Page 73 of Wanted Beta

“Done?” he asks, as he raises one of his dark eyebrows. “You’ve only played one machine.”

He’s standing there with that crazy heavy cup of quarters, looking confused and kind of crushed at the same time. I feel a little bad, but only because I might have led him on a bit while I was still in shock over seeing my ex. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m not going to make it worse by spending all his change before I put an end to our evening.

I shrug, waving the hedgehog at him. “I got what I came for.”

Oh, now he looks seriously disappointed.

“That’s all you wanted?” he asks, his sad tone tugging at my heartstrings.

“Mm hm,” I manage to answer, without dropping my smile. “Anyway, I should get going. It was nice to meet you, but I have other places to be.”

It feels weird to ditch a guy I’m attracted to, and one who seems so disappointed about it, but I know I can’t do anything else here. I never should have said yes to coming to the arcade with him in the first place.

Even if I was over Rourke, and I hadn’t recently been tied up in a closet by a guy I dated, I don’t think an Alpha who wears designer suits is the kind of guy I should be starting something with.

There’s no way we’d last a week together.

One night is probably all we’d get.

It would be a hot one, for sure, but I want something more than that.

I can admit it now. I’m done with saying yes to any random guy who asks me out.

The overly optimistic hope that any of those men could turn out to be the perfect guy for me has messed up my life enough. It’s time to start saying no, and to stop looking for something that doesn’t exist.

“You seem like a great guy,” I add. “I’m just kind of in a no-dating phase in my life right now.”

He’s silent for a beat, his dark eyes burning into mine before he nods slowly and sets the cup of change down by the side of the grabber machine.

“Okay,” he says, making me blink.

It’s not a fake out. He sounds perfectly fine with what I just told him.

Huh.

“Bad timing,” he adds with a sigh. “It’s the bane of my existence.”

His reaction makes me wish I was in a place where I could give a guy a chance.

Most men don’t take rejection this well.

Clearly, he’s more mature than most.

He does look a bit older than me, but not by a lot.

Maybe guys in their twenties have better attitudes than younger guys.

I haven’t met too many older men so I wouldn’t know.

“Well, men have been the bane of mine, lately,” I admit. “Unfortunately.”

“Then you’ve been spending time with the wrong men,” he says.

“Wait, there are right men?” I ask, making him laugh.

“There are,” he confirms. “But you’ll work that out on your own.”

“And you’re completely cool with me working it out without you?”

---