Page 8 of Beautiful Butterfly

Alister plucked an onion ring from the boat and pointed it at the human. “Just because it wasn’t a pit bull or Rottweiler doesn’t mean it wasn’t vicious. After I flung the little menace off my ankle, my neighbor read me the riot act about animal cruelty.”

Milo gaped at him. “Are you serious?”

“If she would have just apologized, I might have let things drop, but the bitch went full Karen on me.” Alister took a bite of the onion ring and was surprised at how good it tasted. It was downright delicious with just the right amount of crispiness.

After taking a drink of his soda, Milo said, “I’m still getting to know you, but you don’t seem the type to stand there and let someone yell at you.”

“Oh, honey. Look at you learning me so quickly. You’ve now been promoted to my favorite-contact list in my cheap burner phone.” He gave Milo a cheeky smile. “Hell no, I didn’t stand there and take it. Don’t unleash your crazy on me unless you’re ready to get your ass verbally handed to you. I was in the middle of my tirade when Paris came out of our apartment and yanked me back. When I told him why I was acting a fool, it was me who had to yank him into our unit.”

“I wish I had half as much fun as you two seem to have.” Milo ate another onion ring, unaware of the misery that enveloped Alister because he missed his bestie so much.

“Don’t eat all those tasty onion rings.” Alister slipped off the table and walked twenty feet away. He could feel Colt’s gaze on him as he pulled out his phone and called Wyatt.

“I was starting to think you didn’t miss me, butterfly,” Wyatt said. “How’s your day going?”

“So far today, I’ve been bamboozled three times,” Alister replied, using humor to deflect the anxiety that had been slowly building inside of him for the past few hours.

“Please tell me you’re kidding around.” Wyatt sounded worried.

“I wish. Milo suckered me into going inside The Sugar Well, and now I have enough candy to send me into a diabetic coma. Then he talked me into eating an entire banana split. Do you know how fattening those things are? He has no regard for how hard I work to maintain my fabulous body. Now he’s corrupting me with deep-friend onion rings that are too yummy to resist. I’m going to gain twenty pounds hanging around his cute little self.”

Wyatt’s chuckle was filled with relief. “I’ll have to have a talk with Colt about his mate being so underhanded. Just make sure you share that candy with me. We can fall into a coma together.”

Alister had hoped that hearing Wyatt’s deep, soothing voice would help ground him. Unfortunately, his anxiety was creeping higher from the feeling that his life was spinning out of control.

“Is something bothering you, hon?”

“No.” Alister wanted to beg his mate to come get him, but he was determined to prove he could handle things on his own. Somewhat on his own since he had Milo and Colt glued to his hip. “I just thought I’d call to see how your day was going.”

If he had Paris to talk to, he might not feel so overwhelmed. His bestie always knew the right thing to say to stop Alister’s insecurities and apprehension from choking him.

Even though Alister was a pistol most of the time, the long-lasting damage his parents had caused was still a huge part of him. Those feelings of uselessness and of being a weight around someone’s neck still gripped him at times. He had such low self-esteem that he fooled himself into thinking that the slightest bit of attention would fill the void inside of him.

Nothing seemed to ever fill it.

“It’s okay to admit that you miss me.” A strong arm curled around Alister’s chest from behind. “I’m feeling the stress of our separation, too.”

Wyatt turned Alister to face him while tucking his phone into the pocket of his uniform shirt.

“After the snit I had yesterday, I was trying to be a big boy and work through my bullshit without you having to hold my hand.” Alister’s anxiety levels began to drop, and he felt like he could finally breathe again. So much for not needing his mate to run to his rescue.

“What if I like holding your hand?” Wyatt’s lips were amazingly soft as he pressed them against Alister’s knuckles.

“How am I ever going to learn to stand on my own two feet if I can’t even be away from you for a few hours?” Alister glared at his mate when he pulled his lips away. “Don’t you dare stop nibbling on me because I’m having a crisis.”

Wyatt’s facial hair tickled when he pressed those delectable lips against the shell of Alister’s ear. “How about I call off the rest of the day and nibble other parts of your body?”

Alister whimpered. “Can you do that?”

“It might take a couple tries, but I’m pretty sure I can master the art of nibbling.” Wyatt chuckled.

“My brain is already swimming in lust. I don’t need you shorting it out any further.” He curled his fingers around Wyatt’s pecs, relishing how solid they felt under his palms. “I was asking if you can just ditch work. I don’t want to be the reason you’re shirking your responsibilities. You’re important to this town.”

“You’re more important to me.” He teased Alister’s earlobe between his teeth. “I want to take you home and shove my face in your ass.”

“Make that call.” Alister hurried to the table and grabbed his bag of candy, snatched an onion ring, and told Milo he’d see him later.

Alister hurried back, grabbed his mate’s hand, then looked around for his patrol car. “Where in the hell did you park?”

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