Page 24 of Believe it or Knot

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it the tiniest bit.

“Have you been to see your parents?” I ask quietly now, thinking maybe that’s the reason Gage is unhappy with the current situation. Maybe he thought he’d drop by the Shack and say hi and then go to see his family. But upon finding me with unknown males, he had to change his plans. “If you haven’t, you should-You can visit with them. They’ll hate that you came to see me first. I’ll be fine.”

The frown on his face deepens, most likely because he knows that I’m right. His dads tolerated our friendship at best. His mom, I think, liked me a little more when I was younger and less as I got older, when it became clear that our friendship wasn’t just for childhood. Gage and I are in each other’s life for the duration. There’s nothing he could do to make me not want him to be my best friend forever, even abandon me for seven years.

I live with the knowledge that, at any point, he might change his mind about me. Probably when he finds a pack and settles in with his omega. A familiar ache starts up in my chest at the thought and I look down at his t-shirt, rather than meet his dark blue eyes.

Calloused fingers grip my chin and tilt my face up to his. His gaze runs over my features and I resist the urge to pull away and duck my head again. I never look my best after working at the Shack. My hair is always frizzy and the little makeup I bother with has faded and smudged off. I feel sticky with sweat and burger grease. Not to mention, I’m sure the healing pimple on my chin is flashing bright red and gross.

But none of this is new. Gage has already seen me at my worst… no, that’s not true, my worst was after my parents died and I was alone for that. But we’ve been friends forever. He’s seen me in worse shape than I am right now, so I resist the urge to not let him look.

Besides the intensity in his eyes, the way he’s… devouring me with his dark blue gaze has me thinking he doesn’t mind the view so much.

I don’t know how long we stand there just looking at each other, breathing in our familiar scents, but eventually his thumb strokes over my chin and he murmurs, “I saw them first.”

There is no earthly reason that simple statement should make my stomach drop and twist and ache, but it does. Of course he saw his family first. It’s only right that he did. Haven’t I just been thinking the same thing?

But that doesn’t stop me from feeling disappointed that he didn’t rush to my side.

That’s the part of me that has been halfway in love with him for years. The nonsensical, romantic part that I always have to fight to keep buried in a box at the back of my heart around this man.

Half his mouth curls into a slight smirk. “I didn’t want them interrupting my time with you, which they would have done had I not seen them first, biscuit. But now I’m free to focus on you. Only you.”

I delicate shiver rolls over my body and my nipples pucker at his simple statement, like he’s not talking about catching up, but talking about laying me out on a bed and spending hours learning every inch of my body.

He doesn’t mean that. I know he doesn’t.

“I hate to interrupt,” comes Liam’s voice, his Scottish accent a little thicker. “But can I interest either of you in a drink? Or something to eat?”

I pull away from Gage, my cheeks flushing, and turn to the omega, who is staring at us with stark longing. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone look at me quite like that… And, honestly, it doesn’t make sense that Liam Cordova would look at me, Sorrel Forbes that way, so maybe he’s looking at Gage like he wants to absorb him into his pack.

Another clench in my guts that I have to curl my fingers into fists to smother before I curve my lips into a smile that says, ‘I’m perfectly fine.’

“Oh, no thank you, Liam. I’m… We won’t be staying long.” I don’t think I can. The more time I spend with this pack, the more the ache inside me grows. I want them. Beyond all reason, I want this pack. It’s not because of who they are to the world. It’s the way Grayson took the time to care for my burns, and the way Rafe somehow knew I preferred green tea in the mornings over black, and how Liam is just so… sweet. I never actually imagined he would be as sweet as he appears in his interviews, but he is and its… messing with my mind.

They don’t really want me to be a part of their pack. It’s like Liam said earlier, it’s a sex thing. They think I’m hot and want to scratch an itch, but eventually they’ll leave. I have to be prepared for that. I have to protect my heart as best as I can.

And that means not melting at the look Liam is currently giving me.

Steady, Sorrel.

“Don’t be silly,” Liam waves away my protest. “You’ll be staying for dinner at least. Rafe and Gray are already discussing it with the chef.”

I blink at him. “You have a chef?”

Gage huffs.

Liam tilts his head, a shy smile on his face. “Yeah, we do. I know, I know, it’s a little over the top, but I have some pretty specific dietary needs, especially when I’m prepping for a movie or filming, and Gray and Rafe are just as busy as me, so it’s easier if we have someone who can have meals ready for us.”

It makes sense and, logically, I know that lots of celebrities have private chefs, but I just… can’t seem to wrap my stupid brain around that fact. It’s just so outside of the realm of what my life is like that I can’t… truly comprehend it.

“Right,” I say with my smile on my face. “Of course, that makes sense.”

There’s movement behind Liam, and I expect one of his alphas to appear behind him, but instead, I spot a mousy slim man with glasses on his beak-like nose and too much gel in his thinning blond hair. He can’t be much older than me. He must really hate that he’s balding, and he’s trying to hide that fact with too much product.

He has a tablet in his hand and a sneer on his face as he looks at me and Gage. Liam doesn’t notice, because as the omega turns to face him, the man arranges his face into a simpering expression that rivals my own fake smile.

“Liam, hon, do you have time to approve the photos for the OM article? They just sent them over.”

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