Page 17 of Talk About… Trouble

“What the hell?” Grace gasped, sounding anything but bubbly now.

The omega rolled her eyes as she cocked out a hip. She was awfully bold for a single person facing off with a crowd.

“What? We all know what she went through. Her picture was leaked from the trial and so were the details. She has to know how weird it is having her in this town. We don’t need that kind of attention.”

She must have clocked the confusion on their faces because she brazenly forged ahead. I wasn’t sure if it was alcohol or if she was simply an asshole, but I didn’t want my past to come out like this. Or at all, really.

Also, what the hell did she mean about it leaking online? I was told the trial was closed to protect us and our names. If it was leaked, that was a huge breach of legal contracts. Every single person had to sign it to even be present.

I guess I was going to have to call my lawyer tomorrow. Though, if this random omega heard, they had to know. They should be calling me.

Tears burned behind my eyes, but Devon still had his fingers wrapped around my wrist. He was glaring at her almost as violently as she was glaring at me. If not worse.

“Don’t fucking talk to her like that.” His words were sharp and icy, making her take a step back, though she didn’t give up.

“Do you even know who she is or what she’s done?” the bitchy omega spat out like I was the problem here. “What she did to Avery?!”

“Don’t speak for, Avery,” Sidney growled, lifting her arm to deck the girl, but Grace grabbed her in time.

She was loyal to her friend, I’d give her that.

I’d heard about Sidney before. She was Avery’s best friend from back home. We’d always planned on meeting up or having her come out, but the timing was never right.

“It’s fine. I’m leaving,” I said quickly, trying to de-escalate the situation before it got worse or she said something they didn’t need to hear.

This time, Nash did look at me. His hazel eyes looked worried, but he hadn’t said a word, and I wasn’t going to ask them to be on my side.

They didn’t even know me. I wasn’t going to cause tension in their town, especially at his bar.

More than anything, I was furious with myself for letting my guard down. This was why I didn’t go out anymore.

It was better for everyone if I simply stayed invisible.

Wren

Asoft knock on my door the next morning woke me up. It was an awful night of tossing and turning, trying to convince myself not to pack up and move again.

I barely spoke to my roommates on the way back, even though they were ranting on my behalf. When we got home, I pretty much ran to my room and locked myself in. My first instinct was to curl up in my nest, but I couldn’t make myself do it, it was too white and too plain.

Plus, without my omega pushing me to follow my instincts, it wasn’t the same.

Knowing I couldn’t avoid them, and they didn’t deserve that anyway, I finally called out a response.

“Come in.”

Grace and Devon both walked in, each one sitting beside me on the bed like we’d been friends for years. Grace snuggled under the covers while Devon simply rested back against the headboard, his arm pressing against mine in silent reassurance.

They didn’t look at me any differently, and I think that was the only thing really keeping me together at this point.

“Just for the record,” Devon said. “I didn’t look you up online, and I have no intentions of doing it. If you want to tell me about your past, you tell me. That will be the only place I get my information. That lady last night was way out of line.”

“Sidney sent me a text last night to check in on you,” Grace said. “She said the Whitakers banned her from the bar. They even did a PSA video.”

She tapped up her phone and pulled up a PackVlog video, turning it to show me Nash’s face. Generally, the alpha was smiling and flirting with the camera, but right now he was working his jaw, tensing and untensing hard enough that it looked like he might crack a tooth.

“This is usually not the place for serious chats, but here we are. I need everyone to know that if you come into my bar and speak to any omega the way I witnessed last night, I will tell you right now, you will be banned from my bar and blacklisted. I will share the same message with every person in this town. Whitaker Brews is a place for alphas, betas, and omegas to enjoy a night, dance, have a few drinks, and connect with friends. It is not, and never will be, a place for hate. That will never be tolerated.”

“I’m kind of surprised,” I admitted as I dragged my eyes from the handsome alpha on screen, to Grace. My fingers were playing with the edge of my blanket as I tried not to show how much it bothered me. “He was really quiet last night. He didn’t say anything until we left.”

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