Shane sat opposite me on the couch. His hair was a bit longer than I remembered, but it had been almost a month since I met him. His smile was still adorable and his scent still got me hard.

“How about a glass of wine?”

“Sounds good.”

With that, I meandered over to the kitchen, opened up the wine fridge and selected a bottle of decent Pinot Noir – perfect for the occasion. The sound of the cork popped as I pulled it from the green bottle. I grabbed two glasses and found Shane still sitting on the couch, only this time I noticed that he had gotten a bit more comfortable by unbuttoning the top part of his shirt, giving me a glimpse of his smooth skin and tight muscular curvature that lay below.

I poured us both some of the red liquid, filling each of our large glasses about a quarter of the way. I was still feeling toasty from the whiskey that had given me the push to call Shane. I didn’t want to get messy…at least not yet.

“This is quite the space you’ve got here, Jordan.”

“Thanks. I bought it during the recession, so I got a pretty good deal, actually.”

“That’s good.”

We both took a sip of our wine. I watched as Shane closed his eyes, no doubt enjoying the rich flavor and smooth finish of this particular bottle I had selected. This would normally be the point at which I’d unzip his pants and we’d start going at it. But…I couldn’t. I willed my body to return to a time before I had ever met Mason, when carefree sex was satisfying. But, like a person who has been awoken from The Matrix, I couldn’t go back.

After an awkward span of silence, Shane decided to take things into his own hands…literally. But as he reached for my pants, I knew that I couldn’t go any further. Mason was my omega and that was that.

“Shane, I’m sorry, but you have to go.” I said as I waved his hand away from my belt buckle.

His mouth fell open in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”

“No,” I sighed as I began to get up from the couch. But, before I could stand, Shane jumped on top of me in a straddle, forcing me back to a seat once again.

“Yeah, right, mister,” he laughed and came in for a kiss.

It felt uncomfortable and wrong. As I opened my eyes and began to push Shane away, I caught a glimpse of a figure standing at the entrance of the room.

“What the FUCK?” As my eyes adjusted, I could see that the figure was Mason. The look on his face was a mix of shock and sadness. My heart sank.

“Jesus, Jordan!” Shane said. “You about blew out my ear drum.” He turned his head and quickly realized what was going on. “Who the fuck is THIS?”

“It’s my…” my voice began to trail off.

Finally Mason snapped out of his trance and spoke: “I’m so sorry. The guy in the lobby was helping someone with their luggage, so I just decided to slip by and come up. I knocked but there was no answer and the door was unlocked…I’m sorry. I…I need to go.” Quickly, Mason turned to leave.

“No, WAIT!” I yelled after him. I tried to run after him, but Shane was still firmly saddled on top of me and wasn’t letting go that easily. I heard my front door slam shut and he was gone.

Violently, I threw Shane off of me and put my hands over my face. Why was Mason here? He had never been to my house, so he must have gotten my address from my HR file, which is pretty determined. With that, all of the feelings that I had been trying to suppress came rushing back. That, combined with the alcohol, was giving me a headache.

“Jordan. Seriously, what the hell?”

“Shane, I need you to go. You know your way out.” I got up and walked to my bedroom, leaving a perplexed Shane behind.