Page 10 of Tinsel Time Treasure
He ducked back inside and closed the door, and I decided to do the same before much more chill air made it inside.
The apartment was quiet, too quiet. I loved the whole holiday season, and so had Linden. But I just hadn’t had the desire to decorate for Halloween.
I sighed, trying to decide what to do once the trick-or-treaters dwindled. The past couple years Linden and I had put on horror b-movies and spent the night laughing at how bad they were, but it wasn’t going to be any fun by myself.
A stray thought occurred, and I had a momentary urge to go across and ask the omega if he wanted to come over for dinner and bad movies.
I shook my head. It was insane. I didn’t know his name, and he probably already had plans of his own.
“You’re just lonely,” I muttered as another knock came from the door. “Don’t go bothering strange men.”
Maybe I’d set up a profile on a dating app or two, find a man without being a weirdo.
∞∞∞
~November~
“Max?”
I turned to see the gym manager, Morgan, approaching. “What’s up boss?”
“Need to talk about the new year. You planning to be full time again by then?”
I blew out a long breath, but the conversation wasn’t exactly unexpected. “I think so.”
He crossed his arms. “You know I need more than that. I’ve got to get class schedules together. Are you planning to return to one-on-one sessions? January is when we see a spike in signups, and I need to know if I have spots to fill.”
I ran a hand through my long hair, thinking that I needed to re-tie it. “Can I have another day or so to think about it?”
He sighed. “I can give you until Friday, but no longer. If you don’t give me an updated schedule for the new year by then I’ll have to assume that you want to stay part-time until the first-quarter classes are over.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
He reached up and squeezed my shoulder. “I get it, he did you dirty and you’re still hurting. But don’t let the hurt go on too long, yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good.” He stepped back. “Do you have plans for Thanksgiving? I talked to Marco and he said we have room if you want to join us.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Thank you, but he’s already going to be busy enough, and pregnant on top. I’ll just go home.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
I nodded. “Will do.”
He studied me for a few seconds. “Are you headed onto the floor?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been taking advantage of the weather recently and either walking or biking through a park.”
“Good to hear you’re doing something other than moping.”
I smiled. “I need to get my head on right again, but it’s more that I need to figure out why I missed the signs.”
He nodded. “Have you considered that there might not have been any signs?”
“Yeah, but I don’t believe that. I can’t believe that he would have been so unhappy that he would cheat without trying to communicate it in some way.”
“Or he could have just wanted to have his cake and eat it too: the stability of a committed relationship, and the freedom to screw around.”
