Page 54 of Bite Me Alpha Cole

Grace and Shayne stand up straight at the commotion I’m making. They look right at me, their mouths circled into curious little o’s. I snap my eyes between them as I hastily zip my hoodie up so fast that the zipper catches me on the chin with a pinch that makes me jump and then scowl.

“And Shayne’s coming too!” I bark out, spinning again to glare at Cole, who stands glowering at the door, clearly pissed off.

“Would you get your ass out here, Nadia?” he growls. “You’re making a scene.”

My feet root to their spot.

“Youwantto see me make a scene, Kincaid?” I ask, my voice somehow dangerously low and ringingly loud. “I canmakea scene –“

“Oh, heavens,” Grace murmurs, hurrying over and giving me a hasty shove between the shoulder blades.

Chapter 26 – Road Trip

Nadia

“Hey!” I snap, spinning to glare at Grace as I stumble forward.

“Oh, justgetout of the tent,” she hisses, continuing to shove me. “You’re riling the wolves –“

“Am I…going somewhere?” Shayne calls, worried.

“Straight to hell, you filthy piece of –“

But Cole snaps his head and snarls viciously at the patient who spoke, his command for silence loud and clear. The man shrinks back, clearly not happy about it, but obeying. The patient glares at Shayne as she skitters away, meeting us at the front of the tent.

Cole nods sharply to the right, ordering us out into the darkness to stand with Rose.

“Hi, I’m Grace,” my friend says, holding her hand out to the journalist in a friendly fashion. I smack her wrist, making her drop her arm with a yelp. Grace glares at me in turn, but I ignore it.

“What’s happening?” Shayne asks, glancing wide-eyed back into the tent and then over at the rest of us, baffled.

“They arenotcoming, Cole,” Rose snarls, stepping closer to him –veryclose.

Girlfriend close.

“Yes, we are!” I snap, determined.

“All right!” Cole barks out, spreading his hands wide, glaring around at all of us at once. “Give me…give meeight secondsof silence to think my way through this! Okay?”

We all slowly close our mouths, giving him the space to think.

But I fix my eyes on Rose, who glares back at me, each of us determined to have our way.

Twenty minutes later, there’s a smug smile on my face as I swing myself into the back of the open-air jeep, Shayne on my right, squeezed in the middle with Tommy on her other side.

“I still don’t know why I’m joining in on this road trip,” Shay murmurs, sending me an anxious side-glance as she struggles to buckle her belt.

“Here,” Tommy murmurs, helping her find the buckle.

Shay flashes him a grin but turns her eyes back to me. “Seriously, Nadi, is this like…important? Part of our jobs?”

“Yup,” I say, stubborn, buttoning my belt as Cole climbs into the driver’s seat and Rose takes the passenger seat next to him.

“Oh, it so is not,” Rose mutters.

“We could learnvaluablemedical information,” I snap, “that could seriously help us aid our patients –“

“Hey!” Cole snaps, his temper fraying as he glares around at us. “I am – I am so not doing this anymore, all right? Ladies? Tommy? We are done with this fight! Everyone in this car is coming, no debate. Okay?”

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