Chapter Four
Compromise.
Amelia ground her teeth as Mr. Abs began cursing up a storm because the idiot on TV didn't catch the stupid ball that all the other idiots were running around trying to get.
It was like no time had passed since she broke up with the idiot on her couch a year ago. 'Looking good, babe. Why don't we stay in?' meant 'Why don't you cook me dinner while I watch the game?’ She had insisted that he take her out to dinner, and after some back and forth, they had agreed on ordering in a pizza instead. That was compromise.
"Babe, get me a beer."
But was this compromise? Amelia tucked her legs under herself. What exactly had she been thinking, consenting to 'date' him again? Oh, right… the two Alphas had lied to her about their intentions, and she wanted something to distract her. Mr. Abs wasn't doing the job, though. All he was doing was make her miss them even more. Xavier and Timothy would never order her around like this.
It doesn't count that they lied about what they wanted from me.
"Hey, where's my beer?"
"I don't have any beer."
"No beer?" Mr. Abs looked shocked. "Sheesh, I thought you were gonna be ready for a date."
Her brother's voice flittered across her mind. Don't be so picky and learn how to compromise. Seriously? Was holding out for someone who didn't treat her like a waitress being picky? What was she supposed to compromise on? Her standards, her self-worth? Was she supposed to learn to just lie down and take disrespect? Or was she supposed to be so grateful that he didn't treat her like a sex doll that she happily did everything else for him?
The funny thing was, Adrian had once gotten into a fistfight with Mr. Abs over the way he treated Amelia. But he seemed to have forgotten about it. Or maybe he decided he had overreacted.
"Maybe you can go to the store and pick some up."
"I joined AA," Amelia sarcastically replied.
Mr. Abs stared at her. "You don't have to drink it."
This had been a bad idea. A terrible idea – quite possibly the worst idea she had ever had.
No, the worst idea I ever had was leaving the packlands before I actually talked to Xavier and Timothy about what Lucinda told me. I'm an idiot.
More of an idiot than Mr. Abs.
"Babe, quick, make me a sandwich."
Okay, maybe not quite.
"You have half a pizza right there."
"I gotta have a sandwich at halftime or my team will lose! Now make me one! I got fifty bucks riding on this, do you want me to help pay for the pizza or not?"
Grinning, Amelia got to her feet. She wasn't angry at Mr. Abs. No, she was too angry at herself to bother with him. What an idiot. Well, her brother would be hearing an earful about this experience! It was a shame she hadn't thought to film the exchange… Even Adrian wouldn't be able to argue that she should keep dating Daniel with evidence like that.
He'd probably excuse it because of the game.
Amelia got the squeeze bottle of mayo out of the fridge, along with a slice of processed cheese, salami, and a handful of lettuce. She grabbed the bread on her way back to the living room. She would make a sandwich all right…
Mr. Abs didn't even notice that she had come back in – until she slapped the cheese and salami to his cheeks, squeezed half the bottle of mayo over his head and stuck the bread to it.
"There." She smiled as she admired her work. "You're a sandwich."
***
It took a while for Amelia to get Mr. Abs to understand that she had made him a sandwich, just like he asked. He then took all the pizza and left, as though he was actually doing something that would bother her. She would have just thrown it out anyway. He'd put sardines on the pizza.
Sardines.
After she had reclaimed her home, Amelia took a moment to tidy it up, more as an excuse to delay calling the Alphas than anything else. After the way she ran away and then refused to take their calls for two days, she wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want to talk to her again. After all, Alphas couldn't have a mate that believed everything she heard! And didn't Timothy say he wanted someone he could talk to? Instead, she ran. How was she ever going to apologize?
Eventually, she grabbed her cellphone and called him. Communication was important to him, so reaching out to him first seemed like the best idea. He answered quickly, but his voice was cautious. Amelia bit her lower lip.
It's not too late. One freak-out isn't the end of the world.
"I'm sorry," she said, even before hello. "I'm sorry that I left the way I did, and I'm sorry for not calling. Is Xavier with you?"
