Page 139 of Believe it or Knot

Fuck them for declaring to the world that they want me before declaring it to me.

Fuck them.

Fuck them.

Fuck them.

I disentangle myself from Liam, brush Gray and Gage’s hands off me, and then curl my fingers around Rafe’s wrists, grappling with him to unwind his arms from me.

“You know what?” I say, smile wavering, but still in place. “I think I’ve overdone it. Too much excitement on the heels of… well, a harrowing experience. I’m going to go lay down.” I wince when I realize I’ve just said that to the entire country. They don’t need to know that. God, I’ll probably get messages about how I’m too weak to be a member of the Cordova pack.

“Sorrel,” Gage says through clenched teeth.

“Gage,” I reply, still wrestling with Rafe, who doesn’t seem to want to let me go.

“Please, sweet thing,” Gray says. “Stay.”

I shake my head at him; the smile falling entirely from my face as my lower lip trembles. I bite it hard to keep from crying and the four of them look horrified. “I’m going,” I say firmly to them before turning to smile at the host. “It was lovely to meet you, Guilia.”

I pick my way across the room, avoiding cables and ignoring the glare of the producer as the pack behind me also stands from their chairs. Behind me, Liam murmurs an apology to Guilia and I wince. I’d thought they would stay and finish, but apparently they have no qualms about cutting the interview short in order to follow me.

I yank the door open and stumble to the side when I’m greeted again by a broad back, pushing past him to hurry down the hall.

Their footsteps pound after me. “Lovely, wait, please.”

I don’t. I keep going, flashing my middle finger over my shoulder at them. When I reach the door of the room, I pause, considering just keeping going, continuing to the elevator and down the stairs, disappearing into the city. Which really just means hiding at Sylvie or Sadie’s house.

A hand curls around my elbow, stopping me from living out that fantasy. “No,” Gage says, voice hard. “No, biscuit, you aren’t going anywhere.”

I scowl and yank my arm away from him, wincing when it hurts, because everything hurts. “Fine,” I spit, throwing the door to the room open, fully intending to slam it in their faces.

Track 34: All the Ways

“Okay,” Gray says right on my heels as I storm into the room I woke up in. “Obviously, we fucked up. Just tell us how, so we can fix it. Please, Sorrel.”

I whirl around to face the four of them, frustration building, building, building in my chest until it pops like a bubble and I shout at them, “you told the fucking world you wanted me before you told me.” My hand slams into my sternum. “How do you think I feel hearing on the fucking TV that you want me to join your pack? How do you think I feel having you air our relationship on national television without consulting me first?”

Liam shuffles his feet and gives me puppy dog eyes. “We sort of hoped you’d view it as romantic.”

“A grand gesture,” Rafe says, gripping the back of his neck.

“We know we fucked up, biscuit. We want to make it right.”

I fist my hands at my sides, then point in the general direction of the other hotel room and the cameras and Guilia fucking Hanson. “That’s not how you do it. You should know me better than that.” All of them drop their eyes looking guilty. “That wasn’t for me,” I say, shoulders slumping. “That was for you. So you can feel like you’re doing enough, making a big enough statement.”

My fingers uncurl, and I shake my head. “I don’t need the world to know that you want me. I need to know it. I need you to tell me. Not them. Aren’t I the one that matters in this situation? Not your fans, or Guilia Hanson, or fuck, I don’t know, the asshole with the clipboard. Or the dude who told me he’d fuck me but not marry me, too?”

“Who told you that?” Gage growls out.

I wave my hand. “Some troll. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he probably found out you want me to be a part of your pack before I did. That Gage is joining the Cordova pack before I did. That you weren’t there for me because you were trying to stop Apex from ever pulling this shit again.”

Gray steps forward, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “We did plan on telling you first,” he says carefully. “We were going to tell you before the interview, but you were asleep, dead to the world.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault? Like everything else that’s gone wrong?”

“No.” He’s quick to shake his head. “No, if you would just listen. We could explain.”

I grit my teeth and make a ‘go on’ motion before folding my arms over my chest.

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