Page 33 of Because You Rejected Me

“My god…” Sam sighed, shaking his head. “You two are so damn cute.”

“Sam,” Matt said in a very light but warning tone. “If you don’t go find something to do, I will stab you with a spoon.” He glanced over my shoulder at Sam. “And you know I’m good for it.”

“Right,” Sam nodded, pushing himself up from the bench. “I’ll… uh… see you guys later.”

I stayed where I was, my arms wrapped around Matt as the kitchen door opened and closed. This was where I wanted to be. Always.

Matt was everything to me and I’d do anything to keep him safe.

Chapter Seventeen: Matt

It was a beautiful morning with thick white clouds on the horizon as I pulled the bike through the backdoor of the hotel and kicked my leg over the seat. Even though it was so early, the sky was still pink and blue as the sun rose, and it was already fairly warm. I almost wished I’d gotten up earlier. Today was harvest day in the garden, so that meant a full day regardless of the heat. Hopefully the cloud cover would give us some shade, but it was a good thing Ace didn’t mind if I stripped down to almost nothing. That was going to be my only saving grace if it got as hot as I expected.

I pushed off and began pedaling down the street to get the bike started. Once it was moving, I clicked on the electric motor and twisted the throttle, speeding myself up exponentially. Traffic was pretty light this early in the morning, so I didn’t have to pay attention too much. That allowed me to daydream about things, something I’d taken to doing a lot lately on my commutes out to Ace’s place. I had a full twenty minutes plus to just think about whatever I wanted and recently, not all my thoughts had been depressing.

Ace had brought a sense of light back into my life. That sounded stupid even in my head, but it was the truth. Before him, all I did was focus on the bad and how things had changed. The road through the rest of my life was suddenly dark, and I had no idea what was coming next. It filled me with fear. But having Ace at my side not only made me feel safe, but it felt like I had headlights again. I still couldn’t see the future clearly, but I could at least see enough to keep moving without being paralyzed with fear.

And that was a huge relief.

I still wasn’t sure if he was my mate. Or, at least, I wasn’t sure I was ready to admit it. I felt strongly about him, that was for sure. But I couldn’t tell if I liked him so much because he gave me the attention I’d been so desperately searching for my entire life or cared for me the way I wished the Alpha’s son had. Maybe it was a mate bond, but my feelings were still so mixed up that I didn’t trust myself to make that call just yet. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever trust myself again. After all, it was me that had gotten me into the situation with the Alpha’s son. Sure, I didn’t force him to join me, but I was the one willing to take the risk, to bet everything on him.

And I lost.

I wasn’t sure I would survive that again. My heart still felt like it was cracked and broken, barely held together by the good memories of the past couple of weeks. I hadn’t even had time to begin building scar tissue before I started falling for Ace. It was like trying to force water into a balloon full of holes. Not only was it spilling everywhere, but I was honestly afraid it would tear me apart if I went too fast.

That wasn’t stopping me from having sex with him, of course. But then again, it was something else to distract me from how different my life was. And dammit, it felt good. I’d spent most of my life denying myself the sexual attraction I felt toward men, fearing it would get me in trouble with my family or the pack. And in the end, it was the reason I got in trouble. But there was nothing to lose in Shifter Grove by being myself. Nobody knew me, nobody cared who I slept with, and I was already at rock bottom. How much further could I possibly fall?

In fact, the only thing I could possibly lose now was Ace. That thought paralyzed me sometimes when I was trying to get to sleep or by myself out on the beach. I hadn’t known him long, but already he felt like he was an important part of me. It was funny how fast someone could worm their way into your life, seemingly without meaning to. But he was so sweet and gentle. It was hard not to get attached to him. And the way he kissed me… man, that was something I wasn’t sure I could live without again. His cock was pretty fucking fantastic, too, if I was being honest. Call me a size queen, but Alphas were where it was at. But it was my butthole, and it was my business if I ruined it by loving big cocks. Sue me.

