Page 10 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

“There’s so much you don’t know, Leslie—”

And I don’t want to.

“Kyle,” I say, taking a deep breath. “We are both harnessed into this situation now. I don’t know how it is in your pack, but Decker and Gladys have made it clear I’m the only one who can fulfill this role. I know my place here. It sounds like you know yours, too. Do we really need to say anything else?”

He stares at me, and I find myself swimming in those eyes again. So unique, the deep blue mingled with green. His tough, tanned face and scatter of stubble contrast that beauty so sharply, it’s almost breathtaking.

“Leslie—” Kyle reaches across the table, looking for my hand. I scoot back in my chair and yank my hands back towards me. Kyle looks up at me in alarm.

Fate hates me. It truly does. I am karma’s bitch, and I don’t even know what I did to deserve this. I had just started to heal, and now here I am, right back in front of him, my heart wide open, waiting to be destroyed.

“I…” Kyle shakes his head and runs his hand across his face. I can only imagine what’s going through his mind right now. It must be pretty hard to find out you have to marry a girl you dumped.

“I think there is a lot we need to talk about,” he says gently. “I treated you badly, I know that. I also never made my feelings or my intentions clear. There was… other business I was involved in, for the pack. There’s also some personal stuff you don’t know. I’d be happy to get it all out in the open.”

Even though a faint thread of curiosity rises in me, his tone cuts me. He’s being very reasonable, taking all the emotion out of his voice. Like we’re discussing a business contract.

We are.

“I have agreed to marry you,” I say firmly. I want him to realize that he doesn’t have to convince me of anything or worry about my feelings. I know exactly what this is, and I have no expectations of his behavior.

But he also has to know where I stand.

“This is my duty to the pack,” I go on quickly. “And I am prepared to do it. But I will never, and I mean never, forgive you for what you did to me.”

Kyle’s beautiful eyes go wide again, and he presses his lips together. He looks ashamed, and a bit scared.

Good.

“Leslie, I did what I did because I had to. I always planned to come back and explain—”

“Oh, don’t bother!” I reply, my voice harsh. “As if I don’t already know! You kept our relationship a secret—you refused to let anyone know about us! Then you just fucking dump me? It’s so obvious that you were using me.”

And I fucking fell for it. What would a ripped, tough guy like this want with a chubby little wallflower like me?

“Leslie, I told you. I didn’t want the same thing to happen to us that happened with Jack and Lena. I just wanted to give it time so that I wouldn’t get banned from seeing you.”

My scoff comes out as a little snort. “What a poor excuse. If you really wanted me, you would have done anything to stay with me. You would have figured it out.”

I would have done anything to be with you! Anything!

“You don’t understand,” he says, frowning. I can tell his temper is rising, and I don’t give a fuck.

“I understand perfectly,” I hiss through my teeth. “You wanted some harmless fun, a bit of fooling around with no strings. But you didn’t want it getting around in your own pack—who knows, maybe you’ve got a whole keychain of girls over there! So you seduce me in secret and then keep it under wraps so you can have your fun, then dump me once you get bored.”

“That is not what happened,” he says. I can hear the hard tone creeping into his voice, and I know he’s getting really pissed off.

Yeah, must be tough to know how transparent he is.

“It’s clearly exactly what happened,” I snap back. I know this is getting heated, and we probably shouldn’t fight in front of our elders, but I don’t care.

“Leslie, if you would just calm down for a second and let me tell you—”

“Tell me what, more lies?”

“It isn’t like that! Calm down—”

“Oh, don’t you dare,” I snarl. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m being irrational, or overreacting. I gave you everything, I wanted a future with you—”

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