Page 94 of Knot A Chance

Reid squeezed Wyatt’s shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He’s singularly focused on this case now that he’s convinced there’s some big drug ring conspiracy in town.”

Wyatt sighed. “He’s right. I’m sorry. Something just isn’t adding up and I’m not sure how all of this was happening under the radar and for how long, you know?”

“I get it. I’ll tell you if anything happens. But things have been remarkably quiet and if I know Ryder, he probably ran from whatever he was facing,” I said.

“Okay, yeah, that’s what Donovan thinks too. Even he thinks I’m too obsessed with this case,” Wyatt said. “Usually he’s the one overthinking everything.”

Reid’s eyes widened. “Never fails to amaze me when baby bro and I agree on something.”

“You agree on Oakley,” I said with a laugh.

Reid’s eyebrows snapped together. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You know.” I looked around the table. Wyatt stared at his beer bottle with remarkable interest and Bennett gently shook his head, telling me to shut up through the bond. “You two both obviously have a thing for Oakley. Doesn’t everyone know that?”

Bennett cleared his throat. “We don’t talk about Reid’s interest in Oakley, handsome. Ever.”

“Uh, why not?” I asked. “I thought her and Donovan weren’t serious.”

“They’re not,” Reid growled. “And our interest in her is not the same.”

“Right,” I said, the tension settling heavily in the air around us.

“Felix, back to work,” Ally barked from behind the bar.

“Yep, gotta run. See you all later. Really sorry about mentioning the thing I didn’t know we didn’t mention!” I kissed Bennett on the cheek and took off, scurrying behind the bar.

“What happened to you?” she asked. “You looked panicked and clearly needed saving.”

“Did you know that Reid has a thing for Oakley?”

Ally laughed. “Did you not?”

“No, that’s the point! I thought everyone knew.”

“Oh yeah, we don’t talk about that,” she said, pouring vodka in a glass.

“Why not?” I asked.

She gave me a stern look. “You’re just going to have to trust me on this one.”

“Do we talk about Donovan and Oakley?” I asked, baffled.

“Not in front of Reid if you want to live a long and peaceful life,” Ally scoffed.

“I am so confused,” I said.

Ally sighed. “I’ll bottom line it for you: Reid pretends Donovan and Oakley aren’t a thing, Oakley pretends she doesn’t actually care about Reid, Donovan pretends he doesn’t care about Oakley and Reid hooking up, and the rest of us pretend we don’t know anything at all.”

“Sounds healthy,” I said. “I’ll just keep my mouth shut about all of them since I clearly don’t actually know anything.”

“That’s for the best,” Ally said, walking away with two vodka sodas.

By the time my shift was winding down, the guys were still going strong and had broken out into a loud game of poker. They were all several beers in, and it was great seeing Bennett relax for the first time since my accident—even if the buzz he was sporting was making me a little unsteady due to the new bond.

Note to self: When we drink together, we’re going to feel the effects twice as hard.

I dropped off a basket of onion rings and loaded fries. Wyatt and Reid cheered. “Yes! How did you know we wanted these?” Reid asked.