I’d played my hand a little too loosely in that conference room. I let her see how much she affected me.
I knew I was being unreasonable, that this wasn’t her fault. But she was infiltrating a space she wasn’t needed and there was fuck all I could do about it.
As if the devil himself summoned her, the moment I stormed out of my office she was there waiting, her hand poised as if she was just about to knock.
“What do you want?” I practically barked at her.
She raised an eyebrow, and God, it was infuriating how unaffected she was. That bark should have had her backing down, cowering… anything.
“I’d ask if you’re happy to see me, big boy, but I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.” She leaned against the doorway now, crossing her arms and watching me with those too-blue eyes. “Which is exactly why I’m here.”
Her tone suddenly turned much more serious and I barely held back another bark to tell her to fuck right off.
“We’re going to be working together very closely for quite a long time, and I, for one, refuse to be miserable for that long. So, you can either be miserable all alone, or you can tell me what’s got your panties in such a twist.”
“Oh, and I’m the unprofessional one?” I shot back.
God, I sounded like a child. She seemed to think so, too, looking more amused than annoyed by my words.
“You know you’ve got a vein right here?” she said, pointing to the side of her neck. “Every time you get mad, your pulse jumps. I’m a little worried about your heart there, old man.”
“‘Old man?’” I repeated, teeth bared. Fuck, it had been a long time since I’d felt so out of control. My alpha was right on the edge, angry at me, wanting to study her. I could have walked away, taken a breath, instead I engaged. “Should I start calling you kiddo?”
“I mean, if that got you to loosen up, sure. Call me whatever you want.”
Her absolute nonchalance made me want to scream. Nobody was this unbothered and confident in themselves, and I hated how sexy I thought it was.
I hated even more what she represented.
“Let’s be clear,” I said sharply, stepping forward and jabbing a finger just inches away from her. “You’re here because theowners hired you, not because I think you’re going to be a good thing for this team.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think. It matters what your bosses think, and they seem to have no problem with me being here. Yet, you do.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a direct challenge.
“Are you just afraid I’m going to find your team lacking? Or maybe your coaching? Maybe you assume they’re going to show their asses and I’ll have to tell the world about it?”
Then she tilted her head as if I were a lab specimen she wanted to understand.
“Because I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t know the difference either way.” She let out a small huff of a laugh.
That comment caught me so off guard my mouth snapped shut before I could say any of the things on the tip of my tongue seconds ago.
“Look, I want to be real with you,” she continued while I stood there frozen. “You can continue being as infuriating as you want to, and I’ll still be here doing my job. Nothing is going to change that.”
“You’re right,” I admitted finally, letting out a breath as I leaned back against the door frame. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to become best friends with you. You can do your job and stay in your lane, and I’ll focus on mine.”
“Sure,” she said with another shrug, once again completely unbothered.
“We mayhaveto work together, princess, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and hold your fucking hand. Or be happy to have you disrupting my team. This is the time we should be honing our skills and focusing inward, not doing frivolous articles and trying to convince the world we deserve respect because three guys fucked up.”
“Imagine the respect the world would have the moment they hear their coach singing his team’s praises already and helping them improve.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Yet you’d rather sit here and fight with me than find a way to tell the world the Narwhals shouldn’t be counted out yet.”
I clenched my jaw, unsure what to say to that.
“You can sit on the sidelines and be the stoic head coach all you want, but you’re just showing your team how to disrespect me. How to disrespect omegas. That you have no control and you’re just being an asshole for no reason.”
The accusation hit harder than I wanted it to. She was right.
