Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Not to mention that he wasn’t supposed to be talking to Hugh at all. His new doctor had strictly forbidden it.
Right now the imprint on Dr. Randall is keeping your symptoms at bay, but in the long run, it’s detrimental for you. I don’t agree with Dr. Randall’s alternative methods. The only proven solution to your issue is mating an alpha. Anything else is nonsense. My advice would be to find an alpha willing to have you as soon as possible. And it’s paramount to limit all contact with Dr. Randall in order to let your imprint fade.
It went without saying that Eric hated that advice. He could understand keeping physical distance from Hugh, but limiting all contact? He couldn’t do it. Eric consoled himself that at least he didn’t call Hugh himself; he let Hugh do it.
But then Jerome called him—and all of Eric’s good intentions went out the window.
Eric had been ignoring the asshole’s calls ever since the scandal, having no desire to talk to the alpha who had betrayed him in the worst possible way, who was the reason he had been forced to leave his family and live in another country. He wasn’t even sure why he hadn’t blocked his number. He should have. He had never intended to talk to him anyway.
But now, as Eric stared at the caller ID, he found himself answering the call.
“What do you want?” Eric said.
Jerome looked as good as ever: black hair, gray eyes, and ruggedly handsome face. But the sight of him didn’t make Eric feel anything except faint disgust and anger.
“Hey, babe!” the alpha said with a crooked smile. “I’m glad you’re finally over your little hissy fit and ready to talk.”
Little hissy fit?
Eric was honestly speechless. “You have some nerve. I repeat: what do you want? You have ten seconds before I hang up.”
Jerome sighed. “I see you’re still not over it. Fine. I just wanted to clear things up. I didn’t sell your picture to the tabloids, I swear. My roommate did. I’d never do something like that to an omega. I’m not a dick.”
Eric opened his mouth and closed it, unsure what to say. Unsure what to feel. If—and that was a big if—if Jerome was telling the truth, it was something of a relief that he hadn’t misjudged his character that badly—that Eric hadn’t been that much of an idiot.
“Thanks for telling me that,” Eric said without any inflection. “Bye.”
“Wait!” Jerome said as he was about to hang up. “That’s it? I’m telling you it wasn’t my fault and that’s all you have to say? Come on!”
Eric let out an annoyed sigh. Were all alphas his age so immature and irritating? “It is still your fault, Jerome. That picture was supposed to be private, not for your roommate’s viewing pleasure.” The mere thought made him feel vaguely dirty. “I’m glad you didn’t sell it yourself, but you still broke my trust—and my life. Bye.”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Jerome said. “I’m really, really sorry. I want to make it up for you. I want to fix it. We can maybe meet up and take it from there?”
Eric eyed him for a moment. Jerome seemed sincere, but… But Eric had no desire to see him. Or talk to him. Eric felt absolutely nothing as he looked at him, not even a flicker of attraction. He couldn’t believe this immature jock of an alpha used to make him nervous and excited.
“I’m over you, Jerome,” Eric said honestly. “Goodbye.”
He hung up, blocked the number, and stared at the screen of his phone without really seeing it. This should have felt like closure. It was closure. Shouldn’t closure feel good? Instead, there was a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach.
He wanted… He wanted to talk to Hugh.
So he called him, telling himself it would be an exception. Just once.
Only on the second ring did he realize that it was the middle of a work day. But before he could end the call, Hugh answered, audio-only.
“Eric?” he said in a low voice. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Eric said, feeling silly. He wasn’t even sure why he was so upset. He just… “I just wanted to hear your voice.” Apparently he had no brain-to-mouth filter when it came to Hugh. Eric face-palmed. At least he could console himself that he’d done far more mortifying things around Hugh. It was small comfort. “Never mind. Go back to work.”
He could hear Hugh apologize to his colleague and tell them they’d continue the discussion later, and then there was the sound of a door opening and closing. Eric should probably feel bad about Hugh kicking a colleague out of his office for his sake, but… he didn’t.
“Work can wait,” Hugh said. “What happened?”
Closing his eyes, Eric fell back on his bed, curling his hands around his phone. “Jerome called me.” With his eyes closed, he could almost imagine that Hugh was there, behind him, speaking into his ear. Eric shivered, shoving a pillow between his legs to alleviate the growing ache there.