"No," Timothy replied. He was panting, as though he had been working out. Well, with his physique, of course, he had to work out. "He's in a meeting. Why did you leave, Amelia? Why…? Did we scare you off?"
If what Lucinda said was true, wouldn't she have told them that she revealed their secret? Already, Amelia knew it wasn't true. She could have kicked herself. "No. It's not that. I'm just an idiot. Somebody said…"
Timothy's voice turned soft. "What did they say? Who was it? What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it over the phone. Can we meet tomorrow? I'll drive out to the packlands, if that's okay. I just… I just really need to talk with you."
Timothy paused a moment. "I'm actually almost at your house. When you didn't call back, I got worried…"
Amelia flinched, but at the same time, she beamed at his concern. How could she have ever thought that the Alphas were like the other losers she dated? "No, that's fine. That's great. I'll see you soon."
After she hung up, Amelia looked around her home. It would be the first time either of the Alphas were actually inside of her house, and what seemed tidy enough for Mr. Abs suddenly looked like a disaster.
She flew around the house, trying to make everything perfect, at least on the outside. So what if that meant that books got shoved into the closet instead of going back on the shelf, or if she pulled her couch over a pile of pizza crumbs instead of bringing out the vacuum cleaner? He wasn't going to snoop through the house.
After the living room looked decent enough to welcome Timothy in, Amelia turned her attention to getting herself ready. She had gone for comfortable and cozy for her date with Mr. Abs, wearing a nice-looking T-shirt and a pair of jeans that weren't awful but didn't really help her figure, either. Dashing to her room, she yanked out a pair of shorts with the image of a unicorn bedazzled across the butt and a V-neck tank top that showed off so much cleavage that it had been banned from her brother's house.
She was just swiping on some lip-gloss when the doorbell rang. Holding her breath with nervousness, Amelia rushed to answer it. Maybe she should have worn something that wasn't so sexy. She didn't want Timothy to think she was trying to seduce him into forgiving her. And what if he wanted to go for a walk?
But when she opened the door, she didn't find her Alpha.
It was Mr. Abs.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" she snapped at him, her hand instantly rising to cover her cleavage.
He looked her up and down with a gleam in his eye – one she didn't like. "I understand why you were so upset with me, babe."
"Because you're an asshole who won't stop calling me babe?"
"Nah, it's because you were feeling like I was neglecting you… but don't worry, I'm here to make it all better."
He grabbed her and kissed her full on the mouth with his stinky, disgusting sardine breath.
***
Timothy wasn't lying when she said that he was almost at her house. But it wasn't exactly like he had been driving. He hadn't intended to go anywhere near Amelia's house when he took his usual afternoon run to clear his head. Somewhere in the woods he had decided to see if he was correct when he supposed that, despite the drive from the packlands to her town taking two hours by car, it would actually only be an hour if he went straight through the forest rather than twisting and turning with the road.
He'd been fifteen minutes away when he got Amelia's call. His heart had leapt and for a moment all he wanted to do was run to her and pull her into his arms, kissing away whatever fears she had. It had taken some strength to answer the phone first.
Yet, he had decided to take it slow. He wasn't going to assume that she was going to ask for them to take her back. Still, he hadn't been able to suppress his hope and kept thinking about what Amelia might say to him when he arrived at her place. Nor could he stop the daydreams about how overwhelmed she was by the strong sense that she belonged with the pack.
So, when he emerged from the trees dressed in the simple sweats he had brought with him on his run, the sight that met him tore his heart out.
Amelia stood on her front porch. Her back was against the wall, and she wore skimpy, sexy clothing. And a man was with her, body to body, gripping her hands as he kissed her. The passion in their kiss was evident, even from this distance.
So that was the truth of why she left. Amelia had somebody else. She had strung him and Xavier along, all the while knowing that they had no future together. What was her game? Was she trying to get money from them? A snarl tore out of him and he stalked forward–he was not going to be used in such a way!
Amelia and her mate didn't even know he was there until he yanked the man off her and tossed him down the steps.