My son's new daddy is the Alpha Beast

4. Blind Date

CHAPTER FOUR

“I’m going to kill him,” I finally muttered aggravated as I re-made the coffee for the fourth time today. My boss, Mr. Pearson or Mr. Grumpy as almost everyone called him, was going through one of those days when he just gets pissed off at everyone of his employees just because his day was not going so well. Unfortunately for me, being his secretary at this very moment was not ideal for me. According to Kris from the accounts, he’d found out his wife was cheating on him with the mail man and so this entire week he’d been raining havoc on us, most especially me. Thank God it was Friday already.

“Do you think I’m a bad boss, Miss. Butler?” he questioned, pacing after I handed him his coffee. This time he didn’t send me back and instead just placed the cup on the table.

Literally yes. You are the worst boss in existence. Who chooses to ruin his employees’ day just because his life sucked?

“Of course not, Sir,” I forced a smile. He was paying my bills after all.

“Then why can’t anybody in this damn company do their jobs right?” He snapped and for the next thirty minutes or so, I stood in his office, listening to him literally call almost every head office employee names. This was not what I had signed up for and yet, it was the price I had to pay in order to pay my bills on time.

“All I’m saying is that, this is a company and they can’t just depend solely on me. Soon enough, I might just have to start firing them for incompetence,” he eventually came to an end of his long rant then glanced at his wrist watch, “Look at that. Its already five. Discard this coffee on your way out,”

What the-

“Yes, Sir,” I nodded, picking up the coffee cup and discarded the contents in the kitchen sink, cleaned up the cup before retuning it on the rack alongside the others. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled right before my phone rang, a tired smile lighting up my face.

“Kyle,” I leaned against the counter, my free hand crossed under my right hand.

“You sound tired,” I’d never gotten over his husky deep voice but every single time I was quick to remind myself that he was gay. To everyone else, he was cold, arrogant and selfish and maybe they were right. Even after all these years, I still didn’t know the man beneath the layers of unsmiling gazes, constant smoking and barely speaking.

“Oh well, Mr. Grumpy is being a d**k as usual,” Suddenly I puckered up with excitement as an idea crossed my mind, “Look, I know you don’t like crowds but just this once, meet me at Montez. A few friends from work are drinking and I’m hoping you’d join us,”

“Are you trying to set me up again?” He questioned, sighing resolutely.

“Of course not,” I lied. I’d tried in the past and it was always an absolute no from him.

“We’ve talked about this, Ava. I don’t want to be involved with anyone. You trying to set me up makes me look pathetic when in reality I just don’t want to date anyone. Is that so hard to understand?” I’d been hearing the same goddamn thing for almost seven years now.

“I’ve never even seen you kiss a guy. Are you sure you are even gay?” I taunted him, hoping he’d take the bet and well, it actually worked much to my surprise.

“Fine. I’ll show up but the moment I decided I don’t want him, whoever it is, I’m leaving,” He said.

“Deal, “I said.

We talked for a few more minutes and as usual, he’d already picked Knox from school and dropped him at home. I knew Knox missed his dad, and so did I but I would never admit that. It had been almost two weeks since the last video-call and maybe I was getting a little worried. Usually, the longest time he’d take in between was a week.

After I stepped out of my office ready to embrace the weekend, I stopped by the accounts office on the second floor where Nora and Valentin were gossiping about the latest office break-up. I rolled my eyes, chuckling at the obviousness. They were pretty predictable and if it weren’t for the fact that Valentin was the gayest man I know, I would have thought them a great match.

“Time for those Montez Martinis,” Nora said as bundled up in my secondhand black Kio Rio hatchback.

“I’ve been craving them all week,” Valentin lilted, leaning on the backseat.

“Well, who hasn’t? Anyway, you guys remember my friend Kyle?” I questioned. I had run into them once before when Kyle was helping me with some grocery shopping.

“Oh, I could never forget a face that good-looking. Please tell me he is joining us. Lord knows I’ve been craving some good D too and that boy looks like he can deliver,” Valentin chuckled.

“Yes, he is,” I said then added as I pulled the car out of the parking lot, “Take him slow though, okay? Kyle is…closed off and if someone is rather too intrusive, he gets extremely uncomfortable. Lets say, I’m basically his only friend and my own family doesn’t understand how we even get along,”

“A bad boy. Does he have tattoos? Tell me he drives a bike and wears leather too,” Nora cooed with excitement and noticing the look we both gave her encountered, “What? I’m getting married in a few weeks. I’m allowed to swoon and anyway, he is gay,”

“No, he is not a bad boy, Nora. He does have a tattoo sticking out his neck and definitely wears leather coats, but who doesn’t? And he doesn’t own a bike. He is just a reserved man,” Who keeps growing hotter every day.

The rest of the car ride was filled with the talks of random things including Nora’s upcoming wedding, Mr. Grumpy’s attitude at the office and once again, my single life. They seem certainly invested in the fact that I hadn’t been with a man after Josh. While they took Martinis, I let myself enjoy a fruity vodka party punch, careful not to get drunk. I still had to go home to my son, prepare dinner for everyone with Palmer and then sit down for some good Netflix and chill. Ten minutes into the drinks, Kyle arrived, dressed in a grey tee emphasizing his lean yet well-built upper body and a pair of dark jeans while he hung a black leather coat fashionably over his left shoulder.

“Can I kill later you for this?” he whispered, hugging me before shaking Nora and Valentin’s hands. I knew he would thank me later for at least pulling him out of the shell he has been stuck in since I knew him.

