Page 10 of Knot Your Rebel

Lifting my hand, I capture the attention of the bartender, and he strolls over. He must be new because I’ve never seen him here before. Or maybe he just works nights? “What can I get ya?” He shoots me a knee weakening grin.

Definitely not an alpha, but holy hell, is he sexy. Unfortunately, betas and men in general are not on the menu right now. He’s got a sexy boy scout look to him; not as built as the hockey players around us but definitely keeps in shape.

“Eight whiskey shots please.”

He chuckles. “Starting out strong?”

“Yep, celebrating and all that.” The lie slips so easily between my lips, floating away, and getting lost in the sounds surrounding the bar.

Turning around, he grabs top shelf whiskey, eight shot glasses, and starts pouring. “Hey, we can drink the cheap stuff… no reason to use the expensive whiskey,” I say, not wanting to think about how much that probably costs.

“It’s on the house. Looks like you could use it. What’s the occasion, if you don’t mind me askin’?”

My tongue slips out to lick my lips as I anticipate the burn of the alcohol we’re about to drown in, and his eyes follow it. “Life and the demise of a rather shitty relationship.” He winces, and I catch it.

He harrumphs. “Can’t imagine a pretty little thing like you being single for long, though.”

“I’ve sworn off men, so, yeah…” He gives me a dazzling white smile and tells me he’ll see me later. That you will, sir. That you will.

I feel eyes on me as I walk across to the table where Nova sits, staring at the hockey players. Setting the glasses down, I push them across the table and slide in.

Nova raises a glass. “Let’s do this. To ditching loser men who don’t deserve us!”

“Here, here!” I raise my glass and clink it against hers before we pull back and toss them down. The taste is all too familiar as it burns down my throat, searing every inch of me. The sting reminds me that I’m alive, that, eventually, I will be okay. Well, I hope so, at least. “God, that’s good,” I whisper, leaning into Nova.

“In all seriousness, though. You sure you’re okay? I really am kind of worried about you?” I can see it in her eyes, she is. I know she is. My mental health has run off the side of a cliff, and me with it, since I walked out on Brad. My heart beats faster every time my phone rings or dings with a text, wondering if it’s him. There’s absolutely no reason I should be cowed into feeling like I’ve done something wrong.

I’m hoping, eventually, the unknown caller just leaves me alone.

“I’ll be okay. It’ll just take time, and I really need to look for a job. I appreciate you taking me in like a little lost stray, but I need to start pulling my own weight around here.”

“Well… I have some ideas. We can talk about them later.”

People have come and gone from our table the whole time we’ve been here. Some of them are girls from the ice crew and some have introduced themselves as friends of Nova. An irrational stab of jealousy strikes initially, but I get over it quickly. I’m her best friend, not these people. If anyone tries to take my side bitch they won’t like the consequences.

I’ve listened to them talk and gossip about the hockey team and who’s dating who. Then they went on to talk about the new guy for the season and how well he’s doing, who has a crush on him, etcetera, normal, typical bullshit girl chat.

Every time I look toward the pool tables, I find him staring back at me. The angry look still plastered across his face. No clue why he’s angry… I don’t even know who the hell he is. Whatever.

Nova is engaged in conversation with the skinny blonde sitting beside her, and I take the opportunity to lean in and bump her shoulder. “Hey, I’ll be right back. Going to run to the bathroom.”

She nods. “Okay.” I excuse myself and follow the signs, a little unsteady on my feet, to the bathroom at the back of the bar. So, maybe those four shots did more than I thought.

Taking my time, I use the restroom, and then stop at the sink to look at myself. My dark eyeshadow looks even more smoky in the shadows of this bathroom. There are no fluorescent lights above me shining too brightly, only a few sconce lights beside the sinks. The warm water comes cascading out of the sink and onto my soap-covered hands.

The haunted look that I saw staring back at me for the first couple of weeks at Nova’s has shimmered away, leaving behind a girl who looks almost like she has her shit together. Almost. I run my damp fingers through my hair, messing it up a bit, and then smear on lip gloss that I’ve been keeping in my pocket since we left the house.

Satisfied with how I look, I leave but am stopped by a guy outside the restroom.

“Hey, Omega.” He gives me a once over that makes my skin crawl, but I give a polite fuck the hell off smile anyhow.

He’s taller. Definitely about fifteen to twenty years older than me; his wrinkles showing in places that wouldn’t show on a twenty-something-year-old. He has wavy, tousled blonde hair and crisp blue eyes. If he wasn’t giving me total creep factor vibes, I may actually be interested. But that thought quickly fades.

He pushes off the wall, letting his arms drop to his sides, and inches towards me as I turn to walk away. Leave me alone. I can see Nova at the table from here, still engaged in the conversation with Jess, I think that was the name she gave me.

A hand wraps around my wrist, and I turn, a glare firmly placed on him, my teeth gritted in frustration. “Look, buddy. I’m not interested. So you can take yourself elsewhere.”

He sneers at me as I eye him. “And what if I don’t want to? What if I want to grab you, take you back into the bathroom, and have my way with you. It’s not like you could stop me.” He leans in, and I can smell the alcohol clinging to his breath and the unpleasant odor he carries. I try to hold my breath because it literally makes me want to vomit. Warmth presses against my skin before I realize how close he is to my ear. “All I’d have to do is growl you into submission. One little growl, and you’d be begging me for this cock.” He crudely grabs at himself

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