Page 40 of Believe it or Knot

“Gage!” I protest. “Stop it.” I reach to take the bouquet from the other alpha. “They’re lovely. Thank you.”

He doesn’t release them into my grip, staring at me intently. “Do you not like flowers, sweet thing?”

I hesitate. “No, I do.” I try to take them from him again. The sooner I get them inside and into some water, the sooner we can move on from this awkwardness.

“Liar,” Gage huffs grumpily. “She thinks they’re too expensive for something that’s just going to die in a week and would rather be given a plant in a pot.”

Grayson frowns down at the flowers in his hand.

Liam chuckles. “She’s got a point. You spent, what? A hundred and fifty dollars on that bouquet?”

I nearly swallow my tongue as my eyes bug out of my head. “What? You can’t-That’s too much money!” He glares at the flowers now, and I quickly back track, reaching for them again. “But they’re gorgeous, so I’ll just…”

“No,” he says, stubbornly refusing to release them to me. “I’ll get you something else.”

I roll my eyes. “So what are you going to do with those, then? Toss them in the trash? You might as well take two hundred-dollar bills out of your wallet and set them on fire.” My fingers tighten, making the craft paper crinkle. “I’ll take them. Please. It was so thoughtful of you to get them for me. I’d like to enjoy them.”

He finally lets go, and I turn back toward my cabin, kicking Gage in the shin as I pass by him. Asshole doesn’t even flinch, just arches a brow at me like, is that all you got? My glare intensifies and the corner of his mouth twitches.

“I’ll just put these in some water,” I say to Grayson with a smile, leaving them by the car to converse among themselves.

Although they’ve apparently been hanging out without me.

When they came to pick me up from the restaurant last night, I noticed that all of them had split knuckles and the beginnings of some bruising. Even Liam.

When I asked about it, Gage had simply grunted out that they’d done some sparring earlier in the day. I’m both excited at the prospect of them getting to know each other and also experiencing a major case of FOMO, worse than ever before. Though I suppose that is to be expected, given that the situation involves literal celebrities and my best friend.

All last night I kept thinking about them asking Gage to be a part of their pack, whisking him away to the city and leaving me here in Lake Kilrose, tied to a dream that isn’t mine. Gage and Sadie and Sylvie can meet up and hang out and be friends and I’ll just be here, alone and struggling to get out from under a debt that was never mine.

Needless to say, it was a big ol’ pity party.

When I woke up this morning, I laid in bed rearranging my thoughts and feelings, determined to find the good.

If Gage joins the Cordova pack, I’ll be happy for him. He deserves it. I don’t think anyone could deserve it more.

And they deserve to have a pack member as solid and steady as Gage, loyal and true, even if he is a little growly. Once he decides likes you, trusts you, you’re in for life. I’m forever grateful that he decided that about me when we were eight and he’s been my friend for the last eighteen years.

When I step back outside, the four of them straighten, keep their eyes on me as I mosey down the stairs and back to the car. “Are we ready?” I ask, breathless from having too many handsome men look at me.

Liam grins at me, drapes his arm over my shoulders and guides me to the car, opening the back door for me. “I hope you don’t mind. We’re going to need to squeeze into the back seat.”

I arch a brow. “I suppose you want me to sit in the middle?”

“Of course, lovely,” he purrs into the side of my head, nuzzling my temple. “The better to touch all this glorious skin you have on display.”

I roll my eyes, blushing furiously as Gage grumbles something I can’t make out. Ignoring him, I climb into the back seat of the SUV, settling myself in the middle and clicking the seatbelt into place as there’s a scuffle outside of the car.

I arch a brow as Gage puts Rafe in a headlock and growls something too low for me to hear. Rafe nods, and taps his arm, face red, and Gage releases him before sliding in next to me. Liam opens the door on the other side and joins us.

“What was that about?” I ask as Gray and Rafe take the front seats.

“Nothing, biscuit,” Gage says, lacing his fingers with mine and tugging my hand onto his lap, the back of it resting on his muscled thigh.

Liam laughs next to me as I stare at the place where Gage and I are connected, a furrow in my brow, accompanied by a flutter in my chest. He’s never been this tactile with me before. Ever. I don’t know if it’s because he’s just happy to be back and I’m familiar or something more.

Oh, God. I hope it’s something more.

“This is the country fair?” Liam asks, eyes practically bulging out of his head staring at the entrance to the fenced off fair grounds. He’s got his ball cap pulled low over his forehead and sunglasses perched on his nose. Trying to go incognito, but I would recognize him anywhere, even in a pair of navy blue shorts and a soft gray t-shirt with pink palm fronds on it.

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