Skaydal - Unsettled Beta

8

Mato

Did she just say what I think she said? I blinked rapidly as she continued to purr and fawn over Zack – whose eyes were shut.

“Say what now?” I asked as I leaned forward. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. Not only had Zack brought me to a bar, but he had also brought me to a bar he had hookups in. What on earth had he been thinking?

“I mean, Zack here has never brought a friend with him,” she cooed out as she ran her fingers through his hair. I noticed him flinch, but he didn’t pull away. “As I said, I’m all in for a little fun,” she then pulled out her phone and after checking something, she leaned against Zack. “I’m free in about an hour or so if you want to wait for me,”

“Missy,” Zack suddenly growled out in warning, but it was far too late for that.

“Oh, come now, Zackie poo, we had fun just the other night, didn’t we? I could make it good for both of you,” she flirted, but it wasn’t until she turned that charm on me, that Zack seemed to register what was happening.

“No,” he snapped as he abruptly stood up. “No, Missy,” he repeated firmly. “Come on Mato, let’s go somewhere else for lunch,” I leaned back against the leather seat and picked up the menu.

“Um, no, I think I would like to try their mean burger…I heard they are the best,” Zack’s eyes went wide, and I turned to Missy and smiled. She looked torn between amused and concerned. “I’ll have the double-decker cheeseburger, with fries and a banana milkshake,”

“Good, and you, Zackie poo?”

“Yes, Zackie poo, what will you have?” I teased him as I enjoyed watching him squirm. Zack finally sat down and growled out his order. Missy swung her ass as she strutted away, in what I assumed she thought was attractive. It was anything but.

“Mato-” he started, but I quickly put my hand up to stop him.

“Don’t even try, Zack,” I said softly. The bar wasn’t busy and despite the scene, Missy had already caused, I wasn’t interested in drawing any more attention our way. As it was, the bartender hadn’t been able to stop glancing our way. “Why did you bring me here…of all places…Zack?” he seemed to be thinking about it very hard and I watched him closely. As much as I wanted to say something, I remained silent. I wanted him to come up with an excuse or the truth because, as far as I was concerned, this had been a cry for help. Was I being too ambitious about that? Probably. Zack still hadn’t answered me when Missy came over with our drinks. She carefully set down the banana milkshake in front of me and the strawberry milkshake in front of him.

“So, boys, are you taking me home after lunch?” she questioned softly in that sultry voice of hers. I wanted to be attracted to her, but in reality, my mate was sitting right across from me.

“Missy,” Zack hissed out as he grabbed her wrist. “Stop it,”

“Oh, Zackie poo, why must you always play so hard to get? We both know you want me,” she slowly pulled herself away from him and sent me a flirtatious wink before she left us once again.

“Zackie poo?” I couldn’t help but tease. Although this was hurtful as hell, I needed to play down my feelings. Zack glared at me for a minute before he sat back, defeated.

“I think she is doing this on purpose,” he muttered, and I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Mato…I’m not going to lie to you, clearly, I hooked up with her,” the truth coming out of his mouth didn’t make me feel any better. “But I don’t date, and I don’t do repeats,”

“You don’t? It seems to me, you’ve had repeats with her,”

“I have…but…” his voice trailed off and I shook my head as I took a long sip from the thick milkshake. I didn’t miss the way Zack’s eyes were trained on the movement. Admittedly, I may or may not have used a bit of tongue, just to tease him a bit. The conversation died down as Missy came out with our meals. This time she made no remark, and it may have had to do with the fact that she had other customers to attend to. Zack and I ate in silence even though I wanted this to be so much more than a simple lunch. I wasn’t even sure why I was holding onto the hope that Zack would wake up one day and want more. The bartender, Luke, stopped by our table and offered us a beer, but Zack quickly refused, sending Luke back to the bar. It was strange and, to me, it seemed as though Luke viewed Zack as some sort of idol. I suppose picking up people at a bar was admirable, but I had to disagree.

“Here is your bill,” Missy sang out as she dumped the bill in front of Zack. Clearly, she wasn’t impressed with him and as she stood there with her hand on her hip, it was obvious to me that she was playing a game. One that Zack may have played before. I wasn’t sure but as Zack handed over the bill with some cash, Missy huffed out in frustration before she left the table once again.

“Are you ready to go?” Zack then asked me, and I promptly stood up. I was more than ready to go. Once we were outside, Zack turned to me and suddenly groaned when his eye caught on something behind me. I turned around to see Missy coming toward us.

