Desire Me If You Can Novel - Chapter 27

“So, Dane is the ultimate winner?”

Everyone had the same thought. Then, someone suddenly recalled a forgotten fact.

“Wait a minute, then who won this match?”

The atmosphere suddenly changed drastically. This was something they couldn’t just gloss over.

“Dane, obviously. Miller cheated.”

“Cheated? How?”

“I don’t know, but there’s no way Dane would lose to that bastard, so he must have pulled some dirty trick.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Miller. He’s a psychopath, a Dominant Alpha.”

The guys who had been exchanging opinions arbitrarily now turned their arrows toward Dane.

“Right? There must have been some kind of foul play?”

“There’s no way that bastard could beat you! He must have used some dirty trick, definitely!”

“Tell us everything, Dane. We trust you.”

“Yeah, there’s no way you lost to the likes of Miller. The opponent is Dane Striker!”

Everyone united and spoke in the same voice. Dane glanced away with a thoroughly displeased expression. Grayson Miller was still standing in the same spot, as if watching everything they were saying.

Haa. Letting out a sigh, Dane spoke without hesitation.

“I lost.”

“That’s right, wait, what?”

“What did you say? You lost?”

Ezra, who had naturally nodded, jumped in surprise, widening his eyes. DeAndre also repeated the same words several times in shock. Dane rubbed the back of his head and spoke in a tired voice.

“You all saw it. I came back late. That bastard won, it’s exactly as you saw. Nothing changes.”

“B-but, but that bastard cheated, didn’t he?”

Another guy asked desperately. Beside him, stammering repeatedly from anxiety, others chimed in.

“Right. If it was fair and square, there’s no way you would lose. You’re the ace of our station!”

“Be honest, Dane Striker. Were you threatened? Is that it?”

“There’s no way Dane would give in to threats, unless it was about money!”

“What? Did you get paid? How much? Hey, I’ll pay it! Just tell us the truth!”

“I’ll chip in too! Our pride is on the line, we can’t let this go!”

“Me too, me too!”

Everyone was burning with fervor, their eyes blazing as they awaited Dane’s words. They looked ready to immediately empty their pockets and hand over every penny they had the moment he spoke. Even so, it would be around $423.82 at most.

Of course, Dane couldn’t give them the answer they wanted.

“I’m saying it again, I appreciate your concern, but this is reality. I lost. Grayson Miller won.”

Everyone, who had pinned their last hope on him, fell silent, looking stunned. Their grand plan to humble that unlucky bastard had just fallen apart. Dane repeated the same words again.

“I was late. That bastard came in first. So, the winner is Grayson Miller.”

Dane pointed to himself with his finger, then toward Miller. As the group’s gaze followed his finger, Grayson, who was standing there, smiled broadly and waved his hand. As if to say, I won. Of course, none of the guys gathered there smiled back at him.

Only then did the female employees who had been watching start speaking up one by one.

“That’s a shame, Dane. But since you lost, I guess you made some kind of mistake?”

“It’s a relief that you don’t seem too hurt, though. After all, things like this are just luck.”

As words of consolation followed one or two at a time, Valentina suddenly shouted.

“Grayson is offering to buy drinks. Who’s in?”

It was almost time to go home. The response to the perfectly timed suggestion was divided exactly in half. The women cheered and waved their arms, while the men frowned deeply and glared at Grayson.

“We can’t lose this fight.”

Wilkins ground his teeth and gathered the male employees.

“I’m buying here. Let’s drink until we all throw up, understood?”

“Yeah!”

The men cheered loudly, determined not to be outdone. When Dane raised his hand as if he had something to say, Wilkins immediately put on a stern expression.

“No. I don’t care what excuse you use about your cat, you can’t skip out today. We all know you’d just be drinking beer at home anyway.”

“It’s not an excuse, my cat really is waiting for…”

“Don’t lie to me. I know perfectly well he finds food even without you.”

“Right. Plus, you got paid leave, two whole days. Skipping out is out of the question.”

Ezra backed him up. Dane frowned in displeasure but had no choice but to lower his hand. And as soon as they clocked out, they united and headed toward the bar. Since his colleagues formed a defensive line around him to prevent him from escaping, Dane couldn’t even think of running away and was dragged helplessly to the bar. However, before that, Wilkins had to endure a furious lecture from the chief.

Bang! At the loud sound of the desk being slammed, Wilkins’ large body flinched. The chief breathed heavily, glaring at him with terrifying eyes.

“Why do you do things I didn’t tell you to do, huh? Do you have nothing else to do? Are you bored? Then go volunteer at the school up front!”

“I apologize, Chief.”

Wilkins bowed his head and apologized in a voice that was subdued despite his size. But he wasn’t entirely without defense.

“But Chief, this was a difficult measure for me. The team atmosphere has been terrible since that guy arrived. I felt the need to humble him once.”

“And did you succeed? I’m asking if you humbled him!”

At the shouted question, Wilkins replied again in a mouse-like voice, “No.” The chief thumped his chest, as if suffocating, and shook the angle of his necktie.

“Did I tell you not to provoke that bastard or not? Why stir up trouble and make things complicated! Do you think I said not to provoke him just for nothing? Huh?”

“…But we can’t just leave things as they are, can we? You must have seen it, Chief. The team members are running wild since that guy came.”

“You are giving me a terrible headache. One year! One year! You can’t endure just that, and you cause this mess? You and your team members are the same! Do you have no fear?”

“Of course, we’re afraid of Miller, but…”

“Miller is the secondary problem! Grayson is the problem! That bastard himself!”

The chief shouted, as if exasperated. Wilkins could only blink and stare at the chief. Isn’t he just a playful, wild playboy? Alphas are psychopaths, but he hasn’t shown that side much. To the team leader, who clearly looked confused, the chief, still breathing heavily, spoke in a slightly calmer tone.

“Do you know how he behaved during the interview?”

“…No, I don’t know.”

“Of course not, since I didn’t tell you.”

Wilkins was utterly dumbfounded by the chief’s bold statement. Looking at his subordinate’s blank expression, the chief spoke again in his coarse voice.

“The questions I asked Miller were very ordinary. Why he wanted to be a firefighter, what he wanted to do if he became one, if he had experience in other professions, things like that.”

Those were indeed the basic questions asked in a standard interview, as the chief claimed. To Wilkins, who waited in bewilderment, the chief said.

“And do you know what Miller’s answer was?”

“No, you haven’t told me yet.”

Wilkins quickly added, recalling his previous experience. The chief glared at him, as if displeased with the answer, and continued.

“His answer was flawless. Truly, there wasn’t a single thing to fault.”

“…And?”

To Wilkins, who still didn’t understand, the chief suddenly placed both hands on the desk, leaned forward, and met his eyes.

“That’s the problem. He answered exactly the same as the video.”

“The video? …Ah!”

Wilkins belatedly recalled something and gasped. The chief nodded and adjusted his posture again.

“Yes. That video we made. The educational material we posted on the homepage.”