Page 38 of Losing My Rejection

“Are you the baker that just started at Amarok Cafe?” she asked.

“That’s me.” I held out a hand. “My name is Josh.”

“Aww,” she said, shaking my hand. “That’s one of my favorite names!” She batted her eyelashes a few times. “And you’re so handsome.”

Woof. She was laying it on thick. But, I figured I’d take a page out of Ace’s book and feed it right back to her. Maybe I could get her to order a custom cake or something.

“Thank you,” I replied. “And may I say, you’re quite beautiful yourself.”

She turned beet red, swatting the back of my hand. “Oh stop it!”

“Is there anything you wanted in particular?”

“Hmm…” She looked over the table long and hard. “It all looks so good. What’s your favorite? Something you made of course!”

“How about one of these?”

I turned away to grab a box of four carrot cupcakes with little pumpkins frosted on the top. Andy was staring in my direction, his brows furrowed toward the woman that was flirting with me. I just gave him a smile and turned back to my customer.

“These are carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting,” I said, hanging her the box. “They are incredibly delicious, moist, and absolutely sinful.” I leaned even closer. “And the inside… it’s cream filled.”

The tiny noise of surprise she made nearly caused me to break out in laughter. But I kept my cool. We continued to flirt heavily as she paid for her cupcakes, bought another box as well, took a business card, and ordered a coffee. By the time I was done with her, she was weighed down with bags filled with pastries. I was starting to understand why Ace took his shirt off all the time. Selling to horny women was kind of a snap.

“Well,” I said at last. “Thank you so much for your patronage and I hope you enjoy your cupcakes.”

She blushed a deep red and started away. However, she didn’t make it far before she came back to the booth. I squished my way past a busy Andy to get to her.

“Do… Do you have a pen?” she asked.

I pulled one out of my pocket and handed it to her. Without missing a beat, she grabbed my hand and began to write on my palm. I watched in amusement, seeing the phone number appear on my skin. When she was done, she handed the pen back and gave me a smile.

“Call me cutie.”

With a wave she was gone and I couldn’t help chuckling to myself. However, my amusement lasted only a second or two until I heard one of the crates crash to the ground behind me. I looked up and saw Andy right himself, glance back at me with tears in his eyes, and stalk off across the parking lot.

Oh fuck.

Chapter Nineteen: Andy

When that girl showed up and started flirting with Josh, I thought it was funny at first. But as it continued, I felt myself grow more and more jealous. I was fuming by the time she left, happy to never see her again. But when she came back and took his hand… something inside me snapped.

Suddenly my chest was flooded with cold fear as memories came flooding back to me. I knew I couldn’t contain myself and the last thing I wanted to do was break down in front of my customers and my friends. And Josh didn’t need to see it either.

So I ran. My uncoordinated ass tripped over one of the crates on my way out. When I made eye contact with Josh, I saw all the blood drain out of his face. He tried to start in my direction, but one of our customers intercepted him. But that was okay with me. I needed some time to be alone.

I knew I was being stupid, but that didn’t stop the emotions from welling up inside me. Josh was good at flirting with women. Too good. I’d never been the jealous type in my life or insecure about myself. But the moment he started chatting with her, all of that melted away. Suddenly I had almost zero self confidence and I was terrified I was about to lose him.

After all, our relationship was brand new. Up until a few days ago, Josh had been trying to convince himself that he wasn’t into men. Of course, he spent every night in my bed, usually balls deep in my ass. But for some guys, a hole was a hole. I’d known plenty of straight men who got easy sex from other guys. However, when it came to relationships and building a life, they always went with women.

I understood their train of thought. Being with a woman meant no questions from other people, no weird looks, and no constant correcting of other’s assumptions. If I could choose to be straight, I would’ve done it a long time ago. In fact, if I had, I’d still have a pack and a place back home with the family I’d grown up with. But all of them were strangers now and had been for years. Josh was the closest family I had now. He was my mate.

I didn’t want to lose him. I couldn’t.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I walked the block and a half to a small park in the middle of town. It was a completely green city block covered in trees and well-maintained grass. There were paths leading to the center where a large artistic fountain depicting a trio of wolves had been erected. No doubt a donation from one of the local wolves. The trees overhead were starting to turn yellow and red at the tips, but the beauty of early autumn was lost on me. Instead, I found a bench in the shade and flopped down, placing my face in my palms.

I wasn’t sure if I was mad at Josh for flirting or mad at myself for getting upset about it. Probably a bit of both. And my thoughts wouldn’t quit spiraling. I was determined to sit there until I finally got a hold of myself.

“Hey…”

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