Page 69 of Forget

“Are you going to be a jealous alpha?” he asks. “Aisling enjoys dressing up, playing with different styles. She always looks beautiful. Don’t be a dick.”

Cian punctuates this by cuffing the back of my head, making me groan.

“I’m not! At least, I’ll be less jealous when she’s mine,” I mutter. “Right now, I want to stab anyone who looks at her wrong outside of my pack.”

“Eh, well, that’s on you and your timetable, isn’t it?” Cian asks, getting comfortable as he pulls out his laptop to get some work done.

I hate when he’s right. My phone is next to my thigh, and I pick it up, staring at the photo.

Me:

You look good enough to eat, Aisling. Remember, I like the chase, Sugar. Don’t push me too far without giving me a crumb or two.

Aisling:

Would you eat me?

Closing my eyes,I ask myself who’s cheerios I pissed in to be in this position. These pants are not going to hide my raging hard on, and I’m in the worst place to have this happening.

Blinking my eyes open, I hold back the growl building deep in my chest.

Me:

Aisling, am I detecting brat behavior? I don’t think you’re ready for me. I would eat you whole, and enjoy every single scream.

Fuck,I should tell her I’m joking, right?

Aisling:

I can do coffee on Wednesday.

Two days,I can handle that, I think.

Aisling

I feel like I’m playing with fire as I go back to my desk, smirking as I pack up to go home. Wren and I swapped out today, so I’m back in the office, while she’s working from our she-shed. There’s a million emails and phone calls to return, so she’s tackling that while I help with paperwork and intake.

December is the month that things seem to come to a head for bad situations. Breakups, money issues, running away from abuse, I’m seeing it all today.

“Miss Aisling, do you have a second for me?” Meghan asks, cuddling her two-year-old against her.

Benji has curly brown hair and wide blue eyes, and is an absolute sweetheart.

“I have several,” I tell her, sitting down and reaching out for Benji. He gives me a wide smile, practically throwing himself at me. I haven’t had a lot of experience with babies until now, but I’m enjoying the snuggles and even the tantrums.

“How can I help?”

Nodding, Meghan sits down next to me with a sigh, smiling at her son.

“I’m feeling a little lost,” she admits. “I was in culinary school before I got involved with the pack I just left, and now I don’t know how to move on. How do I figure out childcare? Do I go back to school, or pick up a job doing anything?”

“Well, while I’d be the first to say that sometimes we have to do what we need to, settling isn’t something you need to do,” I say, rubbing Benji’s back. “You’re twenty-five, right? Let’s look at some scholarships for schooling. I gather you enjoy cooking?”

“I do,” she gushes, her blue eyes lighting up. Her brown hair is in a messy bun, and there are dark shadows under her eyes from the late nights with a toddler. “I went to culinary school in Wisconsin, and loved it. I began dating a pack about a year after I started. They initially promised they wouldn’t interfere with my dreams, but things got abusive quickly. They cut me off from my family, and the only person I could sneak in calls to occasionally was Morgan.”

“I met her, she’s really sweet,” I say with a nod.

“I swear she saved my life,” she whispers. “She sent our cousin out when I texted about leaving. Ian caught me as I was sneaking out the back door when I thought everyone was asleep. They drank heavily, and I added a sedative to their bourbon that night. He backhanded me.”

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