Chapter 27
Teddy waves me over as I walk into the gym today for work.
I’m determined that it’s gonna be a good Saturday despite how strange stuff is at home.
Home,,,that sounds so freaky. We’re still settling into the new place.
It’s been a couple of months, but it’s finally starting to feel like ours.
Paul spent the last week setting up some fancy mail-order bookcases.
I told him Sam could probably do them for us, but he just grumbled a bit and said this would be fine.
He watched some online tutorial thingy and now he thinks he’s a professional.
I mean, he’s good with his hands; he’s always carving these cute little animals and stuff. He made Al a new chess set for Christmas…ok, well Sam made the board, but he carved all the little fiddly bits. Not that I play chess, but I can appreciate the aesthetics.
And, ok, yeah, I may be living out of boxes while we try to figure out the bedroom arrangements—and until I get some clothes hangers.
Tiffany never mentioned those, but it makes sense since I don’t have a dresser.
Everybody already has their own rooms, but it makes my brain itch to stretch my stuff out after being on the couch for so long.
But that’s ok. We’re in a place that’s our own, for better or worse.
And we’ll get settled eventually. We’ve got nothing but time. It’s fine.
Kelly waves at me before covering her eyes with her hand.
She’s on the phone in the office, and the sweet beta looks like she’s ready to reach through the receiver and strangle someone.
Teddy draws my attention back with a quick knock on the counter.
“Hey, Spence. Um…we’ve got some old school friends visiting from out of town.
If you happen to see a couple of strangers out on the floor, don’t get too stressed.
I don’t expect them to cause any problems, but just come get me if she tries to agro anybody, yeah?
Greg seems totally chill and should keep her in check, but just in case.
” He lets out a shaky laugh like he does expect their friends to cause a ruckus, but everybody here’s laid-back… well, almost everybody.
Heading into the employee lounge, I can’t stifle my groan when I look at the staff schedule posted up on the fridge.
Fucking shit, Hope booked an extra session with me this afternoon.
I know it’s more money, but that woman isn’t interested in working out.
Where the hell does she get all this money from, anyway?
I shouldn’t complain, fuck knows we’re gonna need all the extra funds we can get after having to pay all the utility deposits and stuff, but I still don’t wanna be around her.
Maybe Al’s right, and I should talk to Teddy and Kelly about it.
I know they wouldn’t want me to be uncomfortable.
But the gym is still starting up and getting a following, and I don’t want to cause them any problems.
Fuck it, I’ll deal. As long as she doesn’t try to touch me today, it’ll be fine.
If she does, I’ll go to the bosses and make a report.
I don’t want them to think I’m trying to cause trouble, but I just can’t keep doing this.
Quickly changing into my gym logo shirt and shorts, I hang up my jeans and jacket in my work locker and head out onto the floor.
It’s still another thirty minutes before I’m officially on the clock, so maybe I can get some laps around the track to de-stress before dealing with the hydra woman… no wait, hydras have extra heads.
Octopus-woman?
They have lots of hands…tentacles.
Shit, what was I thinking about?
My eyes scan the room on my way to the stairs for the upper level that has the track. Yeah, there’s an elevator, but why would I use that when I’m at the gym? Well, ok, if my knees were bad, yeah, but they’re fine, so stairs it is.
My brain is doing its usual hopscotch routine of thinking of running laps…
not like pool laps…I know Teddy said they wanted to have a pool built for the gym, but the logistics and insurance weren’t worth it for just starting up.
I need to check on house insurance. That’s something I should have done before we got moved in.
I mean, we have insurance, the mortgage company needed us to, but is it the best deal?
I should shop around for that…shopping. I need to go to the store and get stuff for dinner before I head home.
Did I pack lunch? Did Paul pack my lunch?
I don’t remember either one happening, but that’s not necessarily indicative.
I may take my bicycle and go grab lunch and groceries all at once during lunch hour, then Paul can come by and take them home…
unless I get something frozen like ice cream… Great, now I want a drumstick. Shit.
My various trains of thought are derailed by the overly pungent scent of Chadwick’s pack standing near a small section of free weights.
They’re clustered in a semicircle, and while I can’t see the bench they’re surrounding, their aggression and desire permeating the air is setting my teeth on edge something fierce.
