Chapter 13
Thirteen
Brady
With the utmost tenderness, as if I were made of porcelain, Xavier led me to his car.
He opened the door for me and secured my seatbelt once I was sitting comfortably.
If anyone else had done such a thing, I would have felt like a child, but with Xavier it was protective, doting, absolutely perfect.
When he took the driver’s seat, I leaned into his space and pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of his mouth.
He turned and captured my lips with his own.
The kiss turned hungry fast. His tongue swept across the seam of my lips and delved into my mouth.
Xavier moved closer until all I could feel, see, smell was him.
I sighed with relief, and something in that sound jolted Xavier back to himself. He broke away with one final kiss. “We shouldn’t do this,” he whispered in the quiet car. His fingers flexed on the steering wheel as if he were battling not to reach for me again.
“It’s fine. I started it.” Kissing him had given me a sense of safety once more.
“No… fuck, Brady. You almost got assaulted!”
“I had it handled. I’m fine,” I protested weakly.
If Xavier hadn’t been there, would I have been able to fight Lucas off if it had gone any further than just a forced kiss?
I scoffed internally. Just a forced kiss, as if that was innocent, not invasive.
I had been out of my depth then. Between Lucas’ pheromones and his larger build, I would have struggled if he had tried to take more.
Xavier let out a humorless chuckle. “Well, I’m not. I wanted to break his face for touching you.” He started the car and pulled out of the space effortlessly. We remained in silence during the brief journey to my apartment block. He didn’t stop in the garage but in the street outside the main door.
“Do you want to come up?”
“Yeah, not going to though.” His expression showed how conflicted he was.
His answer felt like a slap. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s inappropriate.” I sat there wondering how to voice my next thought. “Maybe I should give up on the app.”
“Don’t. You can’t let that piece of shit steal this from you.”
I jolted. “Don’t you want me to give up on dating and come back to you?”
He laughed bitterly. “Not like this,” he paused. “Brady, I want it to be your choice to give up. For you to be absolutely sure you want to restart things with us.” His words cut off. “No, I want to be your Mate Match, to prove it to you.”
“But you haven’t shown up on the app!”
“Yet.” He gave me a devilish smile. “I think you should go inside and call the support line. You need to report that guy.”
The thought of letting him drive away hurt more than I thought it would. “Thank you for finding me. I’m sorry you keep having to—”
“I’m not,” he said with a set jaw. Determination lined every part of him.
So sexy. “Being there for you is what I want to do. If I didn’t want to be at your beck and call, I’d tell you.
I’m your alpha, Brady. Your partner, but not until you’ve really worked this all out.
Now go inside and report that guy, okay? ”
“Yeah, I will. Thank you, Xavier.”
He watched me leave the car and walk up to my building. The car only pulled away once I was safely inside. I sat heavily on my couch with a sigh, the number for Mate Match customer support waiting for me to press dial.
The call connected quickly, with a familiar voice answering. “Brent, don’t you have a social life?” I teased after he introduced himself.
There was a warm chuckle. “A life, a mate, a kid, but our little startup takes a lot of time. What can I help you with, Brady?” I quickly outlined the date. “Okay, this is going to be unprofessional,” he warned before letting off a line of curses.
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. “Wow! That was impressive.”
“Are you okay? That’s two dates now that could’ve gone really bad. This shouldn’t be happening.” I could almost feel his despair.
“Yeah, I had a friend who was nearby,” I said, downplaying the event. Maybe I was shaken up. Still, Brent didn’t need to know that.
“Good, that’s good. Maybe I need to add some date guidance and rules to the app.” There was tapping on the other end of the line.
“Maybe. You know I don’t blame you, though, right?” I needed him to understand that.
“You should. If it wasn’t for your friend…” he went silent for so long I thought I’d lost the call. “Why are you on this app, Brady? What about this guy? Is he a potential mate?”
I laughed. “He’s actually on the app. We used to have a friends with benefits thing… It’s complicated. I thought he might match with me, but I’ve been on all these dates and he’s not there.”
“He’s trying to match with you?”
“Yeah. He wants to use it as a way of showing we’re meant to be.”
Brent let out a tiny sigh. “That’s kinda romantic.”
“It is, which is why I’m losing hope.”
“Brady, I can’t match you with him. It’d break all the company ethics. What I can do is clean up your profile a bit, maybe refresh your matches. Might get you a bit closer. What d’you think?”
“Let’s do that, please. I appreciate this, Brent.”
Later, in bed, I clutched the pillow to me as I cried. It was ridiculous to be so upset over something that was a long shot.
