Page 57 of Knot That Difficult

Audible groans sound behind us asGAME OVERflashes on the screen. The crowd of onlookers leave and head to different parts of the arcade.

She purses her lips and sighs. “That wasalmostmy highest score. Damn it.”

Connor’s eyes widen. “You were playing for a solid twenty minutes. You’ve done this longer?”

Devyn tilts her head and smirks. “I could go for hours.”

I shoot Connor a look and waggle my eyebrows. “Yeah, babe. We both could go for hours.”

Devyn snickers at my double meaning, and Connor swallows, his throat bobbing.

“You two are going to be trouble together,” he breathes, and my heart soars.

I had a feeling I would find my match with Devyn, and she’s just as playful and mischievous as I am. We spend the next half hour trying to teach Connor how to killonezombie, but it doesn’t work.

Then we move to a racing game, and Devyn encourages him, but he places last.

“This isn’t even remotely accurate,” he grumbles, fiddling with the wheel after he loses. “The turn ratio didn’t make any sense.”

Devyn quirks her lip, not at all bothered by Connor’s attitude. If anything, she sees it as a challenge, just like I do. “We’ll figure out a game for you,” she announces, and looks to me for agreement. “Zombies and racing aren’t it. What about…” She trails off and looks around the area, taking in the bright lights and sounds from all the games.

“What about pinball?” she asks. “It’s a classic.”

Connor’s about to answer, when someone grabs Devyn from behind and pulls her back.

My Alpha instincts immediately kick in, and I don’t process her squeal of delight until I’m seconds from throwing my fist into the stranger’s face.

But Devyn is fine—in fact, she’s thrilled that the person showed up. A Beta man places a kiss on her cheek as she happily wraps her arms around him.

“Ben!” Devyn says. “I missed you!”

I’ve never been more jealous of someone than I am at this moment.

Devyn grants him a smile that is so breathtaking it makes me rage irrationally. She looks at Ben like he hangs the fucking stars in the sky.

He mirrors her look, and it’s obvious he’s in love with her.

But when he finally makes eye contact with me, I know I’m fucked.

Ihavemet Ben before.

And judging by the way he’s glaring at me, he remembers me.

11

DEVYN

Everything is going betterthan I expected!

Connor is sweet and polite, like he always is, so to watch him come out of his shell is exhilarating.

Ace is up for anything, and I’ve been laughing longer and louder than I have in a long time.

The date is going perfectly, actually.

Now it will be even better that Ben is here.

I’m so excited for him to meet Ace. Ace is fun and flirty, and I just have a genuinely good feeling about him.

---