Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

#Chapter 62: Too Much To Ask
The door to Abby’s office swings shut behind me, and my mind races as I walk back into the kitchen.

First, she asks me to make nice with Chloe, and now this? Apprenticing under John, of all people? A

guy I can’t even stand to be in the same room with?

“Karl, grab the veal from the fridge. Now.” John’s voice snaps me back to reality, jarring and grating as

ever.

I grab the veal and set it on the counter, taking a moment to steel myself. I’m doing this for Abby, I

remind myself. As if sensing my inner turmoil, Abby glances over at me from across the kitchen.

Our eyes meet for just a second, but it’s enough. I nod subtly. I can do this.

The dinner rush starts, and the kitchen turns into a whirlwind of flying knives and sizzling pans. John

wastes no time in laying into me.

“Come on, Karl, chop those onions faster! We don’t have all day!”

My knuckles whiten around the knife handle, but I force a smile. “Sure, John, whatever you say.”

Dinner service rushes on like a torrential river, and I’m just trying to keep my head above water. Each

critique from John feels like another weight pulling me down, but I keep reminding myself why I’m here,

who I’m here for.

The clock ticks past nine, and the last orders are finally up. John looks at me, a satisfied smirk

spreading across his face. “Not a complete disaster, I suppose.”

My jaw clenches, my fists curl, but I refuse to let the torrent out. Abby’s eyes catch mine again, her

gaze searching. I look away. I can’t let her see how much this is getting to me.

And that’s when it happens. One small, insignificant straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

“Karl, you idiot! These steaks are overcooked! Do you even know what medium-rare looks like?” John

out, his face flushed

inside me snaps. All the pent-up frustration, the hours of biting

rushing to

That’s it.

apron off, my hands shaking with barely contained fury. I shoot one last look toward

to realize that she’s gone. Where her beautiful face would have

now met with nothing but a

down onto the

I growl, more to myself than anyone

push through the back door into the alley, my chest heaving. The cold

cigarette and light it, drawing the smoke deep into

fill the gaping void inside

What the hell am I doing?

her. For Abby. Because despite the chaos, the

it all, I want

stare up at

of how confined I feel, boxed in by my

to break free, to tell John to

down, as much as it galls me to admit it, I know

things right, to prove that I’m not the same guy I

unforgiving wall of the alley, still wrestling with

me. A deep growl resonates from within, not from my human

shares my consciousness.

breath, trying

wolf’s voice echoes in my head, clear as day. “This John guy, he’s

just have to push through it for a little while

I reply silently, a conversation taking place entirely within the

to do this, to prove I can be part of her world. But

do. It’ll just

I ask. “It feels like she’ll never be

I’ve been asking myself ever since I walked out

be the bigger man and tolerate John for Abby’s sake.

until Abby sees that I’m trying, really trying, to be the man she wants me

will see,” my wolf reassures me, as if reading my thoughts. “She’ll realize you’re making

putting her needs above your

into my mind despite my

I’m forever labeled

who broke her heart?