ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (84 page)

He cleared his throat once more, now suddenly nervous. “Well, if she’ll have me, I was wondering, if I could have the honor of taking Jessica out for a date.”

Several eyes widened in shock, including Amanda’s and Karen’s, Jessica having been the last person they had expected Ethan to pick.

“Well,” Karen said, recovering quickly, “Jessica, would you accept Ethan’s proffer?”

Ethan’s eyes had never left Jessica’s, and now her eyes wearily met his. After a moment, she spoke.

“I apologize, but no, I humbly have to decline,” she said frankly, the room erupting in a roar of whispers. She didn’t wait for anyone else to speak as she nodded at Ethan, grabbed a cookie off of the plate resting on the coffee table and left the room.

“I’m done,” Ethan said, already knowing Amanda’s next question of whether he wanted to ask another girl.

“Well,” Karen said, flashing a worried glance to Ethan. “That appears to be all folks; thank you for joining us tonight and have a safe trip home.”

After a beat of silence, the remaining girls stood up one by one and trailed out of the house, quietly murmuring that the night had been a waste to one another as they left, the door shutting behind them with a loud thud.

“Ethan-”

“Don’t speak,” Ethan said, holding up a hand as he tried to stifle his overall annoyance with the night. “I appreciate your concern, misplaced as it may be, but I can’t excuse your actions. You both will take over the household chores for the week on your own, and will have the graveyard watch shift on our borders for the month. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes,” Amanda and Karen said simultaneously, heads hung in a show of submission.

He smiled faintly at them. “Thank you though, it does mean something to me that you care so much for me to be concerned. I think I’ll go to bed now; I’ll see you in the morning, goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Karen and Amanda said, smiling a bit at him, happy to see that he wasn’t angry at them, at least not to the extent that he could have been.

Ethan nodded at them before he turned and began haggardly making his way up the stairs and to his room, exhausted.

Ethan lay on his bed, staring up at his ceiling with a furrowed brow and reviewing the night in his mind.

Yes, Jessica had been less than thrilled to be there and she had certainly made that clear to him, but he had thought that by the end of their conversation he’d at least won her over just a little bit.

He ran a tired hand over his face, wondering why he was even so invested in this. It’s not like he had in any way wanted to have the ‘speed dating’ soiree that Amanda and Karen had set up, but, now that he had been rejected just after he had begun to enjoy an aspect of it, he felt, as loathe as he was to admit it, hurt by the entire thing.

He got up, taking his clothes off and tossing them into the dirty clothes hamper before he paced back and forth in front of his bed, intent on trying to reduce his level of annoyance before he got into bed.

His eyes glanced over to his phone resting innocuously on his bed. He shook his head, pacing again some more as he considered his options. His pride wanted him to forget the entire night, to go to sleep and pretend like none of the strange and disappointing events of the night had happened. And yet a small and persistent part of Ethan didn’t want to forget the night. More importantly, Ethan didn’t want to forget Jessica.

“Dammit,” Ethan muttered, pacing agitatedly back over to his bed as he grabbed his phone, continuing to mutter to himself in frustration as he typed out a message to Karen.

Did you get the numbers of each woman individually, or just their pack leaders’

After a moment of waiting, Ethan immediately began to regret his decision. Just as he had started contemplating whether or not he could run out and steal Karen’s phone before she saw the message, his phone dinged with her response.

A combination. Why, do you want someone’s number?

Ethan hesitated, wondering if he could just play off his question as momentary curiosity or if he should continue with his initial plan.

Finally, with a deep breath and the mental resolve that came from realizing that the worst thing that could happen was momentary embarrassment that would be forgotten about within the day, he hesitantly typed back.

Do you have Jessica’s contact information?

Yep, Karen responded, Ethan gritting his teeth as he realized that the conversation would ultimately get drawn out for as long as possible if he didn’t put his foot down.

Please give it to me

The response came back faster this time.

Do you want her Alpha’s number or her number?

Ethan debated his answer for a moment, before remembering that it was Jessica’s Alpha that had made her come in the first place, and that contacting her Alpha in a way of reaching out to Jessica wouldn’t do him any favors this time around.

Just Jessica’s, he responded, finding that he was getting more anxious with each passing second that Karen didn’t respond.

Finally, he got a message, eyes eagerly scanning the small screen before he quickly programmed the number into his contacts, thanking Karen for her help and telling her that he was going to bed to avoid any further conversation about the matter.

His eyes stayed locked on the screen where he had programmed her name and number, realizing that he didn’t even know her last name yet.

He glanced at his clock, wondering if it was socially acceptable to text a woman that had just rejected him at midnight.

Ultimately, he decided against it, putting his phone on his nightstand as he climbed into bed, deciding that he would instead text her in the morning, giving himself the night to think over just what he would even say to her.

Shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the situation, he reached over and turned off his light, sinking down beneath his covers as his mind’s eye replayed the encounter with Jessica that evening.

Slowly, Ethan drifted off to sleep, the last conscious thought he had being the pleasant, tinkling sound of Jessica’s laugh.

-x-x-x- Chapter 3 -x-x-x-

Breakfast in the pack house was an interesting event the morning after the speed dating fiasco.

Austin and the other males of the pack were clearly interested, but determined to hide their interest and pretend as if nothing had happened for Ethan’s sake, while the women, particularly Amanda and Karen, were a lot less concerned with hiding their curiosity, and instead shot interested looks at Ethan every few seconds.

