Secret of An Alpha: Repercussions

Chapter fifteen

"He's not my boyfriend, Rolus."

"Yeah right. I just don't understand how you could date your sister's mate," Rolus spoke as if he was disgusted. No, he was disgusted.

Luke was offended at Rolus' reaction. "First of all, you don't know how it is to lose your twin. Second of all, you think I just decided out of no where to mess around with Perez?"

Rolus was shameless when he replied, "Yes."

Luke glared. "I don't think you understand how losing someone and grieving alone, thinking there's no one who would understand your pain feels. I spent most of my adulthood grieving alone. I was stuck in my grieve, and I let it consume me. I let my grieve rule my world. Finding Perez was the greatest gift I could ever receive. Of course you won't see it, but I'm grateful to have met him because I don't think I would have overcome the thought of losing my sister.

Perez was that someone who understood how I felt, and we shared that pain that we've been dealing with alone. I think we are more alike in the sense that we've been grieving the same person for years. We never moved on, and we let our grieve rule us, rule our world," Luke spoke, his eyes sweeping the room. "We bonded over my stories of her when we grew up. Then one thing led to another. A day of comfort turned into two, then a month. Six months in, it happened that we had a night of many drinks, so it happened that one of us made a move."

Rolus shuddered. "I can't with the mental image."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What's there that gave you a bad mental image?"

"The thought of you trying to flirt. I can't," Rolus was serious.

"Why do you assume I can't flirt?" Luke was greatly offended, the frown so ever present.

"You just have that aura that says don't mess with me. You rarely smile or joke. So I can't imagine you trying to flirt. It's just weird," Rolus supplied, having difficulty maintaining eye contact.

"In other words, I'm intimidating?"

Rolus shook his head. "No, no. You just have something about your face. What's it called?" He snapped his fingers, trying to recall the word.

"Resting bitch face?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

"I don't have that," Luke refused. There was no way he had that. Around people he loved and cared about, he was open and free and smiled.

"Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you should ask that boyfriend of yours. I bet he'd tell you the same thing," Rolus said. Luke didn't catch the hint of bitterness in his tone.

Trying to prove that Rolus was lying, Luke said, "Fine. I'll do that. And whilst we're at it, I'll ask him if I'm bad at flirting." Luke took out his phone, and dialed Perez' number. In the midst of trying to prove Rolus wrong, he made a loudspeaker when Perez picked up.

"Hey, Luke?" Perez answered. Luke didn't dwell on the fact that Perez used his name when he answered. He usually didn't do that.

"Hi. Quick question. What do you think of my face?"

"Umm... excuse me?" Perez was confused.

"When you look at me, what do you see?" Luke was being cryptic. Not by choice.

"I don't understand your question, but when I look at you, I see a handsome young Alpha, trying his best to be the best. And I think we would've had a great relationship if-"

Luke's eyes caught Rolus, who had a brow raised. "You're sidetracking. Is there something unpleasant with my face?"

"Okay, fine. I'm still bummed about that Rolus being your mate. Had great plans for us, and he just had to ruin it."

"Goodness! Perez, not now."

"There's nothing wrong with your face. You are handsome, sexy when you want to be, and so damn irresistible when you-"

"Do you think I have a resting bitch face?" Luke interrupted. He just wanted to die from the embarrassment of what Perez said.

It took a moment for Perez to reply. "Not to mean any offense or anything, but yes, you do have a resting bitch face. Not a bad thing."

Luke groaned. "You're not helping, Perez." At this point, Luke even forgot that he had an audience (Rolus).

"Have you seen yourself when you're alone? I'd walk into our room and see you thinking. You do kind of scare me because you have this face like 'don't fuck with me' or 'I'll kill you if you disturb me'. I just quietly walk away and don't disturb your peace or thought process. Again, not that it's a bad thing."

Luke felt like everyone was out to get him. If it was not Peter, it was Rolus. If it was not Rolus, it was Perez. Who else was going to marinate him?

"Just stop. I don't want to hear it. Why didn't you tell me? Nevermind. Last question. Do you think I can't flirt?" It killed him to ask that. If Perez agreed with him, it was over for him. It was one thing having a 'resting bitch face', but it was a whole issue if he found out that he couldn't flirt.

"Now, that's just wow. Why all these questions?"

Luke caught Rolus' eye. "Let's just say I've had a very rude awakening because... because Perez, you never bothered to tell me!" Luke covered his face. It was embarrassing, especially having to hear that from Rolus of all people.

"It's not that you can't flirt, it's just a matter of how you-"

"Perez?"

"Yes?"

"Just stop lying. I can't flirt, right?"

"Yes."

"You know what? Until further notice, don't contact me."

Perez laughed, thinking Luke was joking.

Luke cracked a smile. "You think this is funny?"

"I'm sorry, I don't. Who gave you this silly thoughts?"

"No one important."

"Just for the record, you are fine the way you are. I like you just the way you are, and if that mate of yours doesn't appreciate you, reject his ass. I take all I said back last time. He's rejected you all along, so I think you'll be fine. And you have the advantage of not feeling the mate bond. You think it's a curse, but sometimes, I think it's a blessing."

Luke still had a smile on his face. Perez knew just what to say to make everything bearable. "Thanks. I'll call you later. Take care."

"Thanks for the call," he spoke, then hung up.

Luke put a hand on his mouth to cover the smile that wouldn't be suppressed.

"Quite a character, that Perez. Felt like I was watching a romance movie," Rolus broke the silence.

"Mmhhh," Luke replied, nodding. His mind was still muddled, content. He missed Perez and it was a pity that their little involvement was going to end.

"Guess the beauty is really in the eye of the beholder."

Luke raised his eyes. "Excuse me?"

Rolus shrugged. "Perez likes his partners as blessings wrapped in curses. That just reminds me that I like my mate fully feeling the mate bond."

Luke shook his head. Whatever Rolus was trying to do was not going to work. He was in a great mood to be sullied by Rolus' negativity. "And I like my mate appreciating me, Rolus. I guess that's just being dealt a bad hand."

Their waiter brought their food. Rolus dug in right away. Luke just grabbed his whiskey and drank.

"You know how embarrassing it is for me to be seen with you drinking that?" Rolus was flushed. He kept looking around to see if anyone was looking at them.

"And I just realised that you care more about people's opinions and how they perceive you. I'm starting to think that's one of the reasons why you rejected me."

Rolus didn't say anything, but Luke could tell that he was right by the way Rolus avoided his eyes. "You talk too much, Rolus. You've been complaining nonstop since we came here. Just relax or something." Luke was getting fed up. It was complaint after complaint from Rolus.