Page 72 of Claiming Xan
41
XAN
The next afternoon,River and I went in to talk to my boss about TJ’s behavior. River was edgy, and rightfully so, because just as I expected, Roger blew us off with a, “You’re probably overreacting.”
This pissed my mate off. He yanked up the sleeve of my shirt to show off the fingerprint bruises where TJ had grabbed me too roughly.
“See this? My mate is in peril because of some shitty Alpha, and you’re not going to do anything about it? Bullshit. Aren’t there security cameras in this place?” River demanded, and I had to admit, the Alpha energy he exuded was kind of hot.
Focus, Xan.
I perked up. “Right! There are!” I said. “Roger, back in July. Comb the tapes. During a closing shift, TJ came onto me and kissed me against my will. He’s been sleazy towards me for months, but I didn’t want to say anything. I really need this job, and I didn’t want to get TJ in trouble over nothing.”
Angie, who had just “casually” walked past the office, nosy Omega that she was, poked her head in. “There should besecurity cameras in the parking lot, too, if you know where you were. We could get mall security to look into it.”
Roger grumbled. “This all sounds like a big waste of time and resources. You don’t have any proof.”
River growled and jabbed his finger at the rotund Alpha. “Look. All you have to do is call TJ into your office. I kicked his ass last night after I pulled him off my mate. He’ll be covered in bruises.”
My boss sighed, as if he couldn’t be bothered, but finally agreed. River and I sat in the office and waited.
It wasn’t fifteen minutes before TJ showed up, his face looking like he fell down a flight of stairs. Busted lip, broken nose, black eyes—the works. I kind of felt bad for the guy. He was just a human and River was, well… River.
TJ froze when he saw us, panic glinting in his eyes as his gaze landed on River. I could see the wheels turning, like he was putting two and two together.
“Take a seat, TJ,” Roger grumbled. “Xan tells me you’ve been sexually harassing him.”
TJ did as he was told, but jumped to his feet again almost immediately. “He’s full of shit!”
River growled, tensing beside me. “You little—” He moved like he was going to go after TJ a second time, but I placed a hand on his chest to stop him. Our eyes met and his narrowed, but he sat back in his seat once more.
Our boss sighed. “Be honest with me. Have you or have you not been coming onto Xan?”
“Well, I’ve flirted but it’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to make his life miserable.” TJ gestured to me in a jerky manner, letting out a humorless laugh. “He’s hot. Can you really blame me? But he’s never been interested. He always shoots me down. I’m notAlphaenough for him.”
He glared at me, his eyes like daggers. Like if we were alone right now, the only two in the room, there would be a repeat of last night. My stomach churned, but River growled and TJ immediately flinched away.
Roger grunted. “So you’re telling me that if I go through the hassle of pulling up security footage from the store cameras and from the parking lot last night, I won’t find any sort of sexual assault?”
TJ clenched his jaw, looked me square in the eye, and said, “No, sir. He’s lying to you.”
Our boss sighed. “Alright. Fine. Get out of my office. Seems I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
My stomach plummeted. I jumped to my feet the minute TJ slammed the door behind him and we were alone. “You’re going to look at the footage, right? Please, sir, I?—”
River stood and placed a hand on my shoulder. “He’ll look at the footage, or we’ll get the cops involved. I don’t think he wants that.”
Roger looked at River and frowned. River stared right back, unflinching. Roger grumbled and shrugged his beefy shoulders. “I’ll look at the footage and give you a call. Why don’t you take the next couple of days off? TJ can cover your shifts.”
Relief flooded me. “Thank you, sir.”
We went home after that. We didn’t even stop to get anything to eat. River was still agitated, so we retreated to the bedroom and I set out to cuddle him back to good.
It wasn’t twenty minutes later that there was a knock on the door. We exchanged a glance. River growled and fastened his arms around me, like he didn’t want me to leave.
“River,” I said around a laugh, kissing his cheek. “It might be important. Five minutes.”
“Fine.” He got out of bed and followed me, like he didn’t trust whoever was at the door not to mug me or something. Aftereverything that had happened? I was kind of thankful he was so protective.