Even though I’m not on the clock yet, I can’t let the assholes mess up Kelly’s business, so I pivot at the foot of the stairs and head that way.
Their voices are growly and unintelligible until I get closer and hear Chadwick crooning, “Now, don’t be like that, shortcake.
We just hadn’t seen you at the gym before.
If you’re new in town, we’d like to take you out, show you around. ”
The sleaze coming off him makes it feel like a slug just slimed across my eardrums, and I have to suppress a shiver. I’m about to interrupt and check on whoever this “shortcake” person is, when a loud feminine snarl rises over the group. “Listen up, Chad!”
Oh, ok, so at least she knows the guys. That’s not so bad.
“I don’t know who the fuck you are.”
Well, shit.
“But if you don’t back the hell off, right fucking now, you're going to be wearing your goddamned testicles as earrings. You got me, motherfucker?”
Chadwick turns enough to smirk at his packmates and they start to chuckle, but I don’t miss the anger in his eyes or how his pheromones ratchet up in aggression.
His normally steely scent takes on a bitter edge of overheated metal.
His head turns back to whoever’s in front of him, just as I reach out and grab his shoulder.
Snapping his attention to me before he can agro any further on…
a really short woman holding a weight bar like a club.
Oh yeah, that would hurt like hell.
I’ve banged my head on enough of those damned things.
She’s so tiny she barely comes up to his collarbones, but the fire in her dark eyes tells me already that she is not someone you wanna fuck with. All in all, she makes me think of a rabid chipmunk: cute but it will take a chunk out that you won’t soon forget.
My voice is a low, menacing snarl as I pull the growly alpha around and away from the feral beta girl.
“Alright, Chadwick, that was your last warning. You’re out.
Go clean out your locker and talk to Garret at the front if you want to attempt getting your deposit back.
Good luck, though.” I push past him and insert myself between his group and the short woman, hoping like hell she doesn’t see this as a slight and take her anger out on me while my back is turned.
Brent, one of his packmates, tries to argue about how not fair it is, but I’ve put on my best resting bitch face and just stand there, waiting for them to get the message.
Eventually, they wander back towards the men’s locker room.
A few seconds later, I see Garret come out of the office and head that way as well.
He should be able to take care of it. He’ll holler if he needs help.
Now that the threat seems to be gone, and the woman behind me hasn’t beaned me in the noggin with a metal rod, I turn around to give her my full attention, and holy fucking shit, she’s adorable.
Ok, that’s rude, but it’s true. She’s so tiny.
I mean, most betas only come up around shoulder height on me.
But she wouldn’t even be at my nipples…wait. Why am I thinking about my nipples now?
Crap.
I’m not getting any scent from her, so she must be a beta, like Kelly.
Unlike Kelly, her hair is deep brown, almost black, and in a short pixie cut—kinda like she got mad at it one day and just chopped it a couple of inches long all over.
Her big eyes are a dark chocolatey color, staring up at me in awe.
She’s wearing a sporty halter top and really tight shorts, which makes it painfully obvious that she’s jacked as hell.
I mean, she’s still curvy as fuck, but her arm muscles are sculpted to perfection and she looks like she would have given Chadwick a run for his money. I bet she can kick like a fuckin’ mule.
I hold my hand out in an offer to shake.
That’s what you’re supposed to do in these situations, right?
Wait, is my hand sweaty?
Should I pull it back and wipe it on my pants first, just to make sure?
Wait, then she’ll know I offered her my sweaty hand, but if it’s not sweaty, then no harm done.
Shit, I wish Paul were here; he’d know the protocol on these things.
Nope, already started, just go with it.
But she doesn’t take my possibly sweaty paw; her big beautiful eyes are glaring behind me.
Before I can turn around to rip Chadwick’s pack a new one, a high, fake giggle sends unpleasant shivers up my spine.
Fuck me sideways, it’s Hope. “Oh, Spence, you’re here early.
Are you as eager as I am to get our training session started?
” Her voice sets my teeth on edge and the tiny beta in front of me flicks her eyes between my face—which I am trying, and failing, to keep neutral—and the touchy woman who just slid her hand down my back, going straight for my ass.