Chapter 18
Itake the plastic takeout bag from the woman at the front of the restaurant, trying to offer a smile to mirror her own. Hers is more convincing. The cool air of the night forces me to take a breath but does nothing to soothe the raging mix of emotions roiling in my chest. I stretch my neck, trying to work through it without needing to punch something.
Or someone, really.
Of coursehe chose Dominic. I practically shoved him into the decision when I didn’t stick around long enough to talk about what happened on Monday. I’d promised myself that if he asked, I’d talk about it. But the moment the question was halfway spoken, I ran to my room, hiding from whatever polite decline was perched on the edge of his tongue.
My phone vibrates, and I force a deep breath.
Last minute drop from Red Dog for a bonus track. You open tomorrow?
What time? Have a matinee.
Can you make 7 work?
Be there. Send the music so I can review it.
The last text is just a link that directs me to the guitar tab. I look it over, absolutely using it as the distraction it is.
For once, Mark’s needs line up perfectly with my own. Recording isn’t quite as good as working at the Haven for managing this festering need, but I can’t risk not being able to show up for the matinee concert tomorrow. Ben will have my ass if I’m not there, and Owen doesn’t deserve to put his neck on the line for me. Not after the fiasco that was my last scheduled shift at the Haven.
Between the music, the slight breeze, and the Chinese food that smells even better than I’d hoped, I manage to calm down enough to start the trek back to the apartment. I keep my mind blank, not allowing myself to think about the way Jasper looked at Dominic or the easy way they held each other around the orchestra. And I certainly don’t let myself think about the way Jasper’s eyes heated when he caught me staring across the bar, trying desperately to focus on whatever Simone had been saying.
Plastic cracks, and I force my hand to loosen on my phone.
“Goddamn it,” I mutter as I inspect the cracks in the case. With a grunt, I shove the phone in my pocket before I can do anything worse to it.
The walk is just long enough—combined with the grueling marathon that is a Saturday evening concert—to tire me out enough that I don’t entirely want to punch something when I round the corner of the block and see the apartment building. The darkness of the empty apartment both soothes me and feeds that festering rage. I set the food on the counter and grab my preferred practice guitar from its stand in the living room.
Twenty minutes later, I’m cursing whoever decided to key the new song in G flat fucking major and reviewing alternative chord structures. My breath catches as the front door opens. I force myself to not look up even as my fingers falter on the fretboard and one of my calluses catches, ripping open.
“Shit,” I mutter, pressing the pad of my finger to my lips.
“Oh.” Jasper’s quiet shock has me forgetting myself and looking up from the floor. “Shit, sorry, Rylan. We can leave.”
Dominic stands just behind Jasper, his shoulders filling out the door frame—something that if done by nearly anyone else would have heat rushing through me. Instead, a flash of jealousy races through me, and I have to swallow down a growl. His eyes lock with mine, and there’s a cleverness there that has dread settling low in my stomach. It’s the same look he had when we met at the café and he told me he wanted to form a fake pack.
Fuck, he plans to ask Jasper.
How can he be so casually cruel to me? He’s cruel to others, sure, but he’s never intentionally hung me out to dry like this. He has to realize just how much I’m agonizing over my temporary roommate. I shake my head, trying to tell him my thoughts on his plan without Jasper noticing, but it doesn’t work.
Jasper—for once—notices what I’m doing.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, taking a step away from Dominic. His brows furrow, but I’m caught up on how swollen his lips are. “Shit, you’re bleeding. You want me to get something for it?”
Dominic grabs Jasper’s hip before he can take a second step toward me. My gaze focuses on that point of contact. This time, I can’t control the growl, the sound low and menacing even to my own ears. Dominic closes the gap between them, running his lips along the shell of Jasper’s ear. He bites down on the spot just behind Jasper’s ear, pulling the skin between his teeth until even I can tell it’ll bruise again, and Jasper moans.
My growl gets louder.
Dominic smirks, and everything I’d managed to suppress since leaving the bar comes flying loose. Rational thought is gone, the need to mark Jasper as mine riding me harder than even the Omega’s heat did last week. The memory of his body against mine, his mouth on my skin, more intoxicating even than her honeysuckle scent.
I’m across the room before I can think better of it and pushing Dominic away from Jasper. He doesn’t fight me, dropping his arms away and pivoting so that Jasper stands behind him. He still has a smirk on his lips, that glint in his eye that tells me he’s amused. It fans the flames of rage higher. I sink into it and let it take away whatever is left of my sanity. Before Jasper can say anything, I punch Dominic in the cheek.