Jez
THE FOUR OF US STAREDat each other without moving for a long beat. Then Gage raked his eyes up and down Heath’s hunched form, took in the car keys in his hand, and scowled.
“I don’t need a pack bond to tell that you’re about to do somethin’ stupid,” he said, sounding more tired than anything else. “Turn around. March your ass back inside, and we can all pretend you weren’t busy making poor life choices.”
Heath’s lips peeled back in a snarl. “I don’t need ababysitter.” The cracked wall inside my head shifted once more on its foundations.
I was beginning to hate that feeling.
“Don’t you, though? Because it sure looks like you were about to go out and get wasted after staying sober for almost two years,” Gage said, unimpressed. “Where’s Knox?”
“How should I know?” Heath snapped. His green eyes snuck first to me, and then to Tony. His pupils blew wide as he took in the picture we made, dressed from head to toe in the latest designer fashion. He jerked his gaze away an instant later, staring past Gage’s shoulder instead. “Buried in work, probably.”
“Fine,” Gage said. “In that case, you three are having that talk now.”
“What?” Tony yelped.
I would have echoed him, but there was a terrible sense of inevitability about the clusterfuck to come. I was relaxed and well-fed, clean and wearing amazing clothes. Maybe having this conversation in the rearview mirror would be better than dreading it in the future.
“Inside. Now.” Gage had the decency not to bark, but it was clear we’d all be doing what he said, or else we were going to find ourselves dragged in by the scruffs of our necks.
“Come on,” I told Heath with a sigh. “Whatever shit you want to pile on me, you might as well do it and get it over with. Plus, you and Tony reallydoneed to talk.”
I trudged forward and shouldered past him, trying to ignore the spark of lightning that thrummed along my nerves in response to the brief contact. After a long hesitation, other footsteps followed mine.
“Where are we doing this?” I asked, not looking back.
“Kitchen,” Gage said.
The kitchen was bright and airy as always. I hadn’t been wrong about the scruff of the neck thing, either. Tony and I slunk inside under our own power, but Gage had Heath by the back of the shirt and deposited him physically in a chair.
I found a spot leaning against the counter and took a deep breath. Might as well get this over with.
“Did Knox tell you about his plan to get me a new identity?” I asked.
For an alpha, Heath seemed to be having an awfully difficult time looking at me.
“Yes,” he said. “He said you intend to get your mating gland removed as soon as it can be arranged.”
“That’s right,” I agreed, ignoring the part of me that wanted to wail and throw things in protest. I was coming to hate that selfish and stupid piece of myself. “I won’t make you put up with my presence in your head any longer than absolutely necessary.”
For some reason,thatmade him wrench his gaze up to meet my eyes.
“I’m doing my best to keep it blocked,” he said, sounding defensive.
“I didn’t say you weren’t!” I shot back, not sure what I’d said to make him even more upset. Maybe he was pissed that I’d let Knox talk me into using a real doctor? Finding someone in the city would be quicker—
“Because we all know your stance on long-term relationships,” Tony muttered, as though the words had been pulled from him.
Heath’s eyes moved to him.
“What?” he asked, sounding genuinely bewildered.
Tony’s cheeks flamed, and he turned his face away. “Nothing.”
Abruptly, my patience for their cluelessness disappeared like smoke.
“Tony has a thing for you,” I said. “But he’s scared to tell you, because you had a one-night stand with him and then shoved him back to arm’s length as though it never happened.”