Brent had taken me through the questionnaires this time and adjusted my answers where I was unsure of things the last time I’d gone through them. Though time-consuming, I hoped it would be worth it.
Why was I so brokenhearted when Xavier wasn’t my first match? Brent had told me that the chances of Xavier being at the top of my list were small. We were basically playing a lottery by trying to get matched to each other, especially since another omega might have tied Xavier up in a match already.
Seeing the profile of the next guy had made my stomach lurch so painfully I thought I was going to throw up. It made me realize I didn’t want to play this game anymore. I wanted Xavier.
The cold, hard truth of it was that I was done with Mate Match if it meant I couldn’t have Xavier. I had to end this.
Brady
Meet me tomorrow at the Blackstone Gallery. 3pm
He didn’t leave me waiting for long. Never did.
Xavi
I’ll be there.
I slept fitfully and woke far earlier than I usually would.
Unable to stand the solitude of my apartment, I thought about visiting Jae, but decided against it.
The pair had so little family time now with both of them working and looking after Leo that it felt rude to intrude.
We’d end up wedding planning too, which I didn’t like to do without Jae’s mom there.
Not that there was much left to do. Under Haneul’s steering, the wedding ship was on course!
I was so tired I could barely muster a smile at the thought of Haneul’s strict planning sessions.
Staying home was an absolute no, so I went to the pool instead.
After only half an hour in the pool, my mind felt much more settled.
The cool water moving over my limbs, the steady pump of my arms and legs propelling me from one end to the other had me hypnotised.
I swam until my body felt too heavy to continue and slowly made my way to the showers.
The spray worked out the remaining tension I held while I let my mind wander.
All these months, the back and forth, everything ended today.
By the time I entered the gallery, I was determined to get what I wanted. Xavier had already proven to me he was my perfect match. Did we really need the app to show it? If my plan didn’t work, I had the words rehearsed to convince him.
He stood in front of a painting, gazing at it with a slight frown on his handsome face.
I loved the way his mouth turned up at the corner as if he were always fighting off a smirk.
His top lip was thinner than the bottom, the smallest imperfection on an otherwise perfect face.
His blue eyes were the color of the ocean on a pretty day, with dark, thick lashes and strong slashes for eyebrows.
He had a tiny beauty mark at the corner of his left eye that I wanted to kiss.
Xavier’s hair was a darker brown than usual, likely from the shower of rain. His wool coat glistened with raindrops, telling me he hadn’t been waiting long.
I approached quickly and tapped him on the arm. I wanted to kiss him, but it felt wrong until we cleared the air. “Hey, thanks for coming.”
“Of course. Should we walk a bit further in? It’s a little crowded here.”
“Sure.”
We walked together, pausing briefly at some of the older art to make inane comments neither of us really paid attention to until we found a quiet corner.
“What’s wrong? Did you hear from that guy?”
I startled, my mind too caught up in what I wanted to ask him to do. “Huh, no. He’s banned from the app now. Brent helped me.”
Xavier studied me. “Good. Why did you ask me to come?”
With shaking fingers, I pulled my phone from my pocket. “I’ve been matched with someone, but they aren’t who I want. You are who I want.” I held up the open app. “You’ve been matched with someone else, haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” he admitted. He took his phone out and opened the app. “We haven’t arranged anything yet.”
“Unmatch him. I’ll do the same with mine. Then we can see if we finally match.”
“If we don’t?”
“Then we keep trying until we do, even if I’ve got to go through every damn alpha on that app to get you.”
Xavier chuckled, his eyes suspiciously damp. “Okay.” He clicked the button to remove the match.
I did the same, then refreshed like Brent had taught me.
We waited. “It can take some time,” I said, reaching for his hand. He took it. “Why don’t we walk around while we wait?”
“Sounds good. There’s a piece here I’ve wanted to show you for a while.”
For the next hour we wandered the halls of the gallery, making commentary on each of the paintings and sculptures that caught our attention. Xavier told me that Gio finally admitted defeat and returned the painting we both loved. It was a relief to know that part of his life was done.
It was so easy to be with him. We took our time exploring. In one hand, I held my phone, Xavier’s fingers wrapped around my other.
My phone dinged loudly in the gallery, attracting the attention of the other patrons. Xavier laughed under his free hand at their glares.
The banner along my screen had my heart racing:
Congratulations, Brady, we have a rare 98.5% compatibility match for you. Click here to open your Mate Matched profile.
I clicked the notification, and there, looking back at me, was Xavier’s profile.
Not only was he my Mate Match, he was damn near my perfect match.