Page 22 of Losing My Rejection

A small grin curled as the corners of Sam’s mouth. “Maybe you’ve helped him begin to heal. Maybe he finally started to trust you, unlike he’s been able to do with anyone else in this town.”

“So he kissed me?”

Sam just shrugged. “That’s the mate bond for you.”

“None of this makes any sense…”

“So stop thinking about it.”

I gave him an intense amount of side-eye.

“What do you want to do?” Sam asked. “If there were no consequences, what would you do right now?”

“I…” I paused for a moment, finally letting out a long sigh. “I’d kiss him again.”

Sam lifted a hand, pointing back toward the parking lot. “Then go get him.”

“Sam…”

“I said go,” he commanded. “Before you miss this chance forever!”

“If this blows up in my face,” I said, keeping my gaze fixed on him as I walked backward toward the parking lot. “You’ll be scrubbing the bakery floors until the end of your days!”

“Have fun!” he called back, completely unconcerned about the situation.

I jogged toward the lot, ignoring the smugness in his voice. I wasn’t sure why I was doing this or how I’d let him convince me to go after Josh in the first place. But I wasn’t going with the intention to beg him to fuck me, no matter how open I was to that idea. Instead, I was going to apologize. He might’ve been the one to kiss me, but I kissed him back. Somehow I still felt like it was my fault.

His car wasn’t in the lot. Hopping in the bakery van, I turned over the engine and headed back into town. There was really only one place he’d go, I just hoped I wasn’t too late. If I were in his citation, the first thing I’d do was grab my things and get the hell out of dodge. But he wouldn’t dawdle with it either. I’d already wasted too much time talking to Sam, and I was afraid I’d already missed him.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I pulled up to the front of the hotel, finding Josh’s car parked haphazardly on the curb. Leaving the van there, I ran inside and up the stairs. Josh had randomly mentioned something about being on the third floor at work, so I took the elevator to the top. I tapped my foot impatiently as the old elevator rose, suddenly worried that Josh was using the stairs. He could’ve seen my van and taken the stairs to sneak out the back.

As soon as the doors opened, I stepped out into the hall. It was deserted. Closing my eyes, I let my wolf take over for a moment, my nose quickly sniffing at the air. I caught that smoky scent of his and thankfully it was still fresh. The air in the hall was still, so it was easy to follow it down to the very last room where the door stood ajar. Inside I could just make out Josh’s form as he darted from dresser to bed, stuffing all his clothing into an oversized duffel.

The door creaked as I pushed it aside and Josh spun around, the Alpha gold flashing in his eyes as he bared his teeth. I’d never seen him so worked up before. And those gold eyes… they sent a tingle down my spine that quickly pooled in my groin.

“What do you want?!” he barked.

“I…” I swallowed hard, knowing this was going to be a tough conversation. Convincing him to stay was going to take some effort. “I came to make sure you’re okay.” I paused for a moment. “And… to say I’m sorry.”

Chapter Twelve: Josh

“Sorry?” I scoffed, the self-loathing in my chest nearly driving me to tears. “What the hell are you sorry for?”

“I…” Andy faltered for a moment. “I kissed you back,” he said at last. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Ha!” I laughed maniacally. “You’re sorry?!”

I just went back to muttering to myself as I gathered my things. I felt like I was going fucking crazy. Here I was, packing up what little I owned in the world so I could run away again. I’d run from Shifter Grove just like I was forced to run from Traverse City. Except this time instead of running away from my disappointed father, I was running away from a man I barely knew because I’d kissed him. This upheaval of my entire life had me so fucking confused that I didn’t even know what my goddamn sexuality was anymore. How the fuck does that even happen?

“Josh,” Andy said, taking a step into the room. “Please. Just talk to me.”

“About what?” I snorted. “About kissing you? About being a disappointment to my father? Or maybe you’d like to hear more about my pathetic existence since I apparently like to just gush about my personal tragedies so much.”

“I just want to help you.”

“Help me?!” I cried, throwing the folded jeans in my hand at the wall. “Help me?! Nobody can fucking help me!”

“If you’ll just let me–”

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