Page 17 of My Brutal Alpha

We had something, but I crumbled under the pressure—the idea of Sebastian hating me for seeing his younger sister.

It felt almost ironic how he seemed accepting of our arrangement but only under the guise of it being fake.

Regardless of our past, I resisted the urge to say more and kept those details to myself.

I didn't know when I'd be ready to tell Sebastian about the times I hooked up with Zoe. Disclosing the fake engagement was hard enough, but saying anything more would be akin to torture.

If I did, I could say goodbye to our friendship completely.

Keeping my mouth shut brought a heavy burden of guilt, but I had to do it.

"I guess we'll see what happens," I murmured, returning to my reps as Sebastian wandered over to one of the machines, still chuckling his amusement about the whole thing.

I tried to focus as much on my reps as I could, but my mind was still on Zoe.

There was no mistaking how careful I needed to tread moving forward with her.

She may have been staying at my house, and the implications of our agreement were intimate in nature, but I couldn't let it become anything more than that.

I couldn't hurt her again and risk Zoe hating me and Sebastian too.

If he'd even let me live after, that is.

Chapter 8 - Zoe

Fragrant onions and garlic filled the space as I stood over the stovetop and pushed the sizzling aromatics around in the pan. I hummed to myself absently as I got lost in thought before adding the cubed chicken breast and tossing it back and forth.

Alone in Ezra's house, with music playing quietly in the background, I was beginning to feel a bit more comfortable in the space, but mostly while he was away at work or hanging out with the others.

The house was nice and felt familiar to me despite that being a bittersweet detail. I knew my way around, and it was pretty cozy despite Ezra not seeming like that type of person.

Despite being in a small town, his house was quite the build, and it certainly reflected his wealth in subtle ways. While the place was big, with vaulted ceilings, clean floors and finishings, he prioritized comfort over flashiness, and it only made the house more appealing.

Staying in his place was easy—I existed in the space and found my routine in it. But being near him was still difficult.

Knowing we were in relative proximity of each other, going about our day, all while being aware of how weird the situation was despite not saying anything about it.

I often wondered if I had made a mistake by agreeing to it. Honestly, I didn't need to accept. I could've left him to flounder and deal with his parents alone—I likely should've—but for whatever reason, I couldn't bring myself to ignore that desperation he had worn before.

Despite seeming indifferent and acting fine with pretending, it still hurt. It almost felt like being forced to confront it all at once without talking about it or getting any real closure.

Being in his space, parading around like I was his fiancée, and trying to avoid those old feelings of mine was a lot to take on, especially after everything that happened.

It took a lot more willpower to keep those emotions at bay, especially whenever I was face-to-face with him.

Still, it made me question what I was even doing there in the first place.

As the chicken cooked in the pan, I watched it, pushing it around and smelling it before I worked on the next part of the dish.

Despite being lost in thought while I cooked, I found myself in a decent mood anyway, eventually thinking about the gym and how well it seemed to be going.

Before long, Ezra's presence stirred me from my stupor as he stepped into the kitchen and reminded me that I wasn't alone anymore. I was still getting used to the idea of not being in my own home.

Pulling his phone and keys from his pockets, Ezra looked at me curiously and placed them on the closest counter. His brows furrowed slightly.

"What are you doing?"

Turning the chicken off, I focused on the other food, wondering what had possibly irritated him already.

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