Page 3 of Rejected Broken Mate

He nodded, looking outside the windows towards the backyard. I knew he was looking at the tire swing.

"You can go swing on it," I said, finishing my slice.

Michael was up and out before I could grab myself another slice. I watched from the window, chuckling as I did.

I put the pizza away and wandered back into my bedroom. After a moment, I stared at the closet and pulled it open. I grabbed the box and sat down on the bed with it.

I grabbed my school jersey and a stray photo, and my stomach twisted up violently. I felt tears build up, remembering Miles.

Miles was sitting at the beach shirtless with his fresh ink on his chest from his tattoo that matched with a bunch of his friends. He had been growing his hair out and had a fresh tan from all the sun. His brown eyes sparkled in the photo since I was only standing a few feet away with the camera.

My mind instantly snapped to our fight and then our break up.

I rubbed my thumb over the fabric, remembering watching him play. He played football and baseball just like Michael did. Michael had taken after him in so many ways. Sometimes, I felt he was more his child than my own.

I quickly shook my head, reminding myself that it was in the past and that I had moved on. I needed to focus on the future and give Michael everything he deserved.

Chapter 2 - Miles

I yawned and stretched out. Ayden smacked me from behind, and everyone busted out laughing. I scowled as I rubbed my head, looking at my alpha. "What was that for?"

Ayden narrowed his eyes. "You're yawning. When out of all of us, you slept the most."

"That doesn't mean I'm not tired," I said. "Maybe I was kept up."

Owen snorted. "I doubt that."

"Maybe I was up all night banging a woman."

"Were you?" Weslie asked, raising an eyebrow as he flipped through the newspaper.

I didn't feel like answering that. To be honest, I slept like shit last night. I tossed and turned, feeling something was off, but I didn't know what it was. It was bothering me because I still had that feeling.

"You're just jealous I can get some," I said, smirking at Weslie. "How long has it been since you've last been laid."

"We aren't talking about that this morning," Ayden said, grabbing a pan from under the island. "I'm not listening to you guys go on and on about who's been laid the most. I hired all of you for specific reasons, and they weren't, so I could feel like I worked around a bunch of teenagers."

"No, you hired us to make you feel young," I quickly added, smirking.

Owen snorted.

The thing was, I was a couple of years older than Ayden and Owen, but you wouldn't think it. I think their stressfulpositions put a couple of years on them, but of course, I was going to keep that remark to myself this morning.

Ayden rolled his eyes. "Owen is cooking, and I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

Everyone nodded when Ayden turned me. "I would like to speak to you in my office."

All the guys made a noise, and I scowled. "Is this for calling you old?"

Ayden didn't say anything; he just marched toward his office. I pulled myself up, following after him. I shut the door as we got inside and sat in a chair.

Ayden sighed as he sat down in his chair. "So, we have someone new starting today."

My eyebrows went up. "I didn't know we were even hiring."

Ayden shrugged. "We need an extra hand around the fire station. It's come to my attention that we don't have enough fundraisers, and we sure need the funds.”

I raised an eyebrow. "Who said that?"

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