Page 20 of Knot Her Reality

Dustin’s head bobs up and down. “Exactly.”

“Evangeline?” an unfamiliar voice calls out. I turn around to find a middle-aged woman walking up from the lake with a smile on her face. “I’m Tina! I’m going to get you guys set up for the first part of your day. Are you ready?”

“Hell, yes, I’m ready!”

Lillian glances from me to the lake. “Isn’t it a little cold for the lake?”

“Maybe a little, but we’re starting out with kayaking, so I don’t think we need to worry about being cold.”

Finnegan grumbles behind me, and I turn back to him with a frown. “What?”

“Bree sent sweatshirts, jackets, and blankets.” He jerks a thumb toward the SUV. “Go ahead and go through them if you’d like, and grab anything you need. Something tells me Evangeline runs warmer than most people.”

Huh. I wonder if that’s true.

“Maybe we should grab you a jacket just in case,” Alejandro starts but cuts off when I shake my head.

“Nope. Don’t need it. It’ll just be in my way.” I start following Tina, who has started making her way back to the lake. “But thanks for looking out, alpha!”

Movement behind me has me turning my head to find Finnegan following in my footsteps. I roll my eyes, which causes him to laugh.

“Don’t be a brat, omega. Once the others make it down here, I’ll keep my distance, but I’m not leaving you alone with someone we don’t know.” He nods his head toward Tina, and I shrug. She doesn’t look like a danger to me, but since it’s his job to keep me safe currently, I don’t feel like I can complain about it too much.

I snort, raking my eyes over the single kayaks. “Something you’ll have to learn about me is that I’m usually a brat, Finn. It’s my natural setting.”

“Oh, I believe that,” I think I hear him say, but when I glance at him, his eyes aren’t on me—no, they’re on Viktor. His eyes narrow as he watches the other alpha head toward us on his own. “I don’t trust him.”

“Yeah, he kind of gives me and Alejandro the creeps, but I thought it might just be he’s nervous, so he’s coming off smarmy?” I shrug.

Finnegan hums. “Doubtful, but I’ll keep an eye on him. If he makes you feel unsafe, just let me or Lucas know and we’ll take care of it.”

“Got it, Finn. Now shoo!” I push his chest, but of course, he doesn’t move an inch as he smirks down at me. Asshole alpha. They’re always so damn cocky.

Focusing my attention back on Viktor, I notice the others making their way toward us now. Good, I won’t have to be alone with him for long.

“So, Viktor, have you ever been kayaking?”

“Nah. It’s not really the type of physical activity I prefer, if you know what I mean?”

I wrinkle my nose because, yes, of course, I get what he means. But that doesn’t make it any less lewd. I like sex jokes and innuendos as much as the next person, but I barely know this guy, and he’s already hitting high on my creep meter. This isn’t helping matters at all.

I don’t even know how to respond to him without calling him a fucking moron, but something tells me that won’t go over well. Luckily, Lillian saves the day.

“Hey, whatcha talking about?” She’s still smiling, and I wonder if this is her default setting. Can someone truly be this happy all the time? I certainly hope so. I would hate to see that smile wiped off her face.

“The fact that Viktor’s never been kayaking before,” I tell her, choosing to ignore Viktor completely. If he wants to keep this up, then I don’t feel the need to give him a chance. Damn, I’m being awfully wishy-washy even with myself.

Lillian pulls the jacket tighter around herself. “I’ve never been either, but I’ve always wanted to. It should be fun—now that I have a jacket.”

“Is it really that cold? I feel fine.” I shrug, turning my attention to Tina, who’s trying to hide her laughter. “Let me guess, you think it’s cold, too?”

“It’s not too bad, but I also live here. But there’s a reason there was no problem setting up to use the lake without anyone around today. People don’t tend to try to go out on the lake quite this early. We still get some colder days this time of year.” The woman shrugs as Dustin and Alejandro join us. “Is that everyone?”

Glancing around, I nod. “Sure is. Let’s do this.”

Tina gives us a quick rundown of how the kayaks work and what to do if we get tipped over before handing out life vests.

Viktor grimaces as he looks down at the bright yellow vest as if it offends him. “Is this really necessary?”

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