Page 16 of Losing My Rejection

“I don’t know…” I began.

“No, this one I won’t budge on,” Andy replied. “I need more help at the booth. With your baking the customers have gotten even more ravenous. You don’t have to stay the entire time, but I’ll need a little support. Someone has to dole out the coffee while I’m packing baked goods.”

I let out a long sigh. “I guess I can go if you really need the help.”

“Oh good!” Andy clapped his hands together, a cloud of flour exploding around him. “I think you’ll really like my booth neighbors. They’re just like me!”

“Annoyingly cheerful?” I offered, unable to help the smirk that pulled at my lips.

Andy shot me a dirty look, but couldn’t help a grin himself. “No. They’re gay werewolves. And one of them dresses like a cowboy.”

The smirk faded.

“Don’t worry,” Andy assured me. “They won’t hit on you. They are disgustingly in love though.”

“Great,” I muttered. “More happy people.”

Chapter Nine: Andy

Market morning was a bit tense to say the least. It was obvious from the moment that Josh showed up that he really didn’t want to be there. Now, I usually wasn’t in the habit of forcing people to do things they didn’t want to do, but I really did need help at the market.

And Josh needed the fresh air. Maybe it wasn’t my place to try to help him like that, but I felt like I needed to. I saw a man standing at the crossroads of life without any intention of moving forward. In my opinion, a kick in the ass was what he needed to get out of that dreary hotel room and start talking to people. Being upset with his situation was understandable and fine, but cutting himself off from the world was only going to make it worse. In this way, maybe he could at least make a friend. And my money was on Matt.

Matt had a strange charm about him. He was twinky and sassy, but there was something likeable about him that I could never quite put my finger on. If he had Ace hadn’t ended up together, I might’ve even made a move on him. But all thoughts of that were long gone now, especially with Josh around.

I’d been doing a good job so far keeping my feelings about him under wraps, but deep down, I knew the truth. I was making the same mistake that gay men had been making for centuries.

I was crushing on a straight guy.

In my defense, he was exceptionally good looking and I could smell the Alpha blood on him. It wasn’t much, but enough to lend him an air of intensity that drove me wild. Not only that, but his actual scent was something that nearly drove the wolf inside me to fits. That rich smokiness that seemed to ooze off him in waves caught me off guard every single time. Even if all he did was pass by me in the bakery, I had to grab the table for support. The swoon was intense and I still hadn’t really figured out why.

Sure, he as cute and had the most beautiful brown eyes I’d ever seen. Even his grumpiness was adorable. The muscles definitely helped and the way he manhandled thirty pounds of dough at a time had me wondering how much he could throw me around in the sack. But I had to remind myself constantly to stop thinking about him like that. Not only was he straight and completely uninterested in me, but he was my employee now. I couldn’t cross that line. And I was getting far too used to getting sleep again to risk it all for a zero percent chance at getting some dick.

But it was tempting. Too tempting.

The moment we pulled up to my booth, I hopped out of the vehicle, desperately needing to get away from Josh’s scent. It had almost completely overwhelmed me in the car. Thankfully I always wore an apron to the market to give me a more baker-ish look. It was the only thing stopping literally everyone from seeing the boner tucked down my right pant leg.

“There you are,” Matt said in his usual sarcastic tone the moment I stepped out. “I was wondering if you were going to show up today!”

“Of course I’m gonna show up!” I shot back. “I just had a lot more product to pack up today thanks to my new baker.” I heard Josh grumble from the other side of the van as he stepped out and walked around. “This is the man himself!”

Matt seemed the most interested, walking right up to him and holding out a hand to shake. “My name’s Matt,” he said.

“Josh.”

“Nice to meet you,” Matt said, shaking his hand. He gestured back toward Ace who was just putting down a bushel basket full of tomatoes. “And this is my boyfriend, Ace.”

Ace tipped his hat, but didn’t walk over to offer a hand. He was always a bit shy when it came to meeting new people. “Nice to meet you.”

“Don’t mind him,” Matt added. “He’s quiet.”

“Fine with me,” Josh replied. “I’m not much of a talker either.”

“Andy and I can talk all morning, so feel free to jump in whenever you want.” Matt turned his attention back to me. “So, you hired another wolf to bake with you?”

“Actually, Sam sent him over.”

“Typical,” Matt scoffed. “Sam always likes sticking his nose in everyone else’s business.”

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