Page 13 of Knot Giving Up 2

“Lineage of Eir.” McQuinn doesn’t look at me as he answers.

“Seriously? I love that series!” The fantasy romance is my favorite read this year. “What book are you on?”

“The black one.”

“Oh, number two. Just wait until you get to book four. It’s such a roller coaster.”

“No spoilers!”

“I would never! I hate when people spoil books.” I shift my position on Nils’s lap so that I’m angled towards McQuinn. Our knees bump together and the warmth of the simple touch spreads all the way up my thighs. That small point of contact is a comfort I didn’t know I was craving, and I'm glad when he doesn't pull away. “Do you read romance? What’s your favorite trope?”

“One bed, of course.”

Forced proximity. Fitting for McQuinn, who seems to struggle with expressing himself verbally.

“Obviously. But I have to admit, I’m kind of a ‘who did this to you’ girlie.”

“No! It’s so lame!”

I glance at Nils. “Have you read The Eir series?”

He shakes his head, trying to hide his knowing smirk.

McQuinn and I spend a lot more than five minutes talking about fictional fae wars. It’s surprisingly fun to talk with him, and I wish we’d found this connection sooner. But then Nils starts rubbing his hands up and down my arms, leaning in and burying his nose in my hair while I talk.

McQuinn suddenly shuts up, pinching his lips together in a look of disgust. Does he really find me that repulsive?

“What did you think about the Dragon King?” I ask, trying to draw him back into the conversation. I place a hand over the back of Nils’s palm to stop his flirty touches. McQuinn zeros in on the action.

“You shouldn’t be sitting here,” he snips.

I wince, feeling the sting in the words like static electricity zapping my fingertips. “It hasn’t been a problem so far. I was enjoying talking to you.”

“Clearly, you were enjoying something else more.” His eyes flick down to my hand, joined with Nils’s on my lap. I was trying to consider McQuinn’s feelings by stopping Nils from getting too handsy, but his insinuation that I’m only here to cuddle with Nils hurts. I thought we were finally making progress, and now he wants to dismiss the connection as nothing, minimize it? No. If that’s what he thinks of me then, that’s what he’ll get. Frustrated, I pull Nils into a heavy kiss, keeping my eyes on McQuinn.

“Go. Back. To. Your. Seat,” McQuinn’s harsh tone is almost a bark.

My body jerks back at his dismissal. Getting up from Nils’s lap, I step on McQuinn’s toes as I leave, meeting his eyes as I do. At least he has the decency to look surprised at being such a jerk.

Nils looks pissed. “Meggie, wait.”

But I can’t. I don’t want to be there anymore. Not when I’m not wanted.

I take the empty seat by Dante. One look at me, and he pulls me into his side. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” I rub my palm over my heart in little circles.

Dante nuzzles his cheek against mine, scent marking me. The action soothes something deep inside me, instincts I’ve long left buried. His summer scent of oak trees and fresh grass calms me slightly, but there’s an ache in my chest I can’t get rid of, like I’m missing something. A craving for citrus and sunshine, even if I always get burned.

8

Meggie

Iwasn’t expecting military officers. I knew they would have security checkpoints, but this is more intense than I imagined. Two men dressed in American military uniforms stand at the checkpoint next to a French security officer. One of the Americans has a German Shepherd sitting at his feet on a leash. We weren’t planning on dogs.

I’m so glad I made Nils repack my suppressants and blockers in the van on the way from the airport. We decided it would be best to put them in nondescript vitamin bottles for the flight. Nils insisted that airport luggage scanners would have flagged it as weird if I hid the pills in a bottle of lotion or something like that. But having pills or vitamins isn’t a problem and never flagged airport security. They’re looking for explosives and weapons, mostly.

But with the consequences of being discovered at the Olympics so high, I was too nervous to just leave them in the pill bottles. So once we were in Paris, Nils wrapped the small pills in multiple zipping plastic bags and stuffed them inside shampoo bottles, completely hidden. It’s a good thing I was so paranoid since the shampoo should hide the smell from the dogs and there’s no way anyone will see them, even if they open the bottles. I hope.

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