Page 8 of Seduced By Two Alphas

“What’s going on?” Jack asked. “I knew you were pissed about Ken and Brandon getting along, but—”

“I-I wasn’t pissed.” I was mortified. My behavior was downright deplorable. I’d acted unhinged, giving no thought to my actions, and I’d made a complete fool of myself.

Jack took my hands and led me to my office. I was powerless to stop him. It was as though I was walking in a daze before he sat me down and hunkered down in front of me, never releasing my hands. “Talk to me, Casey.”

I heard Ken moving around in the kitchen and closed my eyes. “I looked like a crazed man, didn’t I?”

Jack brushed some locks of my hair behind my ear. “You were definitely…going through something.”

I appreciated that he didn’t just agree with me that I looked crazy. “You two are so nice. Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you both? One day you’re going to make some woman very happy.”

A strange look passed over Jack’s eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Women,” I corrected. Just because Ken had told me how close he and Jack were didn’t mean they would share the same woman the way Dillon had two guys. It had been wrong of me to assume such a thing, and secretly, a part of me withered at the thought of them being with anyone else.

The side of Jack’s mouth curled into a sultry smile. I felt as if I was being sucked right into it, unable to stop the forward momentum. “Sweetheart, Ken and I aren’t interested in any women.”

“No?”

“No.” He chuckled as he slowly shook his head. “I told Ken we weren’t being clear enough with you. I’m sorry for the confusion, but we’re interested in you.”

Chapter Three

Kendrick

If I thought Casey was avoiding us before, he seemed to do it even more now. Every time I tried to have a word with him, he made up some excuse about getting this or that done. I watched him run around the kitchen like his ass was on fire or stay at a customer’s table far past what was expected, chatting and saying he had to “cultivate” his relationship with the people of Hungry so they would return.

They always returned. That wasn’t the reason. I knew the reason, and every damn time I tried to clear the air, to let Casey know I wasn’t flirting with Brandon, I never had the chance because Casey was off again, running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

“What exactly did you two talk about in the office?” I asked Jack a few hours later. “He’s avoiding me like I have the worst breath.”

“You do,” Jack said in a deadpan. “It’s a wonder the hairs in my nose aren’t permanently singed.”

Was Casey just pissed that he thought I was flirting with another guy or that I’d grabbed his arm and yanked him into the kitchen when he was losing his shit? I would be the first to admit that sometimes I acted without thought. I was probably thickheaded, too. I just took things at face value, was friendly, and loved to smile and laugh.

But as soon as I’d seen Casey being all friendly with his ex-boyfriend, all my common sense had tumbled right out of my head. Albert was a slimeball. I’d been in Hungry, Louisiana, long enough to have heard the gossip, and none of it had been flattering where Albert had been concerned.

Arrogant, a pompous jackass, only thought of himself, a cheater… Those were the more flattering things people had said. What on earth had Casey ever seen in that guy?

“Tell him you need to see him in his office,” I said as I watched Casey talking to an elderly couple seated in the back. “Then maybe he’ll stop running from me so I can talk to him.”

Jack frowned as he looked at me. We were both behind the counter, Jack making espresso for a female at the counter. “You want me to lie to him?”

“You don’t have to make it sound so harsh.” I chewed my lower lip, my gaze slipping over Casey’s firm ass. I’d tried to tempt him last night, being naked on his porch, but he’d refused to look at me. When I’d gotten closer, he’d run so fast into the house that he’d tripped over Jack’s bear and let the screen door slam him right in the face.

“Then put your big boy pants on and go talk to him.” Jack gave the woman her coffee. She looked my way, smiling, and my natural instinct was to smile back, because I was just a friendly guy, but no way was I going to let her get me into deeper trouble with Casey.

Jack chuckled and said, so low only I could hear him, “Pussy.”

I growled at him before walking away. When I neared the table where Casey stood, he glanced over his shoulder, spotted me heading his way, then excused himself and ran toward the men’s room.

“Is something wrong?” Brandon asked as I passed him.

“I’m a little dense sometimes,” I said but kept moving. If Casey walked out, I didn’t want him to see me talking to Brandon again. Nice kid. Straight, too. He’d been telling me funny things about his girlfriend, asking more personal questions, you know, guy-to-guy, and I’d found him sweet and nice.

Clearly Casey had read our interaction wrong, and now I was even further in the doghouse than I’d already been when he found out we were shifters. It seemed I needed to have my name etched over the doghouse door, considering I might never get out of it.

Screw chasing him down. I walked right over to the men’s bathroom and waited by the door. As soon as I heard it unlock and the door opened, I kind of bulldozed Casey right back inside.

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