Talk About… Rivalry (Rockwood Valley Omegaverse #2)

8. Maverick

Maverick

“ T he new guy is opening up some sort of bar,” the woman whispered to her friend, both eyes darting my way. My dark sunglasses kept them from seeing me watching them, and I kept on a mask of indifference, like I wasn’t listening to every word.

“A bar?” The other woman gasped, her voice loud enough to gather attention from the nearby patrons.

I didn’t know when I walked into the diner this morning to grab a breakfast sandwich and coffee that I would be in the midst of the Rockwood Valley Rumor Mill.

“The Whitakers aren’t going to like that,” the other said, eyes casting to me again, clicking her tongue with disapproval.

At least the old biddies at the counter were on my side.

“Yeah, Rhonda over at the town office said that he closed out on that and bought some old broken-down farmhouse on the edge of town.”

The first woman clicked her tongue again. Apparently, that was her go-to disapproval sound. The other woman mimicked it before they all chuckled a little to themselves.

“Well, this town could use some good old rivalry, couldn’t it?” That comment had me standing up. They all fell into silence, but I just walked up to the counter as a waitress came back with my bag in hand.

“Here’s your coffee, Maverick,” she said with a flirty smile. “And your breakfast sandwich, just the way you like it.”

I slid her a twenty. “Keep the change,” I said, giving her a quick smile that wasn’t really a smile, but it was the best I had at the moment.

The beta blinked at me in surprise. It was the first time I’d really spoken to her. I couldn’t deny that she was pretty. She just wasn’t Sidney.

I was out the door and walking toward Whitaker Brews to get some paperwork done when I saw a black SUV pull up outside of one of the old abandoned shops—the old library, if I remembered correctly.

“This is going to be amazing,” I heard an omega man say as he stepped out of the car. He had soft brown curls and was one of those people that just exuded sunshine. The beta that climbed out of the other side was giving him an indulgent smile. They had a camaraderie, but I didn’t think they seemed like mates. There was a certain type of chemistry that they lacked.

“God, why am I analyzing these people?” I questioned my sanity. Before I knew it, I was moving across the street.

The beta was pulling a box out of the back seat. They’d clearly just come from the hardware store.

“Hey, you buy this old place?” I asked. Even though my voice was rough, the beta didn’t flinch; he just gave me a friendly smile.

“Sure did.”

“Going to be a lot of work,” I offered. Damn, it was really hard to be conversational when really I just wanted to punch him square in the face. The smug smile, the cocky attitude—all of it just made me clench my jaw.

Though, he’d been doomed from the start. I knew why he was here.

“That’s alright. I’m not scared of a little work,” he said, eyes narrowing slightly as he studied me. “The name’s Leo Valor. And you are?”

“Maverick Whitaker,” I said, watching his features closely to see if he recognized the name. The understanding there had me bracing myself, but he just nodded knowingly.

“I remember you from school. You guys own the bar across town, right?”

“Yes,” I said pointedly. “I hear you’re opening up a bar, too.”

He shifted the box and laughed, slightly shaking his head.

“Definitely not just a bar. It’s going to be a lounge. We’re going to offer jazz music. It’s going to be Art Deco style—definitely not the same as your bar.”

When he said it like that, it sounded even more fucking pretentious.

“This is a small town, friend. Do you really think it needs two bars?”

The omega just watched us, eyes bouncing back and forth. He’d lost some of his smile, and now he looked a bit uneasy. I couldn’t blame him; an angry alpha arguing didn’t always end well.

“Name one small town, friend,” he said, putting emphasis on the word, “that doesn’t have more than one bar. Hell, most have a bar on every corner.”

“Not around here they don’t,” I argued, still staring him down. “We’ve been running the bar for years.”

“So I’ve heard. I’ll have to check it out sometime. But again, we will not have the same crowds coming to our places. We are not competition.”

“Bullshit,” I spit out. “If you’re opening a bar… if you’re selling alcohol in there, then you are a direct rival.”

“Shame you feel that way,” he said with a shrug. His lack of care was only fueling my anger. “There’s no crime in giving people options.”

“We’ll see,” I said, storming off before I could say anything else. The last thing I needed on top of this was cold fucking coffee anyway.

By the time I shoved open the front door of Whitaker Brews, my mood had gone from bad to worse. Just when Whitaker Brews was taking off, now that we had enough of a crowd to bring in actual profit, this shit happens.

Rockwood Valley was in dire need of more businesses, more options to bring in tourists, but this wasn’t fucking it.

I heard a little squeak, looking up from where I’d been slamming things around to see my sister at one of the tables nearby.

Leave it to her to be working when she was weeks away from giving birth. The doctors were already amazed that she managed to hold on this long.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded. She raised an eyebrow at my harsh tone. I stretched my shoulders out, trying to ease some of the tension before I snapped at her again. She didn't need that.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“I’m just trying to wrap things up before my leave. Who pissed in your coffee this morning?” she asked, shifting in her seat as she studied me, her hands massaging her huge belly.

Not that I’d ever call it huge to her face, but I swear it was bigger than she was at this point.

“Do you know there’s a fucking bar opening up in town?”

Her eyes widened, and she looked stunned by the news.

“No, what are you talking about?”

“Someone bought the old library. The old ladies at the diner were talking about it.”

She sniffed the air, eyes landing on the bag in my hand. “What do you have there?” Clearly, the babies decided they were hungry.

I didn’t even hesitate to hand it over. I wasn’t that hungry now anyway. She did a little happy dance in her chair and dug into the bag, groaning as the smell of eggs and bacon hit her. She took a huge bite and raised an eyebrow, telling me to continue without words since her mouth was full of my breakfast.

“Yeah, there’s this new guy in town. I ran into him on the way here. I even told him that we had a bar, and he was insisting that we weren’t rivals, that his was a lounge .”

