Beta Complex

Chapter 85: A Mistake

"The investor?" Ethan asks, leaning over to set the ladle on top of the table. He’ll wipe it down before he goes back to the kitchen. "You mean that lady-?" He recalls the woman who had visited their old place. What was her name again? He doesn’t remember.

During the two years they’ve been at their new location, she’s come over a handful of times. And each time she didn’t stay for long. Ethan never asked why she came and Roxanne never told him so he assumes it was never about anything important.

"No!" She hits him again with a scowl on her face. "That is his secretary. The man himself will be coming."

Ethan tilts his head with furrowed eyebrows, "For what though?" The man never showed himself the entire time, so why does he suddenly want to show up now?

"Who knows! Maybe to see how we’re doing?" She shrugs. She waves her hand in front of her, "Anyways, that doesn’t matter!" She grabs her son’s arm and squeezes, "We have to make sure everything is perfect. We owe everything to this man, do you hear me?"

Ethan laughs, "Yes mom. I’ll make sure everything will be perfect. When is his reservation?"

"Tomorrow at seven."

"So soon?" He murmurs.

"I have to call Jessie. She has to know. And of course we’ll need a good enough server," She starts to mumble to herself as she turns away, searching for her phone. When she finds it on the coffee table she moves towards her bedroom.

Ethan purses his lips, at least she’s not nervous. Grabbing his ladle, he goes back to the kitchen to cook.

***

Zander reaches up to adjust his tie and stares at his reflection in the rearview mirror of his car.

It feels like it’s suffocating him, though it’s all in his head. He’s dressed in a navy suit, and his hair is styled back. And although he looks like he just walked out of a magazine, he feels like a nervous wreck.

His phone rings and he looks at Beau’s contact. Zander purses his lips and answers.

"What do you want?" He sighs, reaching up to fix a loose lock of black hair. He has to look perfect, nothing can be out of place. His reservation is soon, and he needs to make sure Ethan can’t take his eyes off of him.

He glances up at the busy restaurant and bites his lip. He didn’t expect to see Ethan at the bar that night, yet the moment he saw the beta, he felt like the world had opened up and swallowed him whole. He didn’t want things to go the way they did, Ethan didn’t deserve a dirty alley jerk off.

Zander immediately pushes the memory when his dick starts to stir in his slacks. No. He may be tense from his lack of action, but that hardly matters now. Not when Ethan will barely acknowledge his existence, as hypocritical as it may be on Zander’s end.

"Your mother is going ballistic." Beau hisses, cutting him off from his thoughts. In the background Zander can hear his angry mother shouting at some unlucky victim and he cringes. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"

The dominant alpha rolls his eyes. Sure, he fears his mothers wrath, but right now, he fears he’ll lose Ethan forever if he doesn’t fix his mistake now. "I never agreed to it." He mutters.

"Do you think she cares about that now? Just get over here!" Beau snaps, a growl in his voice that hardly has any effect on Zander. Then his voice muffles, as if he’s covering the receiver and speaking to someone else.

"Just cover for me, will you?" Zander reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He can feel a migraine coming on.

"Cover for you? Where the hell-" Beau cuts himself off and groans. "Please don’t tell me you’ve gone to harass that poor beta." He whispers.

Zander’s jaw clenches and he releases a heavy breath. Ethan is his beta. He may not know it yet, but the moment Zander imprinted on him, it was over. And the only reason he did what he did, is because the guilt ate away at him.

But will Ethan understand that? He can only hope.

"Stop playing with the poor man." Beau whispers, "You left him, remember? And after two years you’re what? Trying to weasle-"

"I made a mistake." Zander bites out, hating that it’s his friend scolding him of all people. What’s it to him anyway?

"No shit!" Beau snaps back. "But it’s a little too late to realize that now, huh? He’s already moved on with his life, now it’s your turn."

"I can’t. You know I imprinted-"

"Then you should’ve thought of that before!" Beau shouts. He releases a heavy breath and Zander can imagine the frustration on his face.

Zander punches his steering wheel, wincing when his horn blares. "I know. That’s why I’m going to fix it." He has to. There’s no other choice.

His mother is pushing him to marry, and there’s just no way he can go through with it. It isn’t fair to the poor omega involved, nor to Ethan.

"And what the hell do I tell your mom?" Beau groans.

"Just tell her the truth for all I care." Zander mutters. He hangs up and tosses his phone into the passenger seat. If he takes it with him, it’ll just blow up with calls and text messages he wants nothing to do with right now. He sucks in a breath, and steps out of the car.

When he steps into the restaurant, he can’t help but feel pride at how well Roxanne’s business is doing. People are coming in and out, and the wonderful scent of cooked food makes his mouth water.

He immediately spots Ethan at the front podium, speaking to a couple before they turn around to leave.

When Ethan sees him, however, his friendly smile drops into a scowl.