What was this, third grade?
“That hurt,” Chad said when Aiden let go of his hand. Aiden frowned, like he hadn’t expected Chad to comment.
“It was supposed to,” Aiden said, like it was nothing.
Chad looked around the room, wondering how he was supposed to get away from this dude without getting his ass handed to him. While he was usually confident in his ability to win a fight, he’d never had an alpha like Aiden come at him like this before.
It was bizarre.
“I’m sorry, have I done something to offend you?
The area around Chad and Aiden had cleared, the whole room pointedly looking the other way. When Aiden didn’t answer, just smirked like an asshole and looked at Chad like he was trying to figure out what sauce to barbeque him with, Chad started to panic.
What the fuck did this guy want from him?
“Aiden, what are you doing? Leave the poor kid alone.”
Chad jumped at the deep voice coming from behind him. He twisted his neck and felt his jaw go slack.
It was Peter Tank, the owner and CEO of Tank Security, and his boss.
“I’m not bothering Chad here. We’re just getting to know each other a little better,” Aiden said, suddenly sounding more jovial.
Chad was too surprised to say anything. He knew who Peter Tank was, obviously, but he’d never actually met the man. PeterTank had a reputation as being something of an uber-alpha—dominant in the extreme and ruthless in the way he ran his company—and looking at him now Chad could believe it. Peter radiated confidence, and just the idea of trying to take him on made Chad’s balls want to crawl back inside his body.
“Chad, I’m Peter. Don’t let my friend here bother you. He doesn’t mean any harm.” Peter put his hand on Chad’s shoulder and squeezed down, and Chad couldn’t help the shudder that ran down his spine. Peter’s hand was huge, and Chad could feel its warmth like it was burning him.
He did not like this.
“Oh, but I do. I want to wreck his cute little—”
“Aiden!” Peter scolded, his voice hard, and Aiden shut up mid-sentence. He glared at Peter.
“What, are you saying you want him? I saw him first.” Aiden was talking like he was challenging Peter, but his body language was verging on submissive. He was holding himself back, his shoulders pushed slightly forward, and he was just barely baring his throat.
Peter responded by growling, and Aiden ducked his head in defeat. The rumble in Peter’s chest came to a stop.
“Watch it, Aiden,” he said, still holding a possessive hand on Chad’s shoulder.
What were they talking about?Aiden saw him first—what the hell was that?
Chad’s stomach clenched with the realization that the two alphas wereintohim. The way they stood, facing off, Peter’s hand on his shoulder and Aiden’s earlier posturing…
They were coming on to him.
The realization left Chad feeling stunned. This wasn’t… this wasn’t something he was interested in.
“I’m sorry, I’ve just got to… I’ve just got to go. Sorry,” Chad mumbled, staring at the floor as he pushed off his seat and wrenched himself away from Peter’s heavy hand.
“Not so fast,” Peter said, grabbing his wrist as he tried to slink away. The large fingers felt like a manacle, and Chad’s whole body froze.
Being held like this was distinctly different from having Peter’s hand on his shoulder. He felt unsafe and trapped. “We’re just messing around. Don’t leave. Let me buy you a drink.”
Chad wanted to pull on his wrist, but he just couldn’t make himself do it. He felt like he’d been hypnotized. He could smell the scent of Peter’s body, warm and musky and reeking of alpha, and the heat coming off the other man was like a furnace.
Looking up, Chad caught Aiden’s eye. When he saw that the alpha was smirking at him—like he knew exactly how trapped and ill at ease Chad was feeling—he felt shame well up inside him.
What kind of alpha let himself beplayedwith like this?
