Page 55 of Knot for Me
“Great,” I say, staring at the list of sandwiches.
“Are we ready to order?” the waitress asks a minute later.
They have a French dip and that’s my favorite. I go with that. Amelie orders her disgusting sandwich and waggles her eyebrows at me once the waitress leaves. “So. Have you seen Lucas again?”
“At dinner.” I hadn’t seen him this morning. In fact, I hadn’t seen any of them until Marco came into the kitchen right before we left. Pretty sure they’re avoiding me.
“Was it weird?” She puts her chin in her hands, studying me like I’m a science fair project that’s about to either blow her mind or blow up.
“A little. They asked me if I wanted to leave.” I sip my water, leaning closer. “Lucas got all growly when I asked ifhewanted me to leave.”
“Ugh. He’s smitten. Don’t let the grumpy act fool you. That man falls harder than a boulder off a mountain.”
“He is not smitten. Anyway, we decided I would stay and he stormed off. I think he’s avoiding me.”
She sighs. “Give it time. If you’re serious about not wanting to be their omega, you have to make sure you’re not sending mixed signals.”
“I’m not—” I pause. Does hanging out and reading with Cory count as mixed signals? No. No, it doesn’t. We’re friends. Friends can read together. I can talk to them. “I’m not sending mixed signals.”
“And what about the magical perfume filled vagina? She’s got the memo?”
A woman at the next table over sneers at us, and I cover my mouth to contain my laugh. She looks disgusted and intrigued, but mostly grossed out. A lot of women hate omegas. I ignore her and give Amelie a warning look.
“My vagina is fine,” I say, not bothering to lower my voice.
“Oh good. I’d hate for it to be broken after the beating Lucas gave you.”
“Amelie!”
“What? Please. It was obvious he went to pound town.”
“I’m pretty sure I hate you,” I mutter, shaking my head and sliding my gaze back to the woman. She’s openly staring now, hostility clear in her gaze. I check out the company she’s keeping, two men who are also looking at us, and grimace.
If she’s not mated and she’s on a date, the last thing she wants is an omega around to distract her men. I try to give her a friendly smile but that only makes her eyes narrow more. Giving up, I turn back to Amelie.
“Can we please change the subject before our friend over there tries to stab me with her fork?”
Amelie pulls her shoulders back, face darkening until she turns into the fierce, protective beta she is. Amelie scowls at the woman long and hard until she drops her eyes and focuses on her food. With a haughty huff, Amelie mutters something about nosy bitches and aggressively shakes out her napkin.
“So, you and Jefferson are the pack protectors?”
She nods. “We’re the official betas and take care of everyone. The alphas don’t exactly need to be protected, but we’re who they call when they need back up.”
“I can see why.”
“Here we go.” The waitress drops two plates in front of us, refills our water, and races off to take care of the next table.
“This place really is busy,” I say, noticing the small line now forming at the front.
“Definitely. It’s the only decent cafe for a while, and no one has to travel into the city so that’s a big draw.”
My sandwich is perfect, the au jus is delicious, and the sneering woman leaves before we finish. Amelie hums in appreciation as she eats, and I grin while I chew. This was a great choice, and it’s nice to be out of the house.
“Damn, that was good.” Amelie wipes her mouth, totally contradicting the swearing with her exceptional manners.
“Thanks for bringing me. I didn’t realize how much I needed to get out.” If only to know that I truly could leave if I wanted. Now that I know no one is going to chase me down and drag me back against my will, I wonder if they’d let me bring my car. I could use the freedom.
“Of course. Ready to head back?” I must make a face because she snickers. “Or we could drive around some more?”
