“You should have told me about Ryland, you’re right,” she says. “Also, you shouldn’t have told Rowan to stay away from me.”
I nod, chastised. “Yeah.”
“And I wouldn’t have stopped speaking to you. You’re my…we were friends first,” she says.
“But you avoided Ryland,” I say, confused.
“Yeah, because I was scared. I wasn’t expecting to find my—” she looks around quickly, making sure no one is listening. “I wasn’t expecting to find Ryland, or Rowan, or even you this fast. So, yeah. We both messed up.”
“I’m sorry.”
She nods. “Me too. But I think after last night, all is forgiven.” Her eyes soften. “It’s also the first time I’ve ever been happy for shitty weather.” She sighs deeply, and I’m reminded of her past.
I hate that she went through that nightmare. When I see the distant look in her eyes, I want to pull her out of those memories.
She blames herself for something she couldn’t have controlled.
I know what that’s like, though.
To lose someone that’s important to you, when you convince yourself you could have changed the past.
If you had just done something different, maybe that person wouldn’t be gone.
One day, if she lets me, I’ll tell her about my own demons.
“I’m glad you stayed,” is my only response.
“Me too,” she says, smiling softly. Her face flushes as she looks at me, and sweetness fills the room.
Now that we’ve scent matched, I can pick out her aroma anywhere.
My cock still aches, and my fingers twitch with the effort to not pull her to me.
Fighting my Alpha instincts is torture, especially when she looks at me like I’m worth something.
Like she sees more than just a forty-year-old bartender.
“Hey,” she says suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts. “If you take a picture, it will last longer.”
I didn’t realize I was staring at her still, and my face burns with embarrassment.
She snickers and begins to prepare the garnishes for the drinks.
The shift goesby in a blur, mostly because I’m so focused on Blair.
The way she smiles.
The slight bit of sheen on her skin from rushing back and forth at the bar.
Her violent scent is twinged with a hint of her sweat, and I swallow back a mouthful of saliva as I inhale her like a man starved.
Her mating gland is on full display, and customers have to repeat their drink orders to me because I’m so damn distracted by her.
She’s mine.
Mine.
At one point, Rylee takes a break from her DJ booth to say something in Blair’s ear, pointing at me. Blair responds with a quick glance at me and a smirk.
