The front door opens ten minutes later as Quentin comes in carrying two bags from the bagel place on Elm, a drink carrier balanced in his other hand. He sets everything on the counter, pulls three bagels from the bag, and starts arranging them on plates.
"They were out of everything," he says, already cutting mine in half. "So I got sesame."
"Sesame is fine."
"You said that about poppy seed last time and then picked every seed off."
"That was different."
He sets the plate beside my laptop, close enough to reach, not close enough to crowd the workspace. The coffee he brought is exactly how I take it. I wrap my hands around the cup and hold it against my sternum, the heat seeping through the ceramic.
His head turns toward Milo, his nostrils flaring once, and his brow creases. "Why do you smell like that?"
Milo's ears go pink. "Like what?"
"Like a heat spike." Quentin moves toward the counter to grab the other bagels. "What happened while I was gone?"
"It's handled. I missed a suppressant yesterday and my body overreacted this morning. I took two, I'm fine." Milo's hand waves the topic away, his attention still fixed on me. "Can we focus on Iris? Something's wrong."
Quentin's gaze moves from Milo to me. "Iris, did something happen?"
"Nothing. I'm working."
Milo pushes off the doorframe and crosses to the table, his hand reaching for my shoulder. "You don't have to—"
"Milo, please." The words come out sharper than I mean them to, edged with something that has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the phone call I can't tell them about yet without falling apart. His hand freezes an inch from my skin. His shoulders pull inward, his scent souring, and I hate myself for putting that look on his face. "I just need to focus right now. Okay?"
He nods, pulling his hand back, but his eyes stay on me as he retreats toward the couch. Quentin watches the exchange from the counter, his arms crossed. Their voices carry from the living room a minute later, low but not low enough.
"Ease up," Quentin says.
"She won't look at me, Q. We were fine an hour ago. Better than fine. And now she's hiding behind her laptop like I'm not even here."
"And hovering over her is going to fix that?"
"I'm not hovering. I'm concerned. There's a difference."
"You followed her to the table, tried to touch her after she pulled away, and you're about to go back in there and offer her whatever you can find to offer her. I can see it on your face."
Milo grunts. “I’m trying to help.”
"Give her room. She'll talk when she's ready."
"What if she doesn't? Iris, we were so good. She... her lock...” he starts sputtering and I have to hold back a laugh becausegod, he’s fucking adorable. “And then this!” I twist a little to see him waving his hands in the air and realize my shortcomings shouldn’t be taken out on them.
I close my eyes, leaning back in my chair. This whole relationship can only work on honesty and keeping what Chad said from them won’t save anything. "I can hear you." I raise my voice so they can both hear me from the couch. "Both of you."
They look up, Milo’s face turning red as Quentin’s jaw tightens even further.
"For the record," I say, focusing on the both of them, "my hearing works fine. As does my ability to determine what I need without two people debating it like I'm not a few feet away."
Milo's scent goes sharp with guilt but Quentin’s composure holds. I can see the crack at the edge of it, though, the slight tightening around his eyes.
"Come sit down." I close the laptop. "Both of you."
Milo takes the chair to my left, pulling his legs up beneath him and Quentin takes the one across from me, his hands flat on the table. Neither one reaches for the bagels, both waiting for me to explain my change in emotion. I should tell them about Chad. I should lay it out plainly, explain the threat and let them help me figure out a plan.
But the words stick in my throat because telling them about Chad means telling them about the part underneath it. The part that has nothing to do with a jilted Alpha making threats and everything to do with the man whose number is sitting in my missed calls from last night.
