Walking away from the table, my best friend leaned in and whispered, “I don’t want to talk about it, please don’t ask. Just get our drinks and pretend you saw nothing.”
I guess I’ll have to just wait until he’s ready. Damn. I want that juicy news.
Chapter Fourteen
Jamie
“I can’t believe today has been so busy.” Erik sat next to me on the rig. “I guess we were owed it after it’s been so quiet.”
“Shush.” I huffed. “You’re going to curse us if you keep talking. Enjoy the ride and get ready for action. Okay?”
“Sorry.” Erik made a motion of zipping his mouth. The other guys laughed. It was common knowledge that the guy couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Pulling up to the address, I recognized where we were, and a tiny thread of unease weaved into my thoughts. This was Zane’s apartment complex. I really hoped this wasn’t another one of his tricks. He had been a big problem lately, and I was seriously thinking of ways to handle it.
Several minutes later, my suspicions were partly correct when it turned out the little kitchen fire was indeed inside Zane’s apartment, but it did not appear to have been deliberate. The problem was that Zane was looking at me like I was his savior.
“Now that the fire’s out, I’m heading back outside.” I tapped Jason on the shoulder as he was speaking with Zane about the importance of fire safety.
Thomas and I left the building and stood near the truck, waiting for everyone to wrap up. Although I was glad the guy wasn’t injured, I was sort of annoyed that I had to see Zane again. I sighed. “If he’d completely give up his fantasies of me leaving Charlie, he might be a good guy. Sadly, even today, he tried to talk with me while we were dealing with the fire. Someone could have been seriously injured.”
“I get ya.” Thomas took inventory of what we had on the truck, making sure we were packing everything back up correctly. “But you need to do something.”
“I’ll think about it and talk it over with Charlie when our shift is over.” I ran a hand through my hair. “He seemed relatively sane when we dated. I didn’t see this type of behavior from him.”
“Sometimes that’s how it is.” Thomas hitched his chin in the direction of the building. “He’s coming over here.”
I turned and saw Zane running toward our rig, eyes wide and focused on me.
What’s he doing now?
“Jamie.” Zane stood in front of me, face flushed and smiling widely. “I wanted to thank you for coming.”
“It’s our job.” I nodded, keeping my face as neutral as I could so he wouldn’t misinterpret anything. “Just make sure to be more careful. Fire safety is no joke.”
“Anyway. I thank you.”
Before I was aware of his intentions, Zane had approached closer and quickly leaned in as if to surprise kiss me. I dodged it.
I put my hands out to keep him away from me. “You need to stop this shit.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Zane?”
I knew that voice. I heard it every day and hopefully would for the rest of my life.
Why is my mate here?
“I was just thanking Jamie for saving me.” Zane backed away, now staring as the omega stormed in his direction.
“That is done with words, man. Not by trying to make out with a mated alpha.” Isaac followed Charlie. Not a surprise, although I still wondered why they were here.
As Charlie got closer, I noticed the expression on his face. This was unlike any I’d seen before on my mate. His face was flushed red, his eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed together in a thin line. My mate looked mad as hell, and I was only glad I wasn’t the focus of that anger.
Then I realized that the scene might turn ugly. Pregnancy hormones plus an omega who just saw another omega trying to attract his alpha did not equal anything good.
I caught my mate just as he went to pounce on Zane, Isaac helping me to block Charlie’s attempt to pummel the idiot.
“If I were you, I would run away right about now.” Thomas pointed at Zane. “And stop with this bullshit. This man is mated to the one fate deemed perfect for him. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to separate these two. Do us all a favor and stop. At this point, you are looking like a crazy stalker. You are making omegas look bad.”
