“Me?” I struggled for a response as I lightly pressed against his chest. “Um, could you let me go? It’s, um, getting hard to breathe.”
Myke seemed to take that as a compliment and puffed his chest out, the stink of self-satisfied Alpha pheromones seeping into the room. “Sorry, sugar. Sometimes I forget how strong the pull you Omegas feel is.”
“The pull,” I repeated, shooting Dane an incredulous look which he again missed, this time seeming focused on the refrigerator. “You know, I’ve got a bit of a headache so I think I’m going to let you two Alphas hang while I turn in early.”
“Are you sure?” Myke actually sounded disappointed. “I was really hoping for the chance to talk about what books we’re reading.”
Instead of acknowledging that I’d heard him, I skirted around him with an apologetic smile and headed for my bedroom, locking the door and leaning against it as I struggled to process what had just happened.
Dane reallyhadwhored me out to a guy I barely knew without bothering to ask if I was even interested. And if he’d done that, it stood to reason that they’d been right that I was going to need help for my next heat cycle.
Ignoring the tears creeping down my cheeks, I crawled into my bed still fully dressed and pulled a pillow over my head, waiting for sleep that didn’t want to come.
ChapterTwelve
Dane
I waited until I heard Shelly’s door lock and swung around, whisper-shouting at Myke. “I thought you were a player? What the fuck was that?”
Myke groaned. “I freaked out. Do you think he noticed?”
“Do I think he noticed? Are you serious right now?” I pinched the bridge of my nose between my index finger and thumb. “He’s probably running your name through the sex offender registry right now.”
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Myke asked with a small frown.
“Even a librarian will freak out if you chase them down a dark alley yelling that you want to talk about books,” I pointed out with a sigh.
“Now you’re just blowing it out of proportion,” Myke huffed. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Oh, I think it was,” I groaned. “If you want to try out your conversational skills, you’re going to have try to get him to see you as a friend instead of whatever the fuck that was. In public. On your own.”
Myke’s slight frown tightened into a scowl. “Shit. Okay, I can work with that,” he said confidently. “Can you hook me up with his schedule so I know where to run into him?”
My bear growled a warning, making me sigh. “I don’t think so, man. That’s getting awfully close to stalking, you know?”
Myke was silent for a long minute and then he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I get it. I didn’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable spot. I appreciate the help you’ve given already.”
The knot in my chest loosened slightly. “Good.” I nodded toward the television. “Game should start soon. Pizza?”
“Naw, you’re hot and all, but I already know how to talk to Alphas. If Mitch isn’t gonna join us, I’ll pass,” Myke said with a cocky grin. “I’ve got some recon to do if I’m gonna bump into him and make a better impression.”
I managed to screw my wince into a weak smile but Myke didn’t notice as he headed for the door with a jovial wave and let himself out, leaving me to collapse on the couch and turn the last ten minutes over in my mind.
I was no closer to wrapping my brain around it when my bear started nudging at me, insisting that I check on our Omega. I pushed to my feet and dragged my ass down the short hall to knock on Shelly’s closed door.
No answer.
I knocked again, feeling my brow furrow as I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. There was no way Shelly had passed out cold in under twenty minutes at eight o’clock at night. Well, unless he was piss drunk and he’d definitely seemed sober when he walked in.
“Shelly?” I called out, testing the doorknob and unsurprisingly finding it locked. “You want pizza?”
Still no answer.
My bear prodded at me harder, his concern escalating. I rattled the door lightly. “Shelly? You’re worrying me. Can I come in?”
“I’m sleeping.” Shelly not only sounded wide awake but also more than a little pissed. “Go away.”
“You are not sleeping,” I disputed, rattling the door again. “You wouldn’t be talking to me if you were.” I must have put too much pressure on the door because it popped open unexpectedly, leaving me standing there with half of the knob in my hand.
