Page 53 of Believe it or Knot

Silently, I lead the way up my front walk and onto the porch, fishing my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door. Gage flicks on the lights as I kick off my sandals, groaning at how good it feels to no longer be in even the smallest inch high heels.

“I would have paid off the Stillwell pack for you. You know that, right?” He asks, dark eyes blazing. Oh. Okay, we’re just diving right in.

I tip my head in acknowledgement. “I know. But now you don’t have to. You need that money, Gage. You’re home for good and it’s time for you to build your life.”

My throat gets tight at the idea of him building that life without me, but it’s not exactly like I can ask him not to, right? We’ve been friends for forever and I need to be happy for him when he finds someone to settle down with, when he finds his pack.

He barks out a sharp laugh that holds zero humor. “Funny, that’s what I thought I was doing.”

I frown at him, but quickly wipe it away, arranging my expression into something placid and calm. “Well, you just got back a week ago. It’s not like a new life will just fall into your lap.”

Not unless he joins the Cordova pack, which is where I think this is going. Clearly, they’ve been hanging out without me, joined together against the Stillwell pack. The Cordovas spent all day making him feel included and a part of the group, even if he only grunted and scowled at them in response.

They were trying.

It seems even the Cordova pack cannot resist the charms of Lake Kilrose’s golden boy.

He stares at me for an inordinate amount of time, and I get the impression that he wants me to read what he’s thinking, but I can’t. The sad truth is, while I still think of Gage as one of my best friends, we don’t really know each other anymore. Our friendship is rooted in childhood memories, in teenage hijinks… I don’t know who he is as the adult in front of me.

And he doesn’t know who I am anymore either. I have too many things I’m keeping hidden for that.

“Do you want something to drink?” I ask, unable to bear his scrutiny, turning away from him to head into my little kitchen.

“No, I don’t want a fucking drink.” I duck my head in the fridge and frown before I grab two seltzers and turn to face him again, that calm mask back in place. “I want you to understand that I can take care of you.”

My feet tangle at his words, and I nearly fall. Would have if Gage didn’t have the reflexes of a god and was halfway across the room with his hands on my hips, steadying me in the blink of an eye. I flash him a grateful smile as he guides me over to the couch. One that he doesn’t return. Apparently, he’s really upset by the Cordova pack stepping in to help me. Though I have no clue why.

They have oceans of money compared to his bucket. They’re businessmen and acquaintances, despite what I did with Liam on the Ferris Wheel. Beyond that, I’ve learned long ago to not take out a loan from someone you know.

My parents taught me that.

The loan I have now is with CD Acquisitions not the Cordova pack, which makes me feel much more comfortable.

“You’re being ridiculous,” I mutter as I drop onto the couch, before offering the can of cold fizzy water to the fuming alpha in front of me. He doesn’t take it.

He towers over me, all but glaring at me. I’m sure he doesn’t mean to. Nine times out of ten, Gage’s expression says, ‘fuck off.’ He has a resting fuck off face, if you will, but it’s intimidating when he’s like this, standing over me while I sit and glaring bloody murder down at me.

I don’t glare back. I want to fix this for him, to make him feel better. To show him he doesn’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. I’ll be fine, whether he was the one who paid off the Stillwell pack or not.

“Gage, please, just calm down, okay? We can talk about this-”

“Talk about it,” he snarls, and paces away from me, eating up the distance between the couch and the kitchen in three long strides before he spins around and growls, “I’ve known you for fucking years, Sorrel, and you’d rather take help from people you’ve known for a week? Less than a week. How do you think that makes me feel, makes my alpha feel?”

I don’t let my expression waver. “I honestly didn’t think about how you would feel, Gage. It’s got nothing to do with you. It doesn’t reflect on you at all. This is a business decision, not a personal one.” Nevermind, that I didn’t ask the Cordova Pack to do this. They went behind my back and bought out the loan from Stephen and his band of merry assholes. It’s not like I approached them about this. In fact, I told them not to do anything.

They didn’t listen.

Gage knows all of this. In fact, I suspect he was there when they told the Stillwell pack about this change. If he didn’t put his foot down with them, why is he so angry about it with me?

“It feels pretty personal when you’re acting like their personal whore, giving blowjobs in public to their omega.”

I rear back, hurt slapping me in the face and the heart, just as if he’d reached out and actually struck me with his palm. He pauses in his pacing and whirls toward me, remorse written on his face. “Shit, biscuit, I didn’t mean it like that.”

I sniff and sit up straighter, pulling that serene expression back on. It feels weird to do it with him, but I need it right now. Need the protection. “You did. You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t.” He never says anything he doesn’t mean. He’s always thoughtful with his words. Not in that he only ever says nice things, but he thinks about what he’s saying before he says it, makes sure it’s something he means. He recognizes that once the words are out there, they’re very hard to take back.

So he knew what he was doing when he called me a whore. He’s probably been thinking about it since the Ferris wheel ride this afternoon.

I push to my feet, no longer willing to let him tower over me if we’re in a proper fight, if he’s resorting to name calling.

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