smiled. “See you next week.”