“The day Zane and Ryan showed up, I was terrified. We’d had mishaps with client ads for months, but never one so big. One of the priciest ads in the issue was just forgotten about. It was the kind of fuckup that would get somebody fired, and even though I had nothing to do with that department, sometimes it was the nearest scapegoat that took the fall.
“And that was me. As soon as Darren—the editor-in-chief—saw that Zane had a witness, I was pulled in to be one as well.”
He paused and licked his pink lips. “It was bad. Zane was understandably furious. A quarter-million dollar ad had just… not run. But Darren, instead of groveling like he should have, tried to say that we’d never received the materials, and too bad. No refund, no running it in a later issue.”
“What the fuck?”
He nodded. “Even when Zane threatened to get lawyers involved, Darren just kept trying to insist that we hadn’t made the mistake.
“That was when I saw it…”
“Saw what?”
He smiled. “I’d always known that alphas have a language of their own, something deep in their instincts. But I’d never seen it so fully on display until that day. The quiet rage coming from Zane made him appear bigger and stronger, and Darren backed down.”
He chuckled. “Zane stood there for probably fifteen minutes berating him. He just laid it all out. He and Ryan had come with receipts. Proof that all the materials had been sent. Confirmations that they’d been received. But it was when Zane stood up for us, the employees of a magazine that had failed his company so spectacularly, that I knew my days there were numbered.
“Darren, unable to blame Zane and Techspeed, started trying to blame the advertising department and the formatters. Saying that they’d failed to put the ad in. And Zane shut that right down.” He smiled. “It was glorious, watching that narcissistic asshole get raked over the coals. Zane—rightfully so—told him that as editor-in-chief he was responsible for everything that went into, or failed to get into, the magazine. It was his job to put out a quality product, and that meant the failure was his and his alone. It was his job to make sure the formatting was correct, and the articles, and the ads.”
Micah sighed and closed his eyes. “Zane defended people he had no connection to, and right then I saw a true businessman. It made me realize just how bad things had gotten. And that I wanted to work in a place where I knew that respect flowed both ways.”
“I don’t blame you.”
He opened his eyes again, met my gaze, and smiled. “I never in a million years thought I’d actually be able to work at Techspeed, but after work that night I went home and I started putting alerts on company hiring pages. I researched like mad, looking for employee reviews that mentioned things like a culture of respect, mentoring environments, and high satisfaction. It didn’t matter where in the country the job was. I just wanted to work at a place that would treat me like an asset instead of a liability.”
“And you found the job here.”
He nodded. “I almost cried with joy when I saw the listing, and I did cry when they called me to set up an interview. Zane had shown me that I didn’t have to give up my dignity for a paycheck. I could earn enough to live, while also being treated well. When they offered, I accepted the job without a second thought.”
“And that’s how you ended up out here without working out a place to live first?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. The job was my top priority. I knew everything else would fall into place once I got here, and it did.”
I smiled and ducked my head to run my nose through his curly blond hair. “That’s a brave thing to do though.”
He snorted. “It was a desperate thing to do. But I didn’t care. I was getting out of that hellhole as quickly as possible.”
“And now you’re here.”
He smiled. “And now I’m here, in a job where I know what real respect feels like, and in a house full of alphas who seem to like me as more than a piece of ass.”
“You do have a nice ass though,” I joked. “My cock approves of you squirming on my lap.”
He elbowed me in the ribs, but just hard enough to be playful. Then he settled again. “Seriously. I feel good out here. Like this is where I’m supposed to be. You all are great. Best roommates I’ve ever had. It was a big change, but it was the right one.”
“Except for the weird weather.”
He laughed. “Except for the weird weather.”
I noticed his fingers seemed to be almost normal temp. “Feeling warmer?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but…”
“Hmm?”
“Can I stay like this for a little longer? You really are comfy.”
“Ok.”
