Page 12 of Forget

“Where do I know you from?” Hayes asks, while my boss ignores him.

“Did you drop anything else?” Caleb asks. “Is this how you’re spending your birthday?”

The other two alphas have a quick intake of breath while I nod with a sigh. While I mentioned my birthday earlier, I don’t think Hayes fully caught it while he was following me. The wind tends to carry words away.

“I was going to take my new fuzzy blanket and candle and veg with a new book,” I say. “Looks like my plans are fucked like usual.”

“Wait, they don’t have to be,”Mr. Sullivan says quickly, sounding panicked. I don’t think he realized what day today is, and I really don’t expect anyone else to either. People I work with know because I’m taking a very rare day off.

“Please, I just want to get to know you. It’s what your mother wanted, too. Come over, have dinner, and then decide if you want to stay.”

“Living with someone I don’t know is a big ask,” I remind him.

“Yes, I suppose it is, but it opens a lot of doors, too. What do you want in life?”Mr. Sullivan asks, trying to sweet talk me.

Little does he know that his supposed little girl has a savior complex.

“I want to change it,” I growl. “Omegas get the shit end of the stick every fucking day. We aren’t safe, we’re grabbed in the middle of the damn street while minding our own business, and there’s absolutely no resources for us. I’m a living breathing example of a young omega who fell through the cracks.”

Hayes grinds his teeth together, knowing I’m talking about him, but I don’t care. I’m paying attention to everything, including the fact that I’m being more outspoken than usual, but Mr. Sullivan has never once toldmeto behave, just Hayes.

“So change it, my daughter,”Mr. Sullivan says. “I have a feeling if anyone could, it would be you, and I only just met you. Will you come to dinner?”

“Yeah, okay,” I agree, feeling as if I just gave up my life. I think this man is very good at getting the things he wants.

Caleb texts someone quickly, but my mind is reeling as the phone disconnects.

“Do you need anything from your apartment before we go?” Hayes asks as Mr. Lars comes running up to us.

“Where are you going?” he asks. “Caleb said your dad found you?”

“Yeah, it certainly looks like that,” I murmur.

“Fucking mob,” Mr. Lars mutters under his breath, his eyes raking over Hayes.

“Have a problem with that?” Hayes asks. ”Aisling, your father is influential and good at talking people into things. I really doubt you’ll be coming back to any of this.”

Closing my eyes for a moment, I try to ground myself. Too many things are changing, and it’s hard to keep myself from being swept away.

“I have a place that’s mine, I was going to do something today,” I rasp. I don’t want to talk about making a nest in front of these men as I open my eyes. It’s such an intimate conversation. They don’t need to know about it.

“What?” Caleb asks, peeking into my bags. “Sex toys, a candle, and a blanket. Aisling, please tell me you’re not going into fucking heat right now? God, I really don’t want to be having this conversation, but I feel like I need to.”

Hayes’s intense gaze is on me again as I shake my head. “No, but I turned eighteen today. There’s no way to know when my first one will happen. God, could you not go through that?”

Caleb’s hand flinches from a large knotted vibrator, groaning. “I’m not equipped to have this conversation, and may need to bleach my eyes now,” he says.

“You’re an alpha, Caleb, man up,” Mr. Lars grunts. “I’m glad you’re taking responsibility for your needs, Aisling, and understand this has to be awkward, so we’re going to leave it alone. I have a feeling this is goodbye for some reason, yeah?”

I want to tell him it isn’t, but I nod, heat burning my eyes that’s as warm as my cheeks are.

“Will you let Mickey and Orla know, Caleb?” I whisper. They’re both probably out for the day, and I don’t think I’ll see them when I go by the apartment for some of my things.

“Yeah, I will,” Caleb murmurs. “Take care of yourself, okay? You have our numbers if you need anything.”

“She won’t need anything,” Hayes sneers.

Rolling my eyes at his posturing, I nod. “Thank you,” I say. Giving them both quick hugs, so I won’t break down completely, I turn toward Hayes. “I need to go to my apartment, and then I’ll go to see Mr. Sullivan.”

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