I put emphasis on the word, rolling my eyes at how ridiculous it sounded. This wasn’t exactly the city where they needed a club, a bar, and a lounge to accommodate everyone. This was a small fucking town, we were the only bar here for so many years, and I wasn’t about to lose business when we just picked it up.

“Maybe he’s right.” With a little shrug, she dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin as if she was a dainty omega.

I sat down across from her and took a swig of my now lukewarm coffee.

“You don’t think a new bar in town is going to draw all this business you created away?” Honestly, she should be more pissed off than I was. She was the one who got us here in the first place.

“We have crowds coming from all over, not just this town. People might check it out, but if the vibe over there is as stiff as it sounds, they’re definitely going to come here for our drink specials and themed nights. He can have the old men smoking their cigars and drinking their bourbon.”

She took another bite of her sandwich, a little less fervently this time, before her nose wrinkled, and she groaned, shoving it toward me.

“Never mind. The babies decided they don’t want bacon today.” She looked a little green around the gills.

“I thought morning sickness was over.” I backed away to be safe.

“Tell that to them,” she shot back. A notification on her phone stopped her before saying anything else. She picked it up and glanced at it before looking at me.

“So, I hear you cracked a joke on live. The comments have been full of a ‘Make Maverick Laugh’ challenge. You’re going to need to be on the lives for a few nights coming up.” It was a challenge and I didn’t bother to argue.

Oddly enough, when she first started this whole social media page on PackVlog, I thought it was going to be the worst. Honestly, it hasn’t been too bad. Nash was big on doing the trending dances and things like that. Cameron was the asshole doing all the thirst traps. I had the silent videos. Honestly, Avery just took shots of me working and compiled them with some big song that worked for it.

I got to be the tall, dark, and mysterious one, grunting out one-liners on the lives, and that seemed to be enough.

We couldn’t deny that it worked. Our business had more than tripled since she’d been back. Mom didn’t have to worry about paying her bills anymore and we were able to pay for employees so we could take a step back.

“I’ll be around,” I promised.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Mama said you’ve been here every morning and staying late most nights. What’s going on?”

“You guys finally got to me,” I said, taking another drink of my coffee and not meeting her eyes. “With the Artisan Fair comments.”

“How’s it going? Any luck?” She tried to play it cool but her excitement bled through.

“Actually,” I admitted, “a lot. I’ve heard back from nearly everyone I’ve messaged. A lot of them expressed how much they’ve missed it, and nothing’s been the same since. I’ve gotten tons of advice and a lot of contacts. Right now, it’s just a game of networking and making plans. I was thinking that we could finally tear down what’s left of the distillery and make permanent fairgrounds there. They always just set up in whatever space was available, but those muddy grounds were awful during the rain. Imagine if we laid gravel or concrete and had actual parking and permanent booths set up. We’d be able to run rain or shine.”

“Wow, you have been taking this seriously,” she said. “That’s a great idea! I actually love that. I think Mama would be fully on board, and it’d be like a tribute to the dads.”

“I figured this was their thing, but we could make it ours, too,” I said with a shrug. My cheeks heated at all of her attention and I think this was more conversation than I’d had in days. I didn’t like the spotlight being on me.

“You’re doing a good job,” Avery said, looking at me with a serious expression. “You’ve always taken care of us, Maverick. You don’t have to do this alone. We can help.”

“Oh, you will be,” I promised. “After maternity leave and when you get back to work, we’ll start hyping up the returning fair. By the time you get back, I’ll have a date and hopefully a game plan. That’s my goal, at least.”

Her eyes widened. “You think you’ll be that far by then?”

“Mom wasn’t kidding, Avery. I’ve been here all day, every day, for weeks.”

She let out a sigh. “Clearly, being a workaholic runs in this family, but take it from someone who knows… whatever you’re hiding from isn’t just going to disappear because you’re burying yourself in work.”

“I know,” I admitted.

How could I look at my little sister and tell her that I had been in love with her best friend for years and that her best friend hadn’t given me a second look? That I didn’t want any other omega because no one really compared to her?

That I hadn’t dated in years?

Every single one of them ended because they weren’t right. I found myself with one foot out the door every single time anything went past a second date.

Eventually, I just gave up altogether. As the years passed, though, I was starting to lose hope.

Avery was right, I was wearing myself out with my work, but at least it was something that I could be proud of.

That had to count for something, right?

With a groan, Avery stood, rocking herself for a minute before packing up her stuff.

“The whole pack is in full swing trying to get the nurseries ready, and I needed some quiet. But according to the last message, my time is up and Mason is going to be here any second.”

As if on cue, the front door opened, and her green-haired alpha walked in. Even as he said hello to me, his eyes were on Avery, rushing over and giving her a kiss before putting a hand on her stomach.

“Did the quiet help?” he asked.

“It did. I got everything I needed done. I think we’ve got enough set up to last through baby time as long as the guys do the lives.” She turned to me, giving me a look.

The look on Mason’s face dared me to disagree. I just chuckled.

“We have the schedule you made for videos that we need to make, and we’ve got lives planned, Avery. We can do this. Take time to rest. You’re not even supposed to be on your feet.”

Mason nodded with approval. “He’s right, let’s go home.” Avery rolled her eyes, but the look of love on her face made my chest ache. I was so happy for my sister, but God, I wished that I had a mate.

When they were gone and I was left in the silence, I couldn’t force myself to go back to work in my office. I was full of energy and tension after my confrontation with Leo Valor.

Even his name was fucking pretentious.

This was the kind of mood that could only be solved in the gym. With a huff, I dropped my coffee in the trash can and headed out the door, locking it behind me.

Maybe I could try again after working off this energy, but I had a feeling that this headache was just beginning.