Page 22 of Convincing the Heartbroken Beta

Before Brandon had left that morning, he’d taken Cam aside and told him he’d try to get back as soon as he could, but it might be as much as two weeks that he’d be gone. Cam figured he couldn’t chop that much wood. He’d might as well face Sascha now.

“Okay.” He obeyed Sascha’s orders. “But don’t let me keep you from eating.”

Sascha rolled his eyes. “As long as you talk, I can eat.” He jabbed a finger at him. “And don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean.”

Cam lowered his eyes then rearranged the salt and pepper shakers and the butter dish. Then he put them back the way they’d been. “Uh, I think I’ll go pour myself some more coffee.”

As he began to scoot the chair back, Sascha kicked his foot.

“Talk first. Coffee second.”

Cam paused. He needed to come up with something that was sort of the truth without giving away his true feelings. Then maybe the scent of dishonesty wouldn’t pour off him.

“Uh, let’s see.” He rubbed his palms on his thighs. “You know all about how I was crushing on Hawk, right?”

“Of course. Jasper was being a butt about it.” Sascha took a sip of his milk.

Cam nodded. “Oh yeah, right.” He sucked in a breath then let it out slowly. “Well, now Jasper and Hawk have their forever after and a baby, and I guess…” He winced. It sounded selfish enough in his head. He could only imagine how much worse it would be when he said it out loud.

“And now you see me and Brandon suddenly happy together and you feel left out.”

Cam’s jaw dropped. “How’d you know that?”

Sascha plucked some venison sausage off his pizza then popped it in his mouth. He chewed, his expression thoughtful.

“I dunno. Maybe because we connected right away, and I really like you. I guess I could tell.”

“Oh.” Cam reached for the shakers again but Sascha yanked them away.

“Focus. We need to hash this out because we’re going to be together around the clock for the next two weeks. I don’t want things to be awkward. I want us to enjoy being around each other, for it to be like it was.”

“We’ve only known each other a couple days. I’m sure things will work out.”

“Cam?”

He jerked up his head to meet Sascha’s gaze, surprised at the abrupt melancholy that filled his voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s not that anything’s wrong. It’s more that I have this ache for you.” Sascha placed his palm on his chest. “I feel this sadness for you, and it makes me…” He bit his lip. “This is going to sound really bad now that me and Brandon are actually together. But it makes me want to hold you, make sure you’re just as happy as we are. I can’t explain it, but I don’t want you to go.”

Cam’s gut tightened at Sascha’s words. If he wasn’t extra careful, the scent of desire would start rolling off him and send Sascha running for cover. Even though he knew all Sascha meant was friendship, he didn’t need any encouragement when it came to the connection between them.

“I promised Brandon I’d stay until he got back. You don’t’ have to worry about that.”

Sascha sighed. “I meant I don’t want you to go ever. Wouldn’t you like to stay and…” He shook his head. “No. What am I thinking. You’re a beta, a guard. You’ll want to settle down with your own mate someday and after how well you fought, you’ll probably have your pick of the best assignments. You’re hardly a nanny.”

Cam straightened. “You want me to help you with the baby? I could totally do that.”

He bit the inside of his cheek. What the hell was he doing? Even though his heart had swelled with joy at the thought, it was a bad idea on so many levels. It was agonizing enough pretending he wasn’t attracted to Sascha. But with Brandon thrown in the mix? It would be agonizing. Cam groaned. And to make it worse, he’d get attached to the baby, he just knew it. He’d always loved children.

“Would you?” An excited grin lit up Sascha’s features. “I mean, you seemed thrilled at first, but now you kind of look like you have a stomach-ache.”

“Well…we probably shouldn’t be deciding anything without Brandon around. You know, with him being the Alpha and all that.”

Sascha stuck out his bottom lip. “True. That’s going to take some getting used to. It was just me and mom growing up. Two omegas. We always talked everything out, and half the time, she let me make the decisions.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Brandon being too bossy. He doesn’t seem like that type of Alpha at all. He’ll be fair.”