“You weren’t seriously going to leave without me, were you, Zackie poo?” she pouted and once again I had to take in the fact that she was a good-looking female.

“Missy, stop,” Zack held up his hand and shook his head. “It is not happening,”

“You always say that right before we hook up,” she said, and I rolled my eyes. This whole thing was boring, and I was beyond irritated now. I opened my mouth to say something, but Zack stepped closer to Missy.

“You are embarrassing me in front of my boyfriend,” his whispered words registered, and I gasped in surprise. We were not boyfriends. Hell, we weren’t even hooking up. Missy didn’t seem fazed by his words and when she giggled and laid her hand on his chest, I saw red. Enough was enough.

“Oh, Zackie poo, it doesn’t matter if he is your boyfriend, your lover, or your pickup for the day…you and I both know you want me,”

“That’s enough,” I roared and both of them turned to me, startled by my loud and pissed-off tone. “Missy, you are a lovely woman, but I have to say that your desperation is not appealing. You do not need to try this hard to be with someone and you deserve to be cherished and treasured. Stop throwing yourself at someone that uses you for his own pleasure,” Zack actually had the decency to look ashamed while Missy seemed intrigued by what I had just said to her. “Let’s go,” I then muttered as I turned toward Zack’s car. Within seconds, he was driving us to the warehouse and as the silence stretched on, I felt tired, and it had nothing to do with my body. I was mentally exhausted by this game he and I seemed to have going on. When he pulled up in front of the store, I turned in my seat and looked at him.

“You…she…I’m sorry,” he suddenly stuttered, and I shook my head.

“I don’t want an apology, Zack,” I said softly. “I just want this to stop,” he finally looked over at me and frowned. “We either give this mate thing a real shot, or we end it once and for all,” the possibility of it ending hurt more than I could have imagined but I needed to say something. This cat-and-mouse game was taking its toll on me.

“I’m not ready for either,” he whispered, and I sighed before I pushed open the door and got out. Carmen would be angry if I didn’t at least get some samples. The hardware store turned out to be a maze for a contractor’s wet dream. I had no idea what I was looking for as I scanned the rows of shelving that offered every type of tool known to man.

“Hi, can I help you?” I glanced over to see a rather amused-looking youngster and I simply nodded.

“I’m looking for a sample of cherry red paint and…some shelving options,”

“Ah, right this way,” he said as he then led me down numerous aisles. “So here we have a few shades of the cherry red paint,” I stared at the tins with the color labels, but I had no idea what it meant.

“Isn’t cherry red, cherry red?” I asked and he chuckled.

“Not quite,”

“How about you give us a few samples of what options there are,” Zack said as he suddenly appeared next to us. The youngster flinched but tried to keep his friendly smile in place as he nodded before he scurried away.

“Did you have to scare him off like that?” I hissed out.

“Yes, he was standing way too close,” his possessive tone should have been delightful, instead, I was annoyed.

“Standing too close? Are you being serious right now?” I snapped. “He was showing me the paint,”

“Sure, he was,” he said as he looked around. “You asked for samples, and he brought you here,”

“I can’t believe you right now,” I was tempted to walk away, but fear of getting lost in the maze stopped me. I was being over dramatic, but I didn’t care.

“Look, just because I don’t know what I want, doesn’t mean I want to see someone else getting their flirt on with you,” he explained softly, and I found myself melting at his simple and honest declaration. But I had to hold firm.

“And do you think I enjoyed watching Missy cooing all over you, Zackie poo?” Zack blushed and he looked utterly adorable, so I quickly looked away. “At least I don’t have a history of hooking up with Mr. Sample, unlike you,” I added. Zack scoffed just as the youngster returned with a small booklet.

“These are the samples for cherry red,” he said as he held out the booklet to Zack – who ignored it and walked away.

“Thank you,” I said as I took the booklet. “Now about those shelves…”

“Yes, so what kind of shelving are you looking for?” he asked, and I went into as much detail as I could about the café and what we wanted to do. He nodded throughout my explanation and then he smiled. “Right, so I’m thinking that metal shelving is the way to go,” he then turned to lead me down the maze of hardware hell. Zack was already there, eyeing some of the options which made the youngster falter before he pushed back his shoulders and joined him. I hid my smile as Zack gave him a look that was made to kill. “Ah...um…here we are…” he stuttered out and I nudged Zack with my shoulder so that he could back off.

“Right, so what do you suggest?” I asked as Zack finally left us. I couldn’t wrap my head around what he actually wanted, and I was going to get Carmen back for this. One way or another.