Page 96 of Tangled in Knots

“Are you overworking her?” Callum asks, glancing at Caleb.

“So protective,” my boss says. “Are you part of this pack she won’t tell me about?”

“Nah,” Callum says. “I’m not a big enough asshole for that. I need to know she’s safe, which means inserting myself into her life.”

“I’m right here!” I exclaim, shaking my head. “I don’t know if it really works if I know your evil plans.”

“A bit nefarious, but not evil,” Duncan chuckles.

They sit at the bar while I take other people’s orders, and keep me company. Caleb makes sure they aren’t making me uncomfortable before he goes about his night, which I appreciate. The Kelly brothers are doing more than enough omega sitting.

It’s almost comfortable, and I almost smile a few times. Would it really be terrible to be friends with them?

“Are you going to drink or are you holding up a corner of the bar all night?” I ask, taking a moment to clean the bar.

“I’ll take a beer,” Callum says with a shrug. “I do still plan to hold up the bar, though. It may crash without me here, and then whatever would we do?”

Grinning, I surprise myself with a small huff of laughter before blinking wildly. It’s as if emotions that I’ve been stopping up are now bubbling up, and tears are threatening to spill over.

“Woah,” Duncan says. “What the fuck just happened?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t make much sense if you’re not me,” I mutter, quickly brushing away tears.

“It’s not nothing,” Callum grunts. “You just smiled. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know!” I wail, turning to face the wall and fix my life. God, I’m going to get fired for crying into people’s drinks.

A solid body is next to me, tugging me into a hug before I can track that one of the brothers jumped over the bar.

“There’s nothing wrong with crying,” Duncan murmurs, holding me tightly. “We just want to make sure we didn’t fuck up. You’re working your ass off and need friends. Even if you don’t think you do.”

“I mean, I have Aisling and Wren,” I mumble against his chest.

“Yeah, but you need us too,” he says. “People tend not to fuck with us. While they have powerful packs, you need people who you don’t have to explain things to. You need to cry? Do it. The only reason I’ll ask questions is to make sure I’m not the fucking problem. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I’ve felt really numb since I left your house. Emotions outside of sadness aren’t really processing well. It makes me feel broken.”

“You’re not,” he says. “Hey, look at me.”

Sighing, I look up as he brushes away my tears. “You’re perfect. Remember that. The things that happened to you do not have to define you,” Duncan says. “Callum and I have been going crazy looking for you. Our instincts are driving us insane. We know you have a pack, but they’re assholes.”

“Yeah, they are,” I agree.

“I’m a big believer that men and women can be friends, I just haven’t ever done it,” he says.

“That makes zero sense,” I tell him, shaking my head.

“It doesn’t need to,” he says. “Callum and I work too much, and we need something else to do.”

“I’m not a project,” I remind him. “There are a lot of other things to do.”

“I’m doing a shit job of explaining this,” Duncan growls, looking over his shoulder. “Fuck, boss man is coming back over here. Adira, my brother and I feel drawn to you. We know you’re not a project, but we are very serious about being in your life. We know where you work, we’ll keep coming in until we get you to agree.”

“Are you going to make her cry too, numb knot?” Caleb asks, coming around the bar. “If you’re not ordering a drink, get out. People will think I’m a shitty boss.”

“You’re a great boss,” I say, taking a deep breath. “I had an avalanche of emotions. I guess that’s what happens when you’re emotionally stunted.”

“Eh, you’re not that either,” Duncan says, stepping back. There’s only so much room here, though, so he almost knocks over a crate of glasses. “Fuck. Be good to yourself, Adira. It’s nice to see you smile.”

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