Desire Me If You Can [Novel] - Chapter 20

A year was certainly a short time, but sometimes it could feel incredibly long. Arriving at work on time, Dane couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief seeing Greyson flirting with yet another female employee right in front of him.
He had seen this exact same scene repeated several times already. Almost enough to make him wonder if he was caught in a time loop.
However, such a thing was obviously impossible. The clearest evidence was that the face of the female employee was different each time. This time too, his colleagues watched helplessly as a different employee from yesterday clung to Greyson. Finally, unable to watch anymore, DeAndre exploded.
“I can’t take this anymore.”
The men checking their personal equipment while gathered together looked up in surprise at DeAndre, who had jumped up while breathing heavily. DeAndre pointed demonstratively to one side as he spat out.
“Are you all okay with this? Are you just going to sit there watching this kind of thing every day?”
In the direction DeAndre pointed, Greyson Miller was flirting with a new female employee.
With his massive frame, Greyson Miller had one hand in his pocket and wore a relaxed smile, whispering something near her ear. The female employee in front of him lightly flipped her long hair and tilted her head slightly. She focused on his words with sparkling eyes and a bright smile. Natural intimacy showed in her small gesture of slightly shrugging her shoulders. She responded with interest, shyly smiling while lightly stroking her arm or twirling her hair with her fingertips.
The air flowing between the two seemed as natural as if they had known each other for a long time. Everyone who had turned to look at once now turned their eyes back to DeAndre. Among the bewildered guys, Ezra looked up at him with both hands spread wide. As if asking what could they do about it.
“That bastard is ruining our organization right now! Are we just going to let him? Are we just going to sit here in a daze!”
The response remained lukewarm. The men who had been blinking blankly opened their mouths one by one, as if reluctantly.
“Then what do you want us to do…? What can we do?”
“Are you saying we should grab Miller and beat him up?”
“I’m for beating up Miller, but isn’t it wrong to beat him up just because he’s popular with women? I mean, if the women don’t want to be with us, what can we do…?”
“I had a date with Allie last week. Anyone can do it if they try.”
At someone’s sudden confession, everyone’s attention immediately shifted there. The speaker already wore a confident smile. There was a strange pride evident in his attitude of deliberately acting casual while stroking his chin with one hand, his eyebrows slightly raised.
“Ooh, not bad.”
“You bastard! When did you pull off something so sneaky?”
As catcalls and applause erupted from here and there, he grew even more confident and puffed out his chest.
“It’s proof that women aren’t all just looking at Miller. We’re matching our next day off for another date. I’ve picked out a nice restaurant.”
“Take flowers on dates. I always gave roses.”
At Wilkins’s advice, he nodded and answered.
“When I went to the flower shop and said it was for a date, they arranged it for me. When we dated last time, Allie wore a green dress that was really sexy.”
The men cheered “Ooh!” and supported their colleague, but to DeAndre they just looked pathetic.
“You idiots!”
He shouted and suddenly turned and walked away forcefully. His startled colleagues hurriedly got up watching his retreating figure. Could he be going to fight Miller? Should they stop him? Or was he just going to the bathroom? As they pondered various possibilities, he unexpectedly headed in a strange direction.
“Huh?”
Wilkins let out a confused sound. While everyone watched with the same feeling, DeAndre stopped walking and suddenly shouted. “What is this? Aren’t you all being too much? How could you betray us like this!”
The female employees who had been checking their personal equipment in a group all turned to look at him at once. They all wore puzzled expressions at this sudden outburst. Though his courage in boldly invading the women’s space was somewhat admirable, their actual reaction was cold.
“What do you mean betrayal? Speak so we can understand.”
Priscilla, B team’s leader, asked as she stood up. Though DeAndre stepped back hesitantly seeing colleagues rising one by one with hostile energy, when he turned his head he saw the male employees watching. Unable to retreat due to pride, DeAndre stood his ground again and puffed out his chest, pretending to be unfazed.
“I asked you out three times and you rejected me! And it’s not just me, you rejected all of us! How could you coldly ignore us who’ve been together for years, but act like that with a guy you’ve known less than a week? You’re all traitors, traitors!”
However, the women all reacted cynically to DeAndre’s indignant cry.
“So.”
Valentina, who had been standing in the back, stepped forward and spoke.
“In the end, you’re asking why we’ll sleep with Greyson Miller but not with you, right? Is that what all of you think?”
DeAndre flinched at the blunt question from Valentina, whom he usually worshipped. At her gaze directed at the men standing behind him, they also shook their heads in embarrassment.
“No, we’re not that extreme.”
“We’re just curious, you know, wondering.”
“Nah, I’m not even curious. They must have their reasons. DeAndre, what are you doing? Just come back, quickly.”
Though Ezra even urgently gestured, DeAndre still stood firmly waiting for an explanation. Though the men watching from behind all thought the same thing – that he was only making himself more miserable! – there was nothing they could do. The women couldn’t help but laugh at the men’s lukewarm attitude of not actively pulling him away, perhaps secretly curious about what answer would come.
“He’s handsome, and has good manners.”
“Is that all?”
When DeAndre asked eagerly at Valentina’s words, this time Liz spoke.
“Actually experiencing it, Greyson is caring and kind. Plus he really understands me. It was the first time a man sympathized with my words like that.”
“What?”
Not only DeAndre but also the men watching from behind were shocked at those words. What did this mean? To them in their confusion, another woman spoke.
“Plus he seems to read my mind completely. He naturally catches what I want, what words I want to hear. He approaches without being burdensome, with an attitude that feels sincere? It’s not just being superficially gentle, his way of considering others is truly thoughtful.”
“Right, isn’t it amazing? And since he listens to everything I say, I found myself falling in love in that moment.”
At those words, the women who had dated Greyson nodded in agreement here and there. But DeAndre still couldn’t understand their words.
“Extreme Alphas are psychopaths! And you say he sympathizes? That’s nonsense, you must be mistaken!”
Despite DeAndre’s protest, the women’s response remained cold. As if saying no matter how much you argue, nothing will change for us.
“I wanted to sleep with an extreme Alpha. It’s a special experience, isn’t it?”
As if thinking he wouldn’t understand, they gave another reason. When Liz said that, agreement followed again.
“Right, plus it was my first time seeing an extreme Alpha in my life. And sex with one, of course I’d be curious?”
Seeing heads nodding here and there, DeAndre could only gape wordlessly as if dumbfounded. Valentina looked at DeAndre with a smirk.
“Still don’t understand? Women can be just as promiscuous if there’s no risk of pregnancy.”
“Extreme Alphas can control fertilization. Isn’t that wonderful? To have such amazing sex without worrying about getting pregnant.”
“I understand now why men are so crazy about sex. Since there’s no risk of pregnancy, you can enjoy it freely.”
“If men were the ones who got pregnant instead of women, you’d have no choice but to be forcibly more careful.”