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

the words out, his face flushed with

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

of swallowing my pride—it all comes rushing to the

That’s it.

with barely contained fury. I

only to realize that she’s gone.

I’m now met with nothing but a blank

down onto the counter. “Cook the

to myself than anyone else, and storm out of the

door into the alley, my chest heaving. The cold night

feel it. I pull out a cigarette and light it, drawing the smoke deep into my lungs

fill the gaping void inside

lean against the brick wall, my mind reeling. What the hell

ap—it’s all for her. For Abby. Because despite the chaos,

of it all, I want her back in my

up at the sliver of night sky visible between

reminder of how confined I feel, boxed in by my own

tell John to shove it, to tell

as much as it galls me

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

cold, unforgiving wall of the alley, still wrestling with the storm of

A deep growl resonates from within, not from my

shares my consciousness.

it now?” I murmur under my breath, trying to soothe the

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

buttons on purpose. You just have to push through it for a little

silently, a conversation

wants me to do this, to prove I can be part of her world. But I f ucking hate

wolf snorts. “I know you do. It’ll just

it, though?” I ask. “It feels like she’ll never

I’ve been asking myself ever since I walked out of Abby’s office earlier today. Sure,

bigger man and tolerate John for Abby’s sake.

trying, to be the man she

reassures me, as if reading my thoughts. “She’ll realize

you’re putting her needs

in, worming its way into my mind

I’m forever labeled the screw-up,

who broke her heart?