I nodded too vigorously. “Yes, good idea. Well, drive safe. You know, the three blocks to your rental.”
“Are you okay?” His voice carried the same tenderness it had when he was inside me this morning, and I couldn’t handle that.
“Me? I’m fine! I hope you have a good rest of your evening.”
He opened his mouth for a moment but then snapped it shut. He ran his hand through his hair as he looked away.
“You, too, Lucy. Take care of yourself.”
I closed my front door so I couldn’t pathetically watch him drive away. I trudged upstairs to my apartment, leaving my shopping bags strewn on the shop floor. My ankle was mostly better, besides the occasional twinge, especially after King insisted I elevate and ice it last night and this morning.
I flopped down in my nest and plugged in my phone. It was almost eight p.m. and I needed to get something to eat and catch up on my emails, but all I really wanted was to rot in bed and nurse my tender heart. How was it possible that I hadn’t dated anyone for over a year and now, in the span of a few days, I’d gotten overly attached and then subsequently rejected by two alphas?
My phone screen flickered on and I unlocked it to find a barrage of messages and a calendar alert for tonight’s town meeting.
I groaned. I attended all the town meetings, but maybe it’d be okay to skip this one…
A sick feeling gripped my chest as I opened my messages.
Oh no.
OH NO.
I sat up, heart pounding, as I read text after text from Leo. How could I have forgotten our date? He’d gotten coffee and breakfast for us, and I had stood him up. I was the worst person in the world.
I clutched my phone and ran downstairs. My chest was heaving by the time I got to Leo’s door. The inside of his shop was dark, but I knocked anyway. I called his cell, but there was silence after just one ring. Had he screened my call? I pulled back my phone and realized it had died again. Apparently, charging for all of thirty seconds wasn’t enough.
Was Leo upstairs? Or maybe he’d gone out for dinner? I looked up and down Main Street, but most of the shops were dark. They closed early on town meeting nights…
Wait. The town meeting.
Leo usually attended them.
I took off, sprinting down the street as fast as I could.
23
Lucy
My shoes slapped against thesidewalk as town hall came into view. One of my life goals was to never run—I was more of a strolling omega—but the large clock on the building told me I was late. So not only was I the worst person ever, I was also going to be treated to a Stanley lecture. The last time I was late to a town meeting, he’d spent ten torturous minutes lecturing me about the importance of punctuality. In front of everyone.
My breaths were ragged as I ran up the town hall steps, through the front door, and down the corridor to the meeting room. I braced my hands on my knees to catch my breath. I needed to navigate this next part carefully so Stanley didn’t notice my entrance.
I cracked the heavy door open just a smidge and it let out a loud screech.Nooo.This was going to give me away.Tomorrow I’m breaking in and spraying WD-40 on these hinges.
Okay. New plan.
I dropped to the floor on my stomach and slowly pushed the door open until there was enough space for me to squeeze through. I inched forward slowly, fully aware of how absolutely ridiculous this whole situation was. Any pride I possibly had was left on the dingy carpet.
Even if people noticed that the door was open, they wouldn’t be able to see me. That was, unless they were the hot beta sitting in the otherwise empty back row. Staring straight at me.
The moment I was clear of the door, I crawled to the last row of seats and popped up to take the chair next to Leo, whose mouth was hanging open.
“What the hell—”
“Lucy Andersson-Spring!” Stanley’s exclamation cut Leo off.
No, no, no. That can’t all have been for nothing.