“So, um…Nora you had that thing you wanted to show me over there,” I gestured at her and she immediately got the gist.

“Yeah, the thing. Come on,” She rose up with her glass and we deserted the table to sit by the counter.

“I hope Valentin doesn’t blow this up or else Kyle will have my head for it,” I shook my head slightly, “Is it weird I’m thinking this might actually a bad idea? I mean, they are extremely opposite and don’t give me the opposites attract statement,” I pointed out, throwing a worried yet not too obvious look towards the two men.

“I think what’s weird is that you have a crush on your gay friend?” she shrugged, amusement playing in her voice.

“What? That is ridiculous,” I chuckled awkwardly sipping the punch through my straw. I didn’t have a crush on Kyle, at least not anymore.

“Is it though? I mean, I wouldn’t blame you. He is extremely hot and you basically have zero s*x life. You slept once with a boy, got pregnant and that’s it. Come on, take the time to meet people. Your life is…boring,” she said. I’d had this same conversation one too many times.

“My life is not boring, okay? I have a great family and a kid. I certainly do not have the time to be scouting men,” I pointed rather defensively.

“Um…girl, its not scouting men if they basically throwing themselves at you. The problem is that you keep turning them down over and over. Are you really that hang up on your ex, if we could even call him that?”

“I’m over Josh, okay? We are just co-parenting,” I said dismissively.

“Damn! You really need to start living your life or else you are going to end up lonely, still crushing on your gay friend and hang up on Josh. Just saying,”

“I do not have a crush on Kyle,” I didn’t mean to snap that loud to the point the two men turned to look at us, Kyle’s gaze immediately connecting with mine from where they sat a few paces away from us. His eyes were different now, softer than I’d ever seen them with certain hint of shock, the pensive look on his face turning into a look I could barely depict their exact meeting. That was when I dropped my gaze, grabbed my purse before storming out of the bar. I heard Nora asking me where I was going, but all I knew was that I needed to get away.

When I got into my car, I drove straight home, chewing on mint gum and stopped in the driveway to take a breath. I still…had a crush on Kyle? I picked up my phone, dialing Palmer’s number. She picked up on the first ring.

“I was just about to call you. Pork or Chicken?” she questioned.

“Chicken. Um, this is going to sound crazy but I think I have a crush on Kyle,” I said, followed by an exhale.

“Okay,” she said.

“Wait, you don’t sound surprised,” I frowned.

“Because it has always been obvious. You are never subtle when you like someone and I kind of pity you because technically he is gay. There is no chance in hell he’d even sleep with you. Maybe if you actually started going out with people, you’d get over him,” she advised.

“I have a kid, Palmer,” I groaned.

“Who is six years old now. Do you really think wherever Josh is, he is still single? For all we know, he has been f*****g around to his heart’s content,” I could picture her shrugging. Having passed the bar a year ago, she was already a certified Criminal defense lawyer and had gotten employed last month at a growing law firm.

“But its different. He is just the father and I-“

“Don’t give me that. You have as much right to happiness. You know what? Tomorrow you and I are going on a double date. Remember that guy I told you I was seeing last week? Well, he has this lawyer friend who is extremely hot and very much single. I’m not taking no for an answer this time round.”

I sighed, leaning back as I massaged my forehead, “There is no way out of this, is there?”

“Absolutely not,” she said, “See you at home in an hour or less and I’m bringing wine. We won a good case today and well, the boss was feeling too generous,”

“Okay, I’d definitely love the wine,” I said.

“I know,” she chuckled in amusement then cut off the call.

Okay, so it was apparently pretty obvious to other people that I had a crush on Kyle and Nora was actually right about Josh. I’d told myself over and over that I was over him; that we were just co-parenting but deep down I did hope that maybe one day he’d just call me and say he’d been thinking about me.

Pathetic, I know.

But I was done. My son was six years old and I wasn’t planning on being lonely and hanging on guys I’ll never get for the rest of my life. Maybe meeting up with this guy on the double date would help me get over Kyle and Josh. It was time to start living my life and nothing could make me go back on that decision. As though on cue, my phone rung and this time Josh was not vide-calling me.

“This a surprise. You got tired of seeing my face?” I joked lightly as I stepped out of the car, locking it up and headed toward the small steps leading to the front door.

“Funny. Anyway, I’m back in Diamond Falls,” he said. He was back in the US? What was with the sudden elation of my heart?

“Y-You are?” I didn’t mean to stutter like that but I had certainly been caught unawares.

“Yes. I wanted to surprise you,” There was a brief pause on the other end of the call, “Ava, I have been thinking a lot about us of late. We have a son together and I think maybe we should try to make it work,”

I could have sworn I stopped breathing for a few seconds. He wanted to make it…work? No, I couldn’t just give in to the sway of my heart that easy.

“What about your parents?”

“Oh, I had a lengthy discussion with them the moment I arrived earlier on today. They were pretty mad I kept you and Knox hidden,” he chuckled, “I know I’m asking you to drop everything and move here. We could try for a month and see how it plays out. Besides, you are going to like it here,”

“How about you give me time to decide?” I suggested, very much reeling from the sudden news.

“I understand. Take your time and meanwhile, you can update me on how you and Knox have been for the past fourteen days.,” his tone changed from tensed and vulnerable to a happy one.

“Well, he misses you,” I started and went on to fill him with all the details about his son. Honestly, he had been nothing but a supportive father to his son and every month he would send money for up-keep.