Page 39 of Room 908

He made a face. “I dunno. Yoga doesn’t sound like my thing.”

“I know you say that now, but I promise it’ll take your game to the next level. I wish someone had told me that back in high school.”

“All right, Coach, I’ll give it a shot.”

“You won’t regret it.” I patted him on the back and handed back the ball, before continuing on my way to the lot. “Don’t forget school starts next week,” I called over my shoulder. “You keep those grades up, okay?”

I was eager to get home. Summer was nearly over, and both my boys were headed back to school, Cam in grade 5 and Jasper in university. This called for a special treat, so on the way home, I stopped at the grocery store, heading straight to the bakery before swinging back around to the frozen foods aisle.

I was whistling a tune, a cherry pie in one hand and a tub of chocolate ice cream in the other, when I stepped up to the checkout line. The woman in line in front of me turned and looked up briefly, before doing a double take. “Hi, how are you?” I asked politely.

It wasn’t unusual for me to get attention from people who recognized me. I would often give autographs or take pictures with fans, but I hadn’t been expecting the reaction she gave me.

“Hmff,” she snorted, scowling, before spinning on her heel to look away.

I recoiled a little at the attitude.Okay, not a football fan, I guess. No big deal. Except, she wasn’t the only person giving me side-eye. My skin prickled from all the eyes on me. I saw one man nudge his partner with an elbow, and the two of them glared daggers.

Feeling a little disconcerted, I turned to the cashier when the line moved. “Good afternoon,” I said, but it was apparently a lost cause. Instead of the usual chitchat I got from the cashier, she frowned and didn’t even acknowledge my greeting. In fact, she wouldn’t even look at me, just shoved my food in a bag, and I swore she intentionally dropped the ice cream in on top of the pie.

What the hell?

It was the weirdest thing. It was like the whispering in second grade when someone started the rumor that I ate dog food. What the hell was going on?

I was almost at the exit when my eye caught the cover of Chatter Magazine in the rack by the checkout.What the fuck?!I stopped right there, transfixed. There, in a full-page candid photo, obviously taken with a telephoto lens without my knowledge, was a picture of me... and another man. The headline read: “CAUGHT CHEATING.”

Ignoring the chain blocking off the closed checkout, I leapt over and pulled one of the magazines out and started flipping to the article.

“This isn’t a library,” the cashier from the next checkout over said, not even bothering to hide her sneer.

Grumbling, I fished out my wallet and dropped a ten-dollar bill on the counter; it was the smallest I had. “Keep the change,” I muttered, ducking my head in shame as I hurried out of the store, even though I knew for certain I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Once I was in the safety of my car, I whipped open the magazine to see what I had supposedly done. The picture was clearly doctored to make it look like I was closer to the man than I actually was, and they’d done something to the lighting to make it look intimate, while I was pretty sure it was taken when I was talking with one of the students’ parents at a practice last week. There had been three other parents there, but they’d been cropped out. It was totally innocent, but it sure didn’t look that way. They’d made it look like I was cheating on my omega.

“Ridiculous,” I grumbled, feeling unsettled. “How can they print this trash?” More importantly, though, how could anyone believe it?

There was an article to go with it, full of baseless lies that no one could prove one way or the other—but then I got to the part that said, “A close personal friend of Jasper Mayle, who chooses to remain unidentified, says he isn’t surprised by the adultery. ‘Eric Van Leer is nothing but a dumb jock who doesn’t know how to treat someone like Jasper. That omega is the sweetest, kindest man, and he obviously deserves better. It was only a matter of time before Van Leer showed his true colors. Hopefully now Jasper can make a clean break and move on.’”

My stomach plummeted all the way down to my shoes, before threatening to come straight back up. I swallowed repeatedly to keep my lunch where it was. Clean break? Move on? I would bet money that the unnamed source was fucking Brent, taking one last chance at breaking me and Jasper up. But… what if it actually worked? My skin went cold and damp, and my hands were shaking, which made it hard to fumble the key into the ignition. I needed to get home. Now. Before Jasper heard the rumors.

The tires squealed as I peeled out of the parking lot, horn honking as I cut someone off. I had to force myself to slow down and drive more carefully, but my heart was like a jackhammer trying to break through my chest, and my vision was going blurry. Panic made me reckless.

I couldn’t lose Jasper. Not when I just got him back. I’d betrayed him before, so maybe it wasn’t such a stretch for him to think I’d done it again, but I wasn’t the same man I was a decade ago. He had to know that. Right? But if he believed it, would he leave again? I would miss out on my children’s lives, and I refused to let it happen. I would beg if I had to, force Jasper to give me a chance to explain.

My shirt was damp with sweat by the time I came roaring into the driveway. I grabbed the ice cream and sprinted for the front door, taking the steps in one leap. “Jasper?” I shouted, slamming the door.

I heard splashing in the pool, so I headed through the house to the glass sliding doors that opened onto the back deck. As I dropped the shopping bag on the counter on the way by, my gaze fell on the same fucking tabloid lying out on the counter. Too late. He’d seen it.

“Fuck,” I spat, dread churching.

Bracing for a fight, I stepped out into the sunshine. I hoped my knees were up for all the begging I was about to do.

Jasper was lying on a lounger beside the pool, soaking up some sun. My heart gave a heavy thud whenever I saw him. He was just so beautiful, especially like this. The sun had made little freckles emerge across his chest and shoulders, and he had the smallest baby bump beginning to come out.

“Hi, Papa! Come and swim with me!” Cam shouted, splashing water in my direction.

I tried to smile, but it felt awkward and painful. “Sure, buddy, just give me a few minutes to say hi to your dad.”

Jasper took off his sunglasses and squinted up at me, and I moved around to block Cam’s view of our impending fight. I crouched, and whispered with as much emotion as I could muster, “Baby, it’s not true!” I gripped his hand hard, half expecting him to jerk away from me.

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