“What are you doing? Are you asleep?”
“Yeah, had a busy night getting fucked. What’s up? You never call during work unless it’s an emergency.”
“Well, it is,” I say, trying to wipe the image of him naked from my mind. But then again, that’s nearly impossible. He’s always being fucked or fucking. I’ve seen far too much of it, especially when I lived with him for a short time at his place in the Crimson Howlers’ compound.
He gets around there, for sure.
“Tell me. I’m listening.”
I hear a rustle and then the sound of the wind hitting the phone. He must have stepped outside to talk to me privately, which I appreciate. Especially after the last time I called about the pressure points. He was very unhelpful then.
“Well, I used the stone on Glenn?—”
“The dude you pressure pointed?”
“Yeah. That guy. And well…he passed out.”
“As he should.”
I huff and blurt, “Yes, well, I left him with a pack of Howlers on his property! Just ran off like a little bitch. I didn’t even stick around to make sure he was okay.”
Attie is silent for a long moment, and I utter despondently, “And now he hates me. He’s so mad, he won’t even call me by my first name.”
“Yeah, well, you fucked up, dude. But I mean, that’s the outcome you wanted, right? For him to leave you alone?”
“Shut up. Yes. I know. But I shouldn’t have left him in danger. I just panicked, and I wasn’t thinking straight. There were three alphas headed my way, and I was in heat. Fuck!”
I run a hand through my hair and then drop my forehead to the desk.
“I messed up. I need to fix it. How do I fix this?”
“Dunno. Was just told you wanted me to listen. I have no advice.”
“Gods, Attie. Why do I even bother? This is all so fucked.”
“You bother because you like him. Maybe just apologize.”
“I did, but he didn’t want it. He rejected it.”
My mind conjures up his cold words, the stiff set of his jaw. He didn’t accept my apology at all. If anything, he spat it out into his coffee and then discarded it in the trash can.
It makes my stomach clench and my fingers curl into my palms.
“I’m such a mess. No one is ever going to love me.”
“Nah. I love you. Just not like that. But yeah, maybe grovel a little. Send him little gifts? A nude, maybe?”
I sigh and bang my forehead against the desk, trying to pound some reason into my brain. But it doesn’t work. I’m just as lost as before.
“And the scent serum is almost done, I think,” Attie says. “The one you asked me to make.”
I rest my cheek on the desk and sigh. The serum. Yes. The one that might solve some of my problems.
“You can come try it out this weekend, if you want.”
“Maybe. I’ll text you if I decide to drive all that way.”
“Sounds good, bro.” He pauses and then adds, “Can I go back to my fuck now?”
