“I am not your omega.” I don’t let him finish. “I never have been.”
“You should listen to her.” Riven leans back against the wall, crossing his ankles.
“Are you one of them?” Tyler looks Riven up and down. “The pack she was fucking while dating us?”
A warm flush trickles up my neck as Riven stands there in all his gorgeous Viking-like glory, tilting his head to the side, watching Tyler with apparent curiosity, like he’s studying a germ on a Petri dish.
“We have friends in Forestville,” Tyler continues. “Your father might have swept your ‘kidnapping’ away, but I know that you were with other alphas. Was he one of them?”
Riven folds his arms across his muscular chest. “I don’t think where Kady goes is any of your business, is it?”
“So you are one of them!” Tyler declares with a flourish, like a crackpot detective declaring he knows the identity of a murderer. He glares at Riven. “You ruined everything. You and your pack are going to pay.”
“Are you done yet?” I roll my eyes. “I have to study.”
Tyler’s nostrils flare. His face is now so red that it looks like the little hair he has on his head may blow off at any second, like a rocket about to launch.
I get that he’s angry about how things worked out, but I’ve done more than enough for him and his pack.
Tyler throws me a look of pure venom before turning on his heel. As he passes, he tries barging into Riven’s shoulder. Riven doesn’t budge, so Tyler awkwardly bounces off him
“This isn’t over,” Tyler hisses.
Riven doesn’t seem to hear him, his gaze fixed on me as his forehead wrinkles. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I nod curtly, grateful to be able to breathe fresh air again. “You didn’t need to step in.”
Riven rakes a hand through his wavy, blonde hair. Half of it is scooped up into a man bun that looks scruffy in a “come-to-bed” way. “Um, I was…”
“Are you stalking me too?” I throw up my arms. “I already have assholes like Tyler to worry about.”
Chewing on the inside of his cheek sheepishly, Riven picks up a book from the nearest shelf. “Actually, I came for this book.”
“Axiomatic theory?” I squint at the cover. “No one reads that.”
He looks bashfully down at his feet and murmurs, “I do.”
My gaze softens. “Sorry.” I let out a puff of air. “I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just been a long week, you know?”
“How have you…?” He looks unsure of what to say next, like he’s carefully rehearsing the words in his head. “Been?”
“Much better than you, I suspect.” I laugh wryly. “I wasn’t the one who ended up in jail.”
“It wasn’t so bad.” He shrugs as his lips quirk up, making my stomach flip. That smile makes me want to crawl up into his lap and forget all about the reading I’m doing. “They fed us. We had cake.”
“Who knew the criminals of Forestville ate so well?” Am I blushing? No. Kady Sinclair does not blush. “I am sorry, though. About the whole situation. I really didn’t mean to bring trouble to your door. I owe you all an apology.”
“Maybe we could talk over dinner? All of us are meeting at Marco’s in Forestville at 8pm. You should join us.”
“I was thinking more of sending a card or a muffin basket.”
Riven’s face falls, the same look of disappointment you’d see on a wounded puppy, making me instantly backpedal. “Oh.”
“I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Great!” His blue eyes light up. “It’s a date. Well, not a date-date.” He scrunches his nose. “You know what I mean, right?”
“Got it.” I nod. “A not date-date.”
