Page 19 of Omega's Reluctant Mate
I smiled and scratched behind his ears. “He’s fine.”
Corey huffed. “He’s not fine. He knows he’s supposed to follow commands.” He paused. “Tiny!”
Tiny whined, obviously not wanting to get off me.
I noticed that Corey wasn’t coming any closer to get the dog himself, then a breeze coming off the ocean reminded me why. He was likely at the edge of where my scent could affect him. A slight bulge in his pants confirmed my suspicions.
“Tiny…” he sighed. “Come on.”
There was something about the tone of Corey’s voice, and my eyes snapped to his face. It was then that I noticed how red his eyes were. His stance suggested that he’d come to my side with a single word, but he was staying away for my sake.
I was a right ass.
I’d been so focused on my own fears that I’d ignored his feelings. He didn't know why I’d run, only that I had.
He wasn’t standing there because my scent was affecting him. He thought his would affect me.
I’d hurt him, but he was respecting what he thought were my boundaries.
Yeah, I was definitely an ass.
“I…” I started. “You can come closer… if you’d like. It…” I took a deep breath. “It doesn’t affect me the same way.”
One of his eyebrows went up, and he took a few cautious steps before deciding to close the distance. He pulled out a leash as he approached, ready to retrieve Tiny and leave. Within seconds he was tugging the dog off me and scolding him for misbehaving.
Tiny whined again as they started walking away, and the sound hit me harder than any instinct.
Corey—my omega—was walking away. He’d thought I’d made my choice, and there was a very real possibility that letting him go now would mean letting him go forever.
But that was what I wanted, wasn’t it? To let him move on?
It felt wrong. Cadence was right. He at least deserved an explanation as to why I couldn’t be with him.
I licked my lips. “W-wait…”
He paused and turned to look at me.
I froze, realizing I hadn’t thought anything through. I searched around, and my eyes landed on the stick. “Were you coming over here to play fetch?”
One of his eyebrows went up, a cute quirk. “Yes?” he asked, clearly unsure of my intentions.
“How about letting him off the leash again and we can both play with him.”
Corey studied me for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“Please.”
Another moment of silence, then he nodded. “Ok.”
He took a few steps towards me, then reached down for the stick. He unclipped Tiny’s leash, gave him the stick, and pointed at me. “Take it to Nathan.”
“Nate,” I replied.
“What?”
“I prefer Nate. Only my parents call me Nathan.”
“Nate,” he repeated with a nod. “It’s… it’s nice to meet you. I’m Corey.”
