Page 16 of Knot Their Girl
No. More than pretty. Beautiful, with her blond hair semi-curled, half of it pinned to the side of her head. Big, gray eyes that almost looked unnatural. Short in stature, but full in all the areas that mattered. Wearing a dazzling pink dress, she was a complete stunner.
I swallowed hard, my nerves suddenly shot. “I didn’t walk into the girl’s restroom, did I?”
Her reply came swiftly, as if it was waiting on the tip of her tongue: “Unless they suddenly include urinals, you’re not in the wrong one. I am.” She made a point to glance at the urinals.
“Oh. Then I suppose that raises new questions.”
“I have to pee, and there was a line.”
“Simple enough.” I coughed then, feeling some kind of way. This omega… as gorgeous as she was, I couldn’t truly smell her. Granted, we weren’t side by side, but still, there was something off about her scent.
And yet, beneath whatever was off was something deliciously sweet, something that threatened to lure me in if I wasn’t careful.
“I should, uh, let you handle your business, then. Good luck?” I started to leave, but then it hit me, how stupid I sounded just then. “I don’t know why I said that.”
The smile she gave me right then made me sigh, though I didn’t understand why. “Don’t worry. We can pretend it never happened.”
“Oh, good. My glowing social life would never be the same if word got out.” It should’ve been clear by now that any type of social interaction wasn’t my forte; I spent so much of my life locked away in that house, working, designing, that I wasn’t used to any of this.
I headed toward the door once more, stopping only when I stood in front of the beautiful omega. “Excuse me.”
“Sorry.” She moved out of my way, allowing me to resume my speedy exit, but before I made it out, I heard her say, “Wait, please.”
I glanced back at her, something in my chest tightening as I did so. “Yes?” Regardless of how stupid it was, I wanted to please this omega. Strange—all of the ones in the ballroom couldn’t make my head turn, let alone stop me in my tracks, but this random girl in the restroom could do all that and more.
Who was she? The night was only beginning, and I’d been about to leave. Maybe I need to see her at her table.
She gazed at me expectantly as she asked, “Do you think you could, um, stand watch while I go? Don’t let anybody else in? You know, so my reputation for only using the correct restroom stays intact.”
“It would be a shame. I doubt your social life would ever recover from that embarrassment… and I bet, unlike me, you actually have one.” I mentally chided myself for that comment; alphas should never mock themselves in front of an omega. “I’ll stand guard for you outside.” Before I let myself say anything else, I left the restroom.
I went to stand just beside the restroom door, and I leaned on the wall and stared at the ceiling. This night was probably pointless. An omega would never accept my offer, especially after the truth of the offer came out. I should just go home. It was late; I should make sure Colter was all right.
After a while, the omega came out of the restroom, and I gave her a smile in spite of it all. “I trust you’re better now?”
“I am, thank you. It’s funny. I didn’t really have to go when I left the ballroom—I just needed to stretch my legs. When I saw how busy the restroom was, that’s when it really hit.”
“That’s how things always seem to go.” I couldn’t help but notice the diamond-encrusted omega pin in her hair. That design immediately took me back, back to a worse time, to a time I barely survived, a time when my whole life changed. “That’s… quite the dazzler, there.”
“Gaudy, isn’t it? My parents got it for me when I was ten—ten, three whole years before I presented as an omega. It’s like they wanted me to be…” She looked at herself, at her dress, and gestured to it all. “…this.”
“Being,” I paused to mimic her gesture, “this can’t be all bad.”
“No. Not all the time, just most of the time. This—” She pointed to the pin in her hair. “—is what the world wants all omegas to be, but sometimes—most of the time, all we want to do is exist. Be ourselves. Be who we want to be.”
The omega met my stare after that and forced out a chuckle, as if trying to downplay her passion. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get deep on you. I’m Raeka Whittenhall, by the way.”
“Whittenhall.” As I said it, it dawned on me, who she was. “Yes, I know of your family. I’m Gideon… just Gideon.” If I told her my last name, she’d know who I was, too, and I didn’t know if I wanted her to just yet.
The last name made everyone treat me differently.
“Well, just Gideon, it was nice to meet you. I should get back to the ballroom before my bodyguard goes crazy.”
“Bodyguard?”
“Yeah. Let’s just say I’ll consider this night a win if I leave without getting any offers.”
“Without?” The more she said, the more curious I became of her.
