Pulling out the keys to my little cottage, I let myself in and quickly walk into my bedroom to change. Undressing, I pull on a thick pair of brown sweatpants, a cream tank top with a shelf bra, and a zip up hoodie. Everything I wore earlier today, including the panties, are thrown into the hamper to be dealt with later. I don’t want to deal with anything tight right now.Next, I pull out the pins in my hair to allow it to fall down my back, breathing a sigh of relief as I finally feel more comfortable. Stepping into my bathroom, I wash my face with cleanser, knowing that my perfectly applied mascara isn’t holding up.
“Hello?” Tommy asks, knocking on the front door. I left it unlocked, knowing that Jasper would be coming back.
I should have known that he’d bring company. Blowing out a breath, I dry the dripping water droplets from my skin before hurrying back out to the living room.
“Hey,” I mutter, stealing the bottle and a shot glass from him as Jasper follows Tommy inside.
“I’ve never been inside here,” Jasper says softly, as if I’m going to kick him out. Rolling my eyes, I sit down on the ground since I don’t have much seating in here.
Jasper isn’t wrong though. Cerenity is the only one who comes to the cottage. I think her pack wants to afford me as much privacy as possible, which I appreciate. There’s never been a reason to invite them into my space over the past three years, though I walk over to their house often.
Unscrewing the top of the bottle, I get comfortable on the ground as I take a deep sip of tequila without pouring it into a glass.
“Fuck,” Tommy mutters, coming to sit beside me. “That bad?”
“Yep,” I say around the burn as I swallow. “Let’s get this over with, please. Go ahead and call Cian.”
Jasper pulls a blanket from the couch and drapes it over my shoulders, making me swallow back a sob.
“Don’t be nice to me right now,” I whisper.
“That’s not possible,” he shrugs, making Tommy and I scoot over so that they’re on either side of me. “Anyone who could think about being mean to you is an asshole.”
“Unfortunately, I seem to run into a lot of assholes. Someone call Cian before I get too trashed.”
It takes another swig of the tequila bottle before Tommy pulls down a bunch of pillows to prop up his phone to video call Cian.
“It’s bad form to allow a lady to drink alone,” he mutters, stealing the bottle before pouring the alcohol into three shot glasses. My lips twitch in derision as he places the bottle out of my reach.
“Hello?” Cian answers, watching as Tommy, Jasper, and I take a shot together. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink before, Olivia.”
“Trust me, there’s a good reason for it,” I say. My skin is a little blotchy and my nose is a little plugged up, another sign that I’m not at my best today. “Here’s the backstory for this call. I got a job at Behan Communications and today was my first day.”
“What did they do?”Cian growls, and I simply sigh. So many protective alphas…
Instead of feeling cared for, it makes me feel worse.
“Other than rejecting me as their scent matches before I even realized that was what we were?” I ask and snort.
Tommy and Jasper look at me aghast, and Cian is already getting out of his seat.
“Sit down, Cian,” I say, waving my hand in the air and putting out my cup for a refill. The alcohol is slowly warming up my insides, and soon I’ll start to drift. I need to finish this before that happens. “There isn’t enough room in my cottage for all of this alpha energy. Stay wherever you are.”
“Rejection?” Tommy rasps, pouring the tequila liberally into the three shot glasses.
“I don’t want you to tell Cerenity yet,” I say. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. Besides, I’m not calling Cian over my stupid, nonexistent love life.”
“It’s not stupid,”Cian says immediately, sitting down as I insisted. I know he’s working on instincts. Omegas have more power than they think, especially when it comes to alphas who respect them.
“It doesn’t matter for now,” I insist, the lies tasting like ash on my tongue. “Maddox, Cai, and Aled Behan tried to force me to continue to work for them in the same breath as they rejected me. They pulled up all of my chart information from Weeping Willow Institute, and said they’d ensure that I would never work anywhere else.”
“Fuckers,” Tommy grunts.
“My medical files aren’t common knowledge,” I remind him. “One of them would have had to hack into the system to find those out. Now, we all know that I don’t necessarily have to work.”
“Nope,” Jasper says. “Money isn’t an issue for you. Even if you want to move away, which none of us want, we will always make sure you have what you need.”
“Exactly,” I say, nodding. “They tried to blackmail me to stay at the company as Aled’s personal assistant. They didn’t care about how awkward that might be for me.”
