Page 54 of Knot Mine

Reaching for him, I whisper, “Stop pushing me away.”

I don’t know what I’ll do if Millie walks in right now, but she isn’t my concern. He is. Goddess, I wouldn’t be in this mess if I’d realized sooner that the connection between us wasn’t going away. My relationship with his sister would already be over and he wouldn’t be cowering by his bed, worried that she was about to discover what horrible people we were.

“I can’t do this, not now.” He pleads, eyes glassy with tears and I pause my fingers just inches away from his foot. I didn’t want him to cry, I couldn’t bear what this was doing to him. “Not this weekend.”

Time.

He was asking for time. I told myself earlier I’d give it to him, but then when I’d seen Blake flirting with him in the hot tub, that had all gone out the window. I was letting my alpha brain make decisions, and that was rarely a good idea. Instincts weren’t logical, they were raw and based on need. I needed him. But to have him, we had to think a little more strategically. Rushing into this would ruin everything.

Withdrawing my hand, I push off the floor and get to my feet. He’s pulled the quilt off the bed, wrapping it around him like a cocoon.

“Fine,” I conceded softly, “but we’re in this together.”

He doesn’t look like he believes me.

“Zale?” Even her voice was grating on me now. Scrubbing at my face, I sigh and open the door. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t her.

It was me. It was my brain, rejectingherfor not beinghim.

“I’m just taking a shower,” I shout back, stepping out into the hallway. Shiloh doesn't even pause, moving quickly to close the door and I hear the soft snick of the lock, I sigh. “The chlorine from the tub was making me feel all weird.”

Leaning over the balcony, I hope that she doesn’t try to come upstairs. The pheromones may be weak, but they're still drifting out from Shiloh’s room and into the corridor.

“Want me to join you?” She’s standing at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the post in her bikini, twirling the string on her hip seductively.

Waving her off with a fake smile, I say, “Nah, it’s your birthday weekend. Go enjoy your friends. I’ll only be five minutes.”

“If you’re sure…” She hesitates, but we can both hear our friends cheering out on the patio and the sound of glasses clinking.

Millie loves being the life and soul of the party, and if I wanted her to come upstairs, she would, but she would much rather be where everyone else was. It was a good thing I wanted her to go away.

“Yeah. I’ll be there now in a minute.”

My shower is hot and quick, but I take extra time to scrub myself even though I hate doing it. Why was I always having to wash away the scent of him, when I wanted to be etched into my skin. When he finally accepted that he was my Mate, I was going to invite him over, fuck him into a whimpering mess and then make him roll around in all my clothes, just so that I could surround myself with his pheromones.

When I come downstairs, I find the guys in the kitchen, grabbing more steaks and burgers from the fridge while Millie is back in the hot tub, surrounded by her omega friends.

Hunter’s sitting on the counter, swinging his legs while he chews on a red Twizzlers from Shiloh’s snack cupboard. “Why do you look like someone spat in your tacos?”

“That’s…an oddly specific descriptor.” I raise my brow and he just shrugs.

“Where’s Shiloh? Blake asks as he pulls out another beer, popping the cap and handing it to me but I shake my head. I needed more water in my system, not alcohol.

Evans chuckles, clearly a few too many beers in as he stares at us with glassy eyes. Either that or it was mixing with the painkillers he’d taken earlier. “I didn’t realize you had a thing for the beta?”

“He’s cute, and kinda feisty,” Blake lifts his shoulder in a lazy half shrug, avoiding my gaze.

Yeah, Shiloh was cute.

And feisty.

And smart.

And hardworking.

And fuckingmine.

Stepping towards Blake, I lower my voice into a growl. “Stay the fuck away from him.”

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