“Hey, wait a second,” he said without answering my question. “Don’t I know you?”
My exhausted and foggy mind couldn’t place where I knew this man from, so I instinctively turned to paranoia and defiance instead. “Your pickup lines won’t work on me. Get away from me!”
He backed off so he wasn’t touching me anymore and held up his hands in deference. “Whoa, I’m not trying to pick anything up. Seriously, I know you.” He stared at me, blinking as he tried to figure it out.
Admittedly, he seemed familiar too, but I was too busy glaring and being annoyed at him touching me to place his face. I got up and dusted myself off like he’d touched me with dirty fingers or something.
“Just leave me alone,” I muttered.
He raised a brow. “Leave you alone to do what, exactly? Pass out on the sidewalk?”
“Yes,” I retorted like it was the most normal thing in the world. Obviously it wasn’t, but I didn’t need some random alpha telling me that. “I don’t need you to lecture me. Move.”
But as I took a step forward, my knees buckled and I tripped. The alpha grabbed me before I could fall.
“Whoa, hey, are you okay? Did you have too much to drink or something?” he asked.
“I told you to stop touching me!”
I slapped his hands away and wrangled out of his loose grip. The look he gave me was of pure concern, tinged with confusion.
“Wait a second,” he began, realization dawning on his face. “You’re Skylar. Right?”
That took me off guard. How did this guy know my name while the alpha I’d slept with earlier didn't even know it?
“Yes,” I said warily. “How do you--”
But as I started to ask, I remembered everything. He was the close friend of my best friend’s mate. Or something. My brain still felt a little hazy.
“Rafael?” I asked.
He smiled and his eyes lit up, and he looked so handsome like that. “Yeah! See, you do remember. I’m not just some random creep.”
I nodded, feeling a bit relieved after all. “Right.”
We stood in silence for a bit. I still didn’t know what to do. Without a wallet, I couldn’t pay for a cab home, and even if I did, I didn’t want my roommate Kaden to see me like this. It was mortifying. Plus, I’d wake him up if I showed up in the middle of the night. The only thing I could do was walk around until the sun came up…
“Well,” I said to Rafael. “Thanks for waking me up, I guess. See you.”
“Wait.”
Rafael took my arm, and I scowled at him. He immediately withdrew it sheepishly.
“Sorry,” Rafael said. “But, uh, where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I get it. You’re a sassy omega. You can drop the act now.”
“What?” I snapped, feeling anger rise up in me.
“Skylar, it’s the middle of the night, and you were passed out on the sidewalk, for god’s sake. And your breath smells like alcohol. I may be a little dumb, but I’m not stupid.”
I frowned. So much for keeping my situation a secret. Just how much did Rafael realize?
“And?” I prompted.
Rafael looked at me seriously. “Did something happen to you?”
