Ryker kicked his chair back as he rose. It skidded across the floor and slammed into another table. Fox grabbed him by the back of the shirt before he could go after the man. What the hell did he want with Olive?
“Hang on, little brother. Just let him go, for now.”
“Something’s wrong.”
“Calm down. We’ll figure this out.”
Ryker pushed Fox on the chest, his body heated nearly to the breaking point. “She was kidnapped once! Let go of me before I rip your arm off.”
“Holy shit, what did I just walk into?” Dax Mitchell took a drink from his beer while wandering to their table. His expression went from nonchalant to serious as he looked between them. “Seriously, what’s going on?”
Ryker heard his cousin speaking, but he couldn’t respond. He was coming apart inside trying to hold back his bear.
“Did you see that short guy in the leather jacket? Kind of bald. Stocky.”
Dax shrugged. “Yeah, he just ran into me.”
“He’s asking about Olive and your boy here is about to tear this bar to shreds. Oh, but get this. He says she’s not his mate.”
Dax burst out a laugh. “That’s a good one.”
Enough of this. Ryker twisted from his brother’s grip and slammed his fist on the table. “Nothing better happen to her!”
Draining his beer, Dax handed Fox the empty bottle and thumbed over his shoulder. “I’ll tag along with mystery man for a while. See what he’s up to.”
Fox grabbed Ryker by the shoulder.
“Listen to me. Nothing is going to happen to her. And once you have a grip on yourself, we’re going to revisit this whole ‘she’s not my mate’ bullshit. You’re acting like you’re ready to burn this place down to keep that man away from her.”
“Screw that,” Ryker growled and ripped himself free from his brother’s grip. “I’ll burn the world down if that’s what it takes.”
Chapter Fourteen
“I don’t want to be a third wheel.”
Olive slipped into her shoes and reached for her car keys, but Lulu snagged them off the table first and curled her hand around them.
“You could never be a third wheel. Seriously, Olive, I want you to come.”
Lulu was trying to be lighthearted, but something was a little off. She and Fox were meeting his mother for lunch to reveal the pregnancy. Bunny was going to be so surprised and excited. Olive cried when Lulu told her last night. They immediately dove into browsing pregnancy websites for the best baby gear and researching baby names. As much fun as that was, she didn’t want to intrude on Bunny’s turn to be excited, too.
“This is a private moment between you and your family, Lulu—”
“You are my family.”
“I appreciate that, but this isn’t my moment. It’s yours.”
Besides, Cara had called to let her know the electrician worked on the electrical system yesterday, and everything was back up and running. She wanted to go home and spend the day in her apartment doing nothing. The weird symptoms she was experiencing got steadily worse overnight and if there was a chance she was ill, she didn’t want to expose Lulu.
This didn’t feel like a cold, though. The hot flashes were unrelenting, and her clothes felt uncomfortable and itchy. Whatever it was must be messing with her hormones, too, because her libido decided to make an appearance for no apparent reason, and her lady parts wouldn’t stop throbbing to remind her. A little voice in her brain said there wasn’t a sex toy in her small collection that was going to make it better.
But Ryker could.
“Olive, are you feeling okay? Your face is pretty flushed.”
Wishing she could run out of the door and get out of there, Olive muttered that she was fine. But she wasn’t fine. Her body was up to something that she had no control over.
Fox walked into the living room just in time to get her out of having to explain herself to Lulu. He’d come home last night in what Olive could only describe as ‘full protective mode’. After checking the locks on all the windows and the back door, he went outside and walked around the house.
