Muting his microphone, Shelly glanced over his shoulder at me, his face strangely expressionless. “I’m in the middle of something, Dane. What do you need?”
“Need? Ah, nothing,” I managed to stammer out, feeling like a nervous schoolboy instead of a nearly forty-year-old Alpha. “I, um, wanted to talk. Can we when you’re done?”
Shelly glanced pointedly at the old-school alarm clock on his bedside table. “It’ll be pretty late and I have work in the morning.”
“Oh, right. I didn’t realize how long I slept,” I mumbled, scrubbing my hand through my hair. “Maybe tomorrow?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Shelly said quietly before unmuting his microphone and returning to his meeting. “Sorry about that, Scott. Now, where were we?”
Feeling even more unsettled, I limped my way back to the kitchen in search of something easy for dinner. Food, a long hot bath, and another muscle relaxer took precedence as returning to my bed suddenly became my sole focus.
Shelly’smaybeabout continuing our conversation the next day ended up being just as half-hearted as it had sounded. He was gone again when I got up for the day and his key didn’t jiggle in the lock until after I was tossing and turning in my room late that night. If it hadn’t been for my bear’s superior hearing, I wouldn’t have even known when he got in.
Instead of trying to catch him before he made it to his room, I reached for my phone. Tapping the clock icon, I reset the alarm for another thirty minutes earlier before dropping it back onto the nightstand. As late as it was, Shelly was almost certainly tired and cranky, so maybe he’d be more willing to talk to me over coffee.
I sighed and returned to staring at my ceiling. Nothing to lose by giving it a shot.
ChapterFifteen
Mitchel
I had just stepped out of the shower when the faint chime of Dane’s alarm sounded through the wall. Stifling a groan, I wrapped the towel around my waist and let my forehead rest briefly against the bathroom door. I knew it was childish of me to be avoiding him, but every time I thought about what Dane had done behind my back, my body burned with humiliation and anger. I thought if I could just avoid him a little longer, maybe I could get control of my responses, but it seemed Dane was just as determined to see me as I was to avoid him.
Sucking it up, I returned to my bedroom and toweled off, briskly rubbing my hair until it was mostly dry. Pulling on my clothes for the day, I followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen. Dane was standing with his back to me as he poured a cup of coffee, his pajama pants hanging low on his hips, leaving the dimples in his lower back naked to tease me.
“Good morning,” I said, keeping my voice level.
Dane spun around, the coffee in his cup sloshing haphazardly. “Shelly! Hey, you’re here.”
I forced a polite smile. “I live here at the moment, don’t I?”
“Yeah, uh, yes. Of course, you do.” He swallowed hard, struggling to find words. “It’s just, well, I think you’ve been avoiding me.”
I gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Maybe. I’m still upset and needed time to think.” I glanced over at the counter. “Can I get into the coffee pot?”
“What? Oh, yeah, sure.” Dane nearly stumbled as he rushed to move aside. “Sorry.”
I sighed. “Dane, relax, okay?”
He sent me a sad smile in return. “It’s a little hard,” Dane admitted. “I still don’t know why you’re so mad and you won’t talk to me.” He sighed. “I feel like I’ve lost my friend.”
Friend. Right. Because that was all I was to him and that absolutely shouldn’t have been a surprise. How long had I been telling that to everyone who asked?
Another sigh escaped. “You didn’t lose me as a friend.”
“Does that mean you’ll tell me what I did so I can apologize?” Dane ventured cautiously.
“You didn’t do anything,” I said firmly. “Something upset me and I overreacted.” I forced another smile. “You know me, I just need to be dramatic for a few days and I’ll get over it.”
Dane’s brow furrowed and for a minute I thought he was going to refuse to let it go, but to my relief, he gave a slow nod. “If you’re sure,” he agreed, skepticism flooding his voice. “But you know I’d never say that about you, right? I’ve never thought you were dramatic or anything like that.”
“Yeah, sure,” I agreed, snapping the lid onto the travel mug I’d poured my coffee in. “Anyway, I’m glad we cleared the air, but I have an early meeting and need to hit the road.”
Dane’s brows drew even closer together. “At five in the morning?”
“Hm?” I glanced up at the clock and made myself nod. “Um, yeah. Five-thirty, actually but I don’t want to be late.”
“Right.” Dane was flat-out scowling at me. “There isn’t a single place besides the gym open this early and you hate working out in the morning.” He hesitated, and then plowed on, “Unless you’re hooking up with someone.”
