Alpha’s Virgin Stripper
Chapter 76

"Where is the alpha?" Kenji asked the butler, when he took the first step into the Rush Mansion. The young man, dressed in his uniform of black trouser, monkey jacket and a thoroughly pressed white sleeve, bowed to Kenji first. He soon raised his head and plastered a smile on his face.

"I am certain he is in his room, beta. Would you like me to usher you there?" The butler asked. Kenji's eyes swept over him shortly, before he shook his head and found his way up the stairs.

Lake was not aware he was coming. And if his best friend and alpha had been doing just what Kenji thought he had been doing, then Lake did not need to be aware of his presence. He would sneak upon him like a thief in the night, and leave him with nowhere, absolutely nowhere to run - or hide.

He climbed up the stairs and did not even bother to knock when he saw that the door was fairly open. If Lake knew it was him, his friend might just decide to jump out of the window. The man seemed eager to avoid the whole world these days. And it was unfair, seeing as Kenji had a lot of things in his mind, things he could only share with his best friend.

Lake.

He pushed the door open and walked in, closing the door slowly behind him, so that it did not make any noise. Kenji's eyes did a swift glance around the room. Lake was nowhere to be found, but he could not ignore the sound coming from the speakers of the TV - play station themed. Kenji shook his head as he approached his friend's dearest secret door.

He turned the knob and pulled the door open. Lake did not turn to acknowledge him. Perhaps because the sound from the TV was loud enough to mask the sound of a door creaking open. And the opened door did not cast any light on the already poorly illuminated cubic room, that served as his friend's studio and game room.

It was a fun combination.

Kenji cleared his throat as loud as he could. It was only then that Lake looked up at him. Kenji's lips thinned into a smile almost immediately.

His friend was neither sick nor down with a curse. He could breathe properly now and his mind was more relaxed.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Kenji said out loud, as he entered the room and shut the door behind him. Lake looked up at him and shook his head, a bored expression in his ever-dark eyes.

"You are the one sneaking around places you were not invited to. I am pretty sure you are what the cat dragged in." Lake bit back, but Kenji chose to see the humor in his friend's statement.

He bowed as he chuckled.

"Greetings, alpha Lake. But, you cannot blame me for anything I have done. You are the one who has decided to ghost the whole world. Even I, your beta, haven't been able to get hold of you for a long time."

Without being invited - not that he needed an invite - Kenji settled into the sofa, beside his friend. He crossed his legs and placed them on the center table. Lake cast an evil eye on Kenji's legs and he pulled them backward, as though saying "fine, fine. I get the message."

"We haven't seen you, and the investigation for the chief of rogues had to be put on hold. Come on man, I missed you." He playfully punched Lake's shoulder as he continued.

"Shut up," Lake replied, and Kenji burst into laughter. His eyes turned away from Lake and focused on the seventy-two inches' screen in front of them.

"Bro! You are playing MK alone? This is our game man!" Kenji reached out to the table and picked up the second wireless pad.

"That's sneaky stuff. You don't do stuff like this. Or, were you scared that I'll beat you again? I do that all the time."

Kenji's statement was met with a scoff.

"You wish."

Kenji narrowed his eyes on his friend. Lake had always been quite the gloomy type, but there was something darker about him today. Even though he was in a white vest and matching white joggers, the alpha looked as though he carried a huge cloud above his head.

But Kenji said nothing. They navigated through the controls together to pick their fighters for the next match. They argued over who was going to pick the fighter, Kai, but soon decided that they could both use Kai. He would just have to wear different costumes.

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Once they started the game, Kenji turned to Lake.

"Say, what do you think about family?" Kenji asked, before stealing his eyes away from the alpha and returning it to the TV screen.

"Huh?"

Kenji made a mental note to smack himself when he was out of here. It was only when Lake reacted to the question that he realized just how awkward of a question it truly was.

Kenji adjusted himself on the sofa, he could feel Lake's eyes on him, silently demanding an explanation.

"I mean, what if your mother returned and you had the chance to have a happy and complete family? How would that make you feel?"

Kenji saw Lake's eyes darken at the mention of his mother. He mentally slapped himself again, he knew that his friend was very sensitive about the topic, why had he not just chosen another analogy? Soon, Lake's eyes softened. He looked away from Kenji and busied himself with the keys in his pad.

"Where is that question coming from, Ken?"

Kenji heaved a loud sigh. Really, where was the question coming from? Certainly, what Ashley had said could not be what had been troubling him. She was not that much of a significant figure. "It's just that..."

He paused his player with his pad and dropped the pad on the table. He turned to Lake, and Lake turned to him.

"There's this person I know. We had a discussion one day and she made me understand how important family was to her. She said it was the most important thing in her life. It was what she wanted most in the world. It was her dream, her goal, her aspiration. She doesn't have one right now, and she intends to have and build a very big one. It just got me thinking, you know? How important family could actually be to a person, especially when you do not... you know, have one." All through Kenji's speech, the man saw Lake's right brow arch in what seemed like surprise and query.

"Is that the voice of a hard man gone soft I hear?" Lake chipped in, with a knowing smile on his face.

Immediately, Kenji threw his head back in laughter.

"Me, soft? Hell no, brother! You..." He pointed a finger at Lake and used it to poke the side of his friend's right shoulder.

"You, my man, are the one who has melted into jelly already." Kenji teased, and Lake shook his head.

"What does that even mean?"

Kenji's lips thinned in a smirk.

"Look around you man, just look around."