Page 16 of Maple Sugar Mix-Up
I cleared my throat awkwardly. “I kind of thought you were ghosting me… when you didn’t return any of my calls.”
“Oh no!” he said. “I’m sorry!”
“Don’t be, you didn’t have any control of it. Besides, we agreed it was a one night deal and neither of us is interested in a relationship; there was no reason for you to think I’d be calling.”
He nodded, then shot me another curious look. “Then, what were you calling about?”
Should’ve kept my mouth shut. “I… couldn’t stop thinking about you,” I admitted. “I know you don’t want anything serious. And neither do I. But I thought we could at least hang out. Maybe as friends?”
“I’d like that,” he said. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about you all week too. You’re…” Ashton laughed nervously, then sighed. “You’re exactly the type of alpha I’d date, if I wanted to date.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
We grinned at each other.
“Anyway,” I said reluctantly. “I need to get back to the desk…” I don’t know what compelled me, but I added, “If you can’t get a hold of your mother, have a nurse call down for me and I’d be happy to give you a lift if… Well, that didn’t work so well last time. But if you need a ride home…”
“Thank you! Really; I appreciate it.”
I headed back into the hall and nearly bumped in a nurse.
“Hey Jace, what brings you over here?” he asked.
“Visiting a friend,” I said, nodding back to the room.
George crossed the hall to another door and paused to look back at me. “That guy?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know him?” George asked, pulling a file off the door.
“He’s actually the omega who won the auction for my candy.”
He burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked suspiciously.
“Sorry, it’s just that… you know, you’re so uptight about the Provider Alpha trope, so you start dating an omega who’s freaking loaded.”
“We aren’t dating, we just—” I started to protest. “Wait, loaded?”
George snorted in amusement. “Didn’t you see the auction results? He bid a shitload on your candy. He’s an author, you know.”
“Yeah, I knew that…”
“I mean anauthor. Like, with a huge fanbase and movies and a TV show and shit.”
“He has movies?” I yelped. “From his books?”
“Yeah. And some streaming service is in the middle of doing a TV show too.”
“Oh shit,” I groaned.
“Hey, on the bright side, he’s probably not looking for a Provider Alpha.”
“No,” I said. “But he’s not going to be interested in one who’s dirt poor either.”
“You never know you…” George trailed off and cleared his throat.
