“Oh, holy shit,” she swears. “That’s great, isn’t it?” Hazel crosses her legs and levels me with a no-nonsense expression. “You need to tell me exactly why your face looks like that revelation is the end of the world.”
“Felix has feelings for Gabriel.”
She stares at me and doesn’t say anything. Neither do I. There is nothing more to say. Eventually, she loses the game of chicken and groans.
“And? Gabriel isn’t into Felix? Because I don’t think that’s true, if what Mitch has said is any indication.”
I spin the warm cup between my hands. “No, Gabriel is into Felix. Which is why I have to step back. Omegas need Alphas, not Betas.”
“I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” Hazel snaps at me, suddenly more terse with me than ever before. “I know you’re not telling me that your Alpha is into your Omega, and your Omega is into your Alpha, and somehow this is a bad thing?”
“He’s not my Omega!” I say that too loudly, and a couple of tourists look over at me. “He’s not my Omega,” I repeat quieter. “We slept together, Hazel, and he told me it didn’t have to mean anything. That’s crystal fucking clear.”
For a moment, I think Hazel is going to scream at me. Or storm off.
Or do anything other than what she actually does.
She laughs.
A massive belly laugh, where she clutches her stomach and bends in half.
“Oh, Clara. You fucking idiot.”
EIGHTEEN
THREE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS
Mitchell reclines on my couch,gulping down some of his beer as we argue.
“It’s not a Christmas movie,” I snap. “It happens at Christmas. That doesn’t make it a Christmas movie.”
He scoffs, the bottle thudding as he places it on the table. “The whole goal is to be with his family for Christmas!”
We have this argument every year. It’s good-natured, of course, but he’ll never convince me, and I’ll never convince him.
“Am I still good to take Rooster?” he asks, smartly changing the topic away from the divisive movie. “The girls really want to see him.”
The idea of being alone on Christmas, without even my dog as a buffer, isn’t pleasant, but Rooster loves Mitchell’s nieces, and I agreed to it a few weeks ago.
Besides, I’m going to remain positive, hoping that I’ll be able to convince Clara to spend the holiday with me. And if a certain curly-haired Omega is a part of that, I will not protest.
“Yeah, of course. He’ll have fun.”
My big husky comes trotting into the living room with hisleash in his mouth, somehow knowing we were talking about him leaving with Mitchell.
As Mitchell wrestles the leash from Rooster’s mouth, his phone rings. He wedges it between his ear and his shoulder as he scruffs his hands over Rooster’s ears.
“Yeah?” he says. There’s a pause, and then he whips his head to the side, almost dropping his phone in his haste to stare me down. “Are you serious?” I have no idea who called, or what they’re talking about, but I have a feeling I won’t like whatever it is.
“We’ll be right there.” He hangs up and springs to his feet, crowding me in the recliner I’m sitting on. “Were you planning on telling me you met your scent match?”
I wince. “Who told you?”
“Hazel. She’s friends with Clara and has asked me to bring you to her place. I think she worried that if she called you directly, you wouldn’t have gone.”
She’s not wrong, actually. It’s not that I dislike Hazel, because I don’t, but she can be a little bullheaded. I don’t think now is the time to push Clara, but I’m willing to bet she does.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mitchell asks, sounding hurt.
