Chapter 81
Peter made his way into the gym with a buzzing irritation under his skin and a need to make someone bleed. He got changed in the locker room, the tension and agitation in his body evident to everyone around him. Slamming his locker shut, he stormed off to meet Aiden on the mat.
Aiden took one look at him and shook his head. “No way, Peter. I’m not fighting you when you’re like this.”
Peter glared at him, but Aiden didn’t budge. Snarling, Peter walked over to one of the punching bags on the other side of the room and attacked it with everything he had.
Breathing hard, the bag taunting him with how utterly unaffected it was by his attack, Peter gave it a final punch and turned to Aiden.
He never should have let Chad go. So what if Chad liked his job? Peter liked having Chad where he wanted him more. And Chad was his. It wasn’t right that he should go off to work when Peter could support him many times over.
“So do you want to talk about it?” Aiden asked. He had taken the bag next to Peter, though he wasn’t going at it nearly as hard.
“I claimed Chad,” Peter said. The words came out savage and proud. His cock jerked at just the thought of the mark he had put on Chad’s neck.
“You what?” Aiden asked.
“I claimed him. He’s mine now.” Peter liked the way the words tasted in his mouth. Liked the way mine and Chad went together.
“So what’s the problem?” Aiden crossed his arms. “Is he misbehaving already?”
Peter shook his head. “He’s out on the Desert Energy job for the next eight weeks.”
“So you claimed him and then let him travel halfway around the world to do grunt security work? What’s the point of that?” Aiden scoffed.
Peter shook his head. Aiden was not the person to talk to about this. He didn’t seem to get the relationship he and Chad had.
“The point was that I didn’t want him going back to work without my mark on him.”
“But why did you let him go at all? Why not just tell him to stay?”
“Because that’s not the kind of relationship I want. He’s an alpha too. I don’t want to make him feel like I’m coming in and taking control of every aspect of his life.”
Aiden gave him a droll look that let Peter know just what he thought about that. “You, Peter Tank, don’t want to control every aspect of his life? Since when?”
Peter shrugged. Aiden was right; it was out of character for him, but even though he’d only known Chad a month, he knew how Chad would react if he tried to take over that way. Chad needed his independence, and for some reason Peter wanted to give it to him.
He would just have to deal with Chad’s absence. They could video chat, talk on the phone, and if Peter got really crazy, he could take a trip to inspect the operation and see Chad in person.
“Since now,” Peter said. “But let’s talk about something else. What’s new with you? Take anyone home lately?”
Aiden shrugged, but there was a gleam in his eye that told Peter that he had. He hoped Aiden found someone soon. It would make things much less awkward.
***