“Listen up everyone,” Ethan said, all eyes focusing on him suddenly. “I know you all are very interested in what happened last night, and that’s understandable and whatnot, but please, let’s just all forget about it.

“I know you’re concerned about me, but I fully intend to find a mate, and I will do it my own way, and in my own time,” he said, stressing the last two phrases as he met each person’s eyes.

“Now, can we please go back to normal conversations such as, I don’t know, what happened on this week’s episode of The Bachelorette or who won some mundane sport on TV?”

“Mundane!” Austin said, offended, “Football is a way of life!”

And with that declaration, the pack burst into a cacophony of conversation, each member taking sides on just whether or not sports had value to them, and if Austin’s sports obsession was healthy.

“So, what are you going to do today?” Ethan asked Amanda as she stood at the sink washing dishes. Even though she was technically on punishment, he decided to help her out just a bit by rinsing off the dishes.

“I think William and I are going to go see a movie or something,” she said, smiling faintly as the tension that she had feared would be between her and her Alpha turned out to be nonexistent. “How about you?”

Ethan shrugged; he had fallen asleep before he had managed to come up with a game plan for reaching out to Jessica, and now he wasn’t quite sure where to start.

“I’m not really sure, I still haven’t started that book Josh got me for Christmas; I may take that to the café and read.”

It would also be a good distraction for him if he decided to go with his emerging plan of inviting Jessica for coffee and got stood up.

“That sounds fun,” Amanda grinned, “you go and get started,” she said, taking the dish from him, “I’ve got this.”

“Alright,” Ethan grinned back, “well, have a good day, and don’t let William get drunk at the theater again; I refuse to bring money and bail him out of mall jail again.”

Amanda laughed, shaking her head at the memory as she began drying the dishes. “I’ll do my best; no promises.”

“Oh God,” Ethan said, patting her on the shoulder briefly before running upstairs to get dressed and text Jessica.

Once in his room, he immediately walked over to his closet, feeling as though he were a middle school girl going on her first date as he realized that his wardrobe was extremely lackluster.

He shook his head in disappointment at himself. He hadn’t even texted Jessica, let alone got her to meet with him and yet he was already freaking out about his attire.

Laughing at himself good-naturedly, he finally selected a pair of light black jeans and a gray button-up, hoping that he could come across as somewhere between classy and casual.

Sighing to himself and determining that it was now or never, he grabbed his phone and sat on the edge of his bed, scrolling to Jessica’s name in his contact list and opening up a blank message.

He chewed at his bottom lip, a nervous habit he sometimes did as he considered what to write.

Finally, after five minutes of staring at the white screen, he decided on the straightforward approach and typed out a simple message.

Hi Jessica, this is Ethan from the other night. I was wondering if you would get coffee with me today? It’s not a date, I just want to talk.

Ethan waited anxiously, staring at his phone every few seconds and wishing that he could take the message back.

His phone dinged with a response.

Just coffee?

He quickly typed back, heart pounding in his chest.

Just coffee, I won’t even pay if it would make you feel better.

The response came a bit quicker this time.

Now hold your horses partner, I didn’t say all that. I’m just fine with you paying.

So does that mean you’ll come?

Another pause before he received a response.

I’m not going to dress up, but I’ll come. Text me the time and place.

How about an hour from now, and I’ll send you the address as soon as I look it up.

Alright Mr. Alpha, I’ll see you there

Ethan smiled in spite of himself at the nickname, absurdly happy that Jessica had even said yes.

He walked over to his nightstand, grabbing the book from its drawer and running down stairs, feeling lighter than he’d felt in a while.

“See you later boss man,” Austin called out after him from the living room as Ethan walked past, offering a brief wave as he went.

He climbed in his car, buzzing with energy as he began the fifteen-minute drive to his favorite coffee shop.

He turned up the radio, whistling to the annoyingly-catchy pop song that was playing at the moment.

Before he knew it, he was at the café, looking around in spite of himself, knowing that Jessica wouldn’t be there an hour early.

He shrugged off his unnecessary disappointment and headed to the counter, smiling politely at the flirtatious barista and ordering a dark roast coffee.

He looked at the menu, realizing that, because he got the same order every time, he had never actually read their list of complicated and frivolous drinks. He wondered which among them Jessica would want.

As his eyes scanned the options and the descriptions, he couldn’t quite picture Jessica ordering any of them. At least, not with a straight face, considering that as he progressed down the list of menu items each drink name seemed to get progressively more and more ridiculous.

Ethan took his coffee as the barista handed it to him, her fingertips brushing against his hand purposefully as he took the cup.

“Would you like any cream or sugar?” the teenager asked, batting her eyelashes up at him.

He tried not to grimace; honestly, he was at least three times her age.

“No thank you,” he mumbled, turning from the counter and finding a table on the far side of the room, right under a window.

He looked around the shop, wondering if Jessica had ever been there before, and, if she had been there, whether or not she had liked it.

Suddenly, he felt a rising wave of self-consciousness as he wondered if Jessica would judge him for selecting such a place.

He internally scolded himself, wondering when he had become so worried about what other people thought of him.

Ethan shrugged it off, taking a sip of his scalding coffee before sitting back and cracking open his book.

The minutes ticked by as his eyes scanned the page, surprised to find that Josh knew him pretty well, so well that he had been able to pick out a book that Ethan easily found himself getting lost in. The book was intriguing, a tale of mystery and betrayal and redemption. Before he knew it, he was one hundred pages into the novel and he couldn’t read fast enough.