The gravity of how he asked the question made me pause. I realized that he thought something was very wrong. “Oh. No. Nothing like that,” I said softly. “Don’t worry.”
He let out a sigh. “Okay, good. But still. I don’t want you wandering around the streets at night alone.”
I crossed my arms. “Why? Because I’m an omega?”
“Because you’re obviously going through a bad time right now,” he said. “Friends don’t let friends pass out in the street.”
“We’re friends now?” I asked, raising a brow.
“Well,mybest friend is the mate ofyourbest friend, and they have a child together that we both met the day he was born, so,” Rafael said with a shrug. “I think that makes us friends at best, and close acquaintances at worst.”
I let my arms fall to my sides. He wasn’t entirely wrong, unfortunately. I’d met Rafael enough times to consider him a safe guy to be around, at the very least.
“Fine,” I said softly. “So now what? You’re gonna babysit me all night to make sure I don’t fall in a ditch or something?”
He snorted. “No. I’ll drive you home.”
I hesitated, then shook my head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to wake up my roommate,” I replied, deciding not to go into detail.
Rafael shrugged. “All right. Then what about my place?” He held up a palm again. “And before you freak out, I have a bedroom that locks from the inside.”
I snorted. I didn’t think he was dangerous at all, but him going out of his way to prove it was a little endearing.
I thought about the offer and realized I didn’t have much of a choice. My misery had worn off enough that the idea of spending the whole night wandering the streets no longer seemed appealing. But returning to my own apartment wasn’t something I wanted to do, either. Not right now. I still felt too fragile to confront Kaden about what happened tonight.
I let out a deep sigh. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Rafael looked surprised. “So you will come over?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
He smiled, seeming relieved. “Great. Come on, then. I parked right over there.”
He opened the side door for me and I slipped inside his nice compact. It smelled like air freshener and leather seats.
“What were you doing driving around this late at night anyway?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I have trouble sleeping sometimes.” His lip quirked. “Driving and blasting music and belting along to it always helps.”
As he started the car, the music started playing again. A genuine grin broke out on my face.
“You were singing along to Whitney Houston?” I asked.
“What?” He returned my grin. “Got a problem with that?”
I got comfortably settled in my seat as Rafael pulled away from the curb. “Not at all.”
2
Rafael
Skylar stepped inside my condo like a baby deer taking its first steps. Even though his breath kinda smelled like alcohol, I could tell he wasn’t really intoxicated anymore. He did seem tired, though. That much was clear by the bags under his eyes and the shakiness of his legs.
I wondered what happened to make him so jittery. He wasn’t the feisty, fiery Skylar I remembered. That Skylar had practically ripped my head off a couple of times just for being an alpha. But it was always done with love--love for his friends, and refusal to sit back and watch them get hurt. I admired that about him, even if I was the one on the pointy end of the protective stick he jabbed with.
