Page 4 of Losing My Rejection

I smiled, giving him a little wink. “Pumpkin spice. I’m tellin’ ya. It’s like catnip for humans.”

“At least half of your customers are wolves.”

“So it’s just catnip for everyone,” I laughed. “I’d sell it all year around if sales would stay like this. Then I could retire to Florida.”

“Ew…” Matt cringed. “Why would you want to live in Florida?”

“Have you ever been there?”

He shook his head.

“Well, let me tell you,” I said. “It’s a beautiful place to visit if you have money. Staying at a resort is probably the best thing ever. There’s food on site, beautiful scenery, and more hot guys than you could ever possibly bang.”

“And if you don’t have money?” he asked.

“Absolute hellscape.”

“Wow. You… uh… really sell it. Makes me wanna go right now.”

“It’s not bad,” I laughed. “But I wouldn’t live there unless it was like some fancy resort style condo community.” I sighed, placing my hands on my hips. “No… I probably couldn’t quit baking even if I had that much money. It’s in my blood. And Lake Huron is way better than the ocean. All the perks with none of the bad stuff.”

“Bad stuff?”

“Sharks, jellyfish, sharp animals, and venomous things.”

Matt looked up at Ace. “Please never take me to Florida.”

Ace just laughed. “I guess I’ll have to come up with something else for your Christmas present.” He turned back to me, holding out his hand. “Well, good job today, but you still lost the bet.”

“I did not!” I retorted, swiping his hand away. “I sold my last loaf of bread like ten minutes ago! You just got rid of that last box of tomatoes!”

Ace lifted an eyebrow, his right hand pointing to the far side of my booth. I followed his line of sight, realizing there was one small box still sitting on my bench. It contained a single cinnamon roll that I’d completely missed.

“Fuck…”

“It was a good effort,” Ace chuckled, patting me on the shoulder. “Someday you’ll win.”

“It’s sugar!” I scoffed. “How the hell can people want a fucking tomato more than they want all this sweet scrumptiousness?! We’re in America for god’s sake! Nobody eats vegetables here!”

“I’ll take it,” Matt offered.

I picked up the box and tossed it at him with a huff. “You couldn’t have done that five minutes ago?”

He caught the box easily. “Sorry, Andy,” he grinned, pulling it open. “I like you, but this one is sleeping with me.”

I looked up at Ace, who was barely holding back his laughter. “You’re dead to me.”

Chapter Three: Josh

I fumed all the way across town. Who did that asshole at the market think he was? I wasn’t the type to get all bent out of shape when getting a compliment from a gay guy. In fact, it was even sort of nice. But that guy just straight up asked if he could fuck me. Zero tact and zero warning.

Of course, I was twenty-one and no stranger to just hooking up with people for a good fuck. That’s half of what college was for, after all. But this guy just rubbed me in all the wrong ways. I’d done absolutely nothing to give him the hint that I wanted to have sex with him. A farmer’s market wasn’t the time or the place for such things as far as I was concerned. All I’d done was try to compliment him on his obvious baking talent. That was all.

Had I given him some sort of code without realizing it? I shook my head. No. There was no reason to act that way toward a total stranger, especially since he knew I was new in town and that I was headed to the hotel for newly rogue werewolves. Obviously, he knew I was in some sort of dire straits and yet he chose to act like that, anyway.

Also, why the fuck was he so annoying? That sunny smile of his, the laugh always on his lips. It was irritating. Nobody should be that happy ever. It was stupid, and he was stupid, and I hated him.

However, a quick glance down revealed what was really bothering me. I could see my boner snaked down my pant leg. It had been there since the moment he shook my hand, and his proposition only made it worse. And I had no fucking clue as to why it was happening.

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