Page 62 of Chasing The Alpha's Son
“What the…?” We pull apart at the sound of someone else’s voice, and turn to find Clayton and Mia standing in the open door of the cabin. “Dude?!”
START SPREADING THE NEWS
“Dude,” Clayton says, staring open-mouthed at Jasper and me. “What the hell?”
Mia is a step behind him with this confused look on her face.
I glance from them to Jasper, who pulled away as soon as we were interrupted, and is standing a foot away from me, rigid like a reindeer in headlights.
“It’s not…” Jasper says hurriedly, trying to collect his thoughts. “We weren’t—you don’t—I…”
He runs both hands through his hair, completely lost for words. Swiftly, he glances at me and I can see the cogs turning; he wants to deny everything, but he can’t while I’m here, because he knows how much that would hurt. And, besides, from the disgusted look on Clayton’s face, it’s probably too late for denial.
“We came to rescue you,” Clayton says. “Not to see whatever that was. Are you…I mean…with him?!”
Jasper takes a breath and steps forward, as if he’s made some secret decision.
“Clayton.”
“No way, man. That’s wrong on, like, so many levels.”
Clayton leaves the cabin, pushing past Mia and disappearing outside, where the sun has already broken through the clouds.
“I have to…” Jasper looks at me, gesturing to the door.
I nod, letting him know I’m fine, I understand, and he runs after Clayton. Who knows what he’s going to say. But I think Jasper might be done denying. If Clayton is a real friend, he’ll support Jasper. Though I doubt he is.
Mia is leaning against the doorframe now with her arms crossed and this sort of impressed look arching one of her brows.
“That was quite the surprise,” she says, grinning.
I rub the back of my neck. “Yeeeaaaah.”
“Happy Christmas to me, I guess,” she says. “Come on, let’s get you back to the packhouse.”
We haven’t been walking long before Mia turns to me and asks, “So you want to tell me everything?”
We’re heading back uphill—I guess I wandered farther into the canyon than I realized—between a line of bare trees. The sun is reflecting brightly on the crisp snow. Jasper went ahead after Clayton, and they must have made quite the head start because there’s no sign of them. It’s just me and Mia, and she’s waiting for me to dish.
I feel a little bad for her. Up until about five minutes ago, she was probably thinking she and Jasper might end up mated. But I also don’t owe her anything. I don’t need to poor out my whole sob story just because she caught us—a feeling I think she gathers from the look on my face.
“Hey, look,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “You don’t have to tell me anything. But if you want to, you should know it’s totally cool. I know Mason is into guys, and I’m assuming you and Jasper are mates, which if that’s the case I’d be nothing but happy for you guys.”
“Really?” I stare at her in shock, trying to figure out if she’s being genuine.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I thought your dad wanted you and Jasper to…you know…be mates.”
“Yeah, that’s what my dad wants. But I’m not about stealing someone else’s person. That’s not my scene. And, well…”
She trails off, lifting her hand to her mouth and nibbling on the skin around her thumbnail. There’s something else she hasn’t said.
“What is it?”
“Ugh!” She throws her head back dramatically. “I hate all this pretense, I’m a heart-on-my-sleeve kind of person. I can trust you, right?”
I’m getting some serious whiplash from this conversation.
