Page 19 of Omega's Refuge

“You heard me.” He narrowed his eyes. “When he took you out there into the woods, did you have sex?”

“Wow.” I glared at him. “You seriously think I’d do that?”

He flushed, but doubled down. “You were gone long enough to get the job done.”

“Well, if anyone would know about slipping in a quick fuck, it would be you, Steve.”I slammed the drawer to the dresser. “But for the record, some guys take longer than two minutes to get off.”

“Oh, so now I’m a crappy lay?” he growled, standing unsteadily.

I moved toward him. “Where the hell doyouget off accusing me of cheating? I’ve never oncecheated.” I jabbed my finger at him. “You should be careful about opening that can of worms.”

Guilt washed over his tense features. “Why did he pick you to get the wood?”

“I don’t know. Joe helped him too. I didn’t see Martha losing her mind with jealousy.”

“He had Joe help him too?”

“Yes,” I snapped, pulling my clean T-shirt over my head.

“Well, I didn’t know that.”

I said in exasperation, “That’s still no excuse to accuse me of cheating on you. For goodness sake, Steve. You’re acting like a lunatic on this trip.”

“No, I’m not. I just don’t like that Rex guy sniffing around my omega.”

“Yeah?” I snapped. “You know what I don’t like? The fact that you talked to Mrs. Rodwell about leaving the ranchbeforeyou even mentioned it to me. You don’t think you should have talked to me first?”

He winced sheepishly, and then pushed his hand thorough his brown hair roughly. “Well, I just wanted to know if we could get a refund, that’s all.”

“I don’t believe you. I think you’re not thinking straight right now. You’re jealous and unreasonable. It’s starting to really piss me off.”

“You’re pissed off?”He sounded incredulous. “Dude, I can barely walk after riding that smellycreature all day. But you don’t care about that. You still don’t want to leave. I can’t believe you like this place. I’m being tortured, and you’re having the time of your life.”

“I’m not having the time of my life, but I am enjoying trying something new.”

“Well, I’m not. I fucking hate it here and I want toleave.” He plopped onto the bed, reclining against the headboard, arms crossed.

“I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. You booked this trip. I’m just trying to have a good attitude.”

“No, you don’t care that I want to leave. That’s hurtful.”

I stood over him, uncertain of how to continue. “Steve, what’s really going on with you? I don’t believe for five seconds this fit your throwing is just because you’re jealous and you don’t like it here.”

He wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Then you’d be wrong.”

I sat on the edge of his bed, studying his pinched face. “Talk to me. What’s at the root of all these insecurities? I haven’t done anything to cause so much friction between us. Since last night, you just seem mad all the time.”

He turned his face away. “I thought we’d grow closer on this trip. I feel like we’re growing apart.”

Uneasiness ate at me. “I’m trying my hardest to have fun with you. It’s like you just don’t want to be happy. If I’m honest, the only time you seem happy is when you’re talking to Tony.”

“Yeah? Well, he’s nice to me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And I haven’t been nice to you?”

He harrumphed impatiently. “You’ve been distracted by Rex. I’m surprised you remember I’m here.”

“Bullshit. I’ve been good to you on this trip. I’ve tried hard to make you happy. The only thing I don’t want to do is leave. I want to actually have a vacation. If we leave early and go home, we’re never going to book that trip to Hawaii. We both know it. You’ll push it off and then it will fade into oblivion.”

---