Page 14 of Choosing Me

Chapter Seven

Calvin

I humto myself as I read over the words on the page. I’ve read the same page about four times already and the words are starting to all merge together. I rub at my eyes, hoping to clear the fog before staring down at the words again, finding them still unreadable. Fuck. I’ve been at this all morning and I need a break.

A smile curls across my lips as I think of the perfect reward for a morning spent studying. My dick perks up at the prospect of seeing Wilson. The other night he made me cheddar broccoli soup with homemade garlic bread and I paid him back by eating him out until he cried. It was a good fucking night.

I pick up my phone as I stand up, a groan leaving my mouth as I stretch. I’ve been sitting in the same spot reading for far too long and my ass is sore. It’s not even thefunkind of sore, damn it! I quickly send off a text to Wilson, asking him if he’s busy. I fist pump the air when I get a response straight away, letting me know he’s free.

My stomach warms at the prospect of seeing Wilson and I have a pep in my step as I get ready for the day.

An hour later finds me walking into the local adult arcade, the smell of freshly popped popcorn filling my nose. God, I love this place. My eyes dart over to the pop-a-shot, just double checking if Harrison, one of my co-workers, is here. That man is obsessed with that game and I’ve never met someone who could use pop-a-shot to hustle Ryder out of a hundred bucks. Nothing will ever top experiencing that in person.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” comes from behind me and I turn around, a giant smile on my face as I find Wilson. I lean into him, putting a hand on his side as I kiss his cheek.

“Why hello there,” I say back, loving the way his face brightens from my kiss. God, will I ever get over how fun it is to tease this alpha and make him all sorts of flustered?

“I’m so glad you invited me. I was just sitting around my apartment being bored,” Wilson says, his hand coming up to rub at his cheek with a wince. “And being in pain.”

Something inside of me wells up so hard it’s impossible to ignore, a feeling of protection, a compulsion to take the pain away. I frown. “What’s wrong?”

“I just have this really bad toothache. Hopefully being here and doing something will help me ignore it.”

I put my hand on his lower back, guiding him further into the arcade. “Are you sure? We can go chill at your house or something if you’d be more comfortable.”

Wilson gives me a soft smile. “Absolutely. I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.”

“Me neither. I was trying to get some reading done this morning and I was at it for so long all the words were starting to blur together and they stopped having actual meaning.” I pull Wilson over to the token machine, buying myself a card and making sure there’s enough credits on it so we can both play some games. “So,” I say, looking around us. “Which game should we play first?”

Wilson taps his bottom lip a few times. “Hear me out,” he starts, mischief gleaming in his brown eyes. He gives me a look that fills my stomach with butterflies, the same kind I get when we’re about to kiss, or when I have filthy plans for the alpha. I’m excited for anything he’s scheming. “Why don’t we stop at the bar first, grab ourselves a couple of beers and then we turn each game into a drinking game somehow.”

“Are you hoping being drunk will help you deal with your toothache?”

Wilson shrugs. “It’s worth a shot.”

I grab Wilson’s hand as we head over to order some beers, my chest feeling bright as we go. Wilson squeezes my hand and when I look over at him, he has an achingly soft smile on his lips that I don’t really understand, but I don’t question it either. He must be just as excited as I am to get out of the house and have a good time.

Despite the fact that we’re literally fucking, Wilson and I have grown close. I’d even go so far as to say we’re becoming best friends. Hell, I fell asleep against his chest one night and he had the decency not to make fun of me for it. He’s a true buddy and I’m really glad we started hanging out.

I don’t want an alpha anytime soon, but if I did, I imagine I’d want someone like Wilson.

We step up to the air hockey table, each of us with a beer in hand. “The rules are simple,” Wilson says, holding the paddle in his free hand. “If I score, I chug until the puck is back on the table. If you score, you chug. First one to five wins or first one to chug his entire beer wins. Got it?”

“Got it,” I say, putting my paddle on the table and laughing when Wilson immediately slams the puck my way. Oh, it’s game on! Absolutely no mercy! I will try-hard and Iwillbe winning this game one way or another!

Slam! Wilson somehow gets a shot past me and scores. I grumble under my breath, quickly picking up the puck as Wilson starts chugging his beer. “Fuck,” I grit out, slamming the puck down and hitting it over.

“Hey,” he whines as the puck gets into the goal while he was busy drinking his beer. I bat my lashes at him teasingly as I chug my own beer, opening my throat as best as I can to get as much down as possible before we’re playing again.

It goes like that, back and forth, back and forth until the score is four to four, both of our beers on the last pull.

“It all comes down to this,” Wilson says as the puck flies over the field, back and forth, neither of us letting the other score. My heart is racing as the click of the puck hitting our paddles fills my ears. I narrow my eyes, giving this game my entire concentration, wanting to win so fucking badly.

“I could cheat,” I tell him, ignoring the way my breath is picking up. “I could drink my beer right now and win.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” he says back, hitting the puck a little bit harder. “You’re an honorable man.”

“Am I? You sure about that? I’m not above playing dirty, alpha.” I say the word alpha a little bit breathy and it has the wanted effect, making Wilson suck in a sharp breath. I use the distraction to my advantage, getting the puck past his paddle and into the goal.

---