Page 8 of Jacked-up Mate (Alphas of Whisper Grove #1)

Foster

We’d made some real progress since the first night when Jack ran away from me.

After that happened, I’d been amazed at his behavior when I approached him in the diner.

Luckily, my boss was easygoing enough not to come down on me when I sat down to chat with a customer—at the very first time I worked the front of the house.

I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d fired me for such inappropriate behavior, but Chris had never been that way.

He appreciated his employees as people, not merely cogs in his machine.

And I couldn’t have ignored Jack or pretended he was just an ordinary customer.

It was all I could do not to race into the kitchen and cook his food myself, but I did have other tables to take care of.

If all went well, I’d have other chances to prepare meals for this sexy alpha.

I was still beyond confused by the way he’d run off the night before, but I didn’t want to say anything to ruin our good time by being too inquisitive.

Instead, at the end of our coffee date, I suggested we go out to dinner later, and his reply was nothing less than confusing.

“Thank you. Let’s do this again. I have to go. I’m sorry. At night…I can’t.”

He couldn’t go out at night? “How about lunch tomorrow, then?” I asked, not wanting to leave things hanging.

“If you’re okay at that time of day.” Since he’d come into the diner for a late lunch, I was fairly sure he was.

Maybe he just didn’t like driving at night, or didn’t have great night vision?

Some alphas preferred to do the driving.

“Hey!” I called as he was headed away at a trot. “Lunch?”

“All right.” He moved even faster. “I’ll text you in the morning.”

“Okay.”

I had no idea what this running away thing was about, but it would likely resolve itself as we got to know one another better. Or at least I hoped it would. All I knew for sure was that spending time with Jack was incredible. And I craved as much of it as the alpha was willing to give.

What about a picnic?

The text came less than half an hour after he ran away, which was oddly comforting. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I felt like he was not only not with me after dark but maybe not available at all.

A picnic would be great. What time?

We ironed out the details, planning to meet at Autumn Square at one in the afternoon the next day, but then I got bold.

Can I call you?

Omegas were generally supposed to be demure and not pushy, but our situation was unique. At least based on the mating stories I’d heard from others.

Or are you busy?

I’m just chilling on the couch eating a frozen dinner. Call away!

If he was just hanging out at home eating a Lean Cuisine or something, why didn’t he want to have dinner with me?

But…again, I didn’t push, just dialed the phone. I’d almost asked for a video call but thought that was a little over the top. Most of us would want warning before having to appear on a screen to someone we were dating. Or at least I would.

“Hello, Foster,” he said. “How are you, this evening.”

Funny how different someone could sound on the phone. Kind of muffled. “Doing fine, Jack. I’m going to have to get ready for work in a bit, but for now, I’m also chilling on the couch.”

“It’s nice to hear your voice, omega. Do you eat dinner at work usually?”

“I get a meal for free each shift, so I do eat there. Why not save a few dollars and get a great burger or the special of the day, which is usually something good.”

Something thumped against the phone. “Sorry about that. What’s the special today?”

“Meat loaf and mashed potatoes, so I will probably have that. We do a very good meat loaf at the diner.”

“That does sound good.”

“Want me to bring you some on my break?”

“Uh, no. I couldn’t put you to all that trouble.” He kind of sniffled, an odd sound.

“You catching a cold?”

“No, I’m fine. I should probably let you get ready. Thank you so much for calling, Foster. Have a great night at work.”

We disconnected, and I headed to the diner, but as the evening went on, I kept remembering the sniffle. He hadn’t wanted me to go to any trouble, but the soup of the day was chicken noodle, and the blue plate special came with soup or salad. Chicken soup was very good for any kind of congestion.

Sure he’d been eating a frozen meal, but that wasn’t filling or healthful in my eyes.

We hadn’t exchanged addresses, but we had talked about where we lived, and I knew just the house he’d described.

It was not far from the diner, so I packed up a meat loaf dinner, including the soup, and darted out to deliver a nourishing meal to my alpha.

When I pulled up in front of his home, it was just in time to see him carrying a bag down the porch steps. Taking out the trash. I climbed out of the car and called his name, and Jack looked up, stared at me, and tumbled down the stairs.

“Oh my gods.” I left the food on the front seat and rushed up the walk to where he lay crumpled at the bottom. “Jack!”

When I reached his side, he offered me a small grimace. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“I am surprised.” He moved to stand and sank back down. “Shoot.”

“I am so sorry.”

“At least the trash bag didn’t break.”

“No, it didn’t. But we can’t worry about that.”

“Would you carry it to the can so it doesn’t attract wildlife?” he asked.

I wasn’t at all concerned about the trash, but he was, so I did as he asked before returning to help him.

“Alpha, this is all my fault.” As soon as I got him settled, I was going to text Chris and tell him I wouldn’t be back that evening.

An emergency had come up, and there was plenty of staff on so he wouldn’t be too inconvenienced.

I did not specify the emergency, however.

That was not my story to tell.