The bike rattled as I hit a pothole, knocking me clean out of my thoughts. I straightened the bike up and twisted the throttle further to speed up. It was probably better I was focusing on the road now. Thinking about big cocks while riding my bike was getting me hard. And, as I’d learned the past week, riding a bike with a boner was fairly fucking uncomfortable, especially with my bony ass.

Behind me, I heard the sound of an approaching car. Pushing myself to the most extreme edge of the road, I waved for them to go around. A black truck with rust along its fenders pulled up beside me at the same speed. I glanced over, surprised it hadn’t just gone flying by. I was only doing about twenty miles per hour on an open highway, after all. Through the window, I could just make out the shape of a figure driving, but the windows were so heavily tinted that I couldn’t see any details.

A second or two passed before the truck sped up, the engine roaring as it took off down the road. I dismissed it as a case of mistaken identity. Small-town people had a tendency to be nosy anyway, but if they saw a friend while they were out and about, they’d stop and chat. It was the friendly thing to do. However, as I watched the truck speed off into the distance, it suddenly hit the brakes and took a sharp left at the next intersection before disappearing.

It seemed like a bit of reckless driving, but I wrote it off. Thirty seconds later, I was coming up on the same intersection, slowing down a little bit just to make sure I didn’t get run over. Where there was one reckless driver, there was sure to be another. But, as I glanced both ways down the road to make sure the coast was clear, I saw that same rusted truck parked on the shoulder of the left-hand road. And now it was facing me.

Immediately, my heart began to pound and not from the pedaling. I twisted the throttle back on the bike, speeding up so fast that I thought I might pop a wheelie by accident. Behind me, I heard the engine roar once again and the squealing of tires as it flew out into the road once more.

Fear pulsed through my system. I didn’t know who this person was or what they wanted, but I had this sneaking suspicion that it was me. I was also painfully aware of the fact that there was no way I could outrun them on a bicycle. In fact, I probably had less than ten seconds to figure out what the fuck to do before they ran me down. I glanced from side to side, desperately looking for a driveway or a side road to turn off on. But I was in the middle of nowhere. Ace’s place wasn’t far off, but the bike I was on wasn’t built for off-roading through rough terrain.

However, as the roar of the engine closed in behind me, I realized I had no other choice.

I had to run.

At the last possible moment, I turned the bike suddenly, digging my foot into the ground. With a level of dexterity that surprised even myself, I made a sudden right turn off the road and into the woods, the truck missing my back tire by a mere inch or two. The bike slid out from underneath me as I left the road, and I leaped off of it, somehow managing to get my feet going at the last moment. I ran a few yards into the woods and ducked behind a tree, waiting to see what the truck would do next.

There was a flash of brake lights as the truck screeched to a halt. But just as it looked like it was going to turn around and come back, I heard the sound of another approaching car. The truck suddenly lurched, tires squealing as it took off once more. I watched from my hiding place behind a large tree as the car slowed down, decided there was nothing to see, and took off as well.

My heart pounded a mile a minute, but I knew I didn’t have time to dawdle. Most likely, the truck would be back. Running to the edge of the woods, I collected Sam’s bike and pulled it back into the woods with me. I didn’t want him to be upset with me that I lost it. Maybe it was a silly thing to do, but there was so much adrenaline rushing through my system that I didn’t care.

With the bike at my side, I started through the woods, always keeping the road on my left shoulder. I didn’t see the truck come back, but I didn’t chance it either. Only when I met a house or a section of trees I couldn’t go through did I risk the road for a moment.

My mind was racing after the encounter. I hardly knew what to think. It was clear whoever was in the truck had tried to run me off the road on purpose. Or maybe even run me over. Could it be someone who just hated cyclists? That seemed possible. I’d been on social media and seen those videos. I knew how awful people could be to absolute strangers.

But then I had another, far more terrifying thought.

What if they knew me? Could it have been a targeted attack? I could think of a couple of people that really didn’t like me back home. But then again, how would they know where I was? The Beta of the pack had been so secretive about giving me the card to Sam’s hotel. And I sure as hell hadn’t told anyone where I was going. With my phone turned off so fast, I never got the chance.

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