Page 97 of Tangled in Knots

“I missed that,” Caleb grunts, looking disappointed. “She started crying right after?”

“I’m right here,” I complain.

“Go wash your face, Adira. I’ll be here until you’re back,” Caleb says, shooing Duncan and I out from behind the bar.

I walk to the bathroom to wash my face, because I hate how sticky my skin feels after I’ve cried. Gazing in the mirror, I find that my eyes are only slightly red as I cup cool water in my palms to wash my face. It feels good, and I take a few practice breaths, making sure they don’t feel shaky.

I don’t want to cry again. Duncan and Callum took me by surprise. I like how easy it is to talk to them, and being friends with them wouldn’t be difficult. They’re gentle in the questions they ask, actually caring what I have to say.

Breathing deeply reminds me that I need to reapply my alpha pheromone blocking gel. I am already being bombarded with scents from beyond these walls. Patting my skin dry with a paper towel, I also dry my hands before throwing it out and walking back to where my things are so I can reapply my gel.

I always wash it off at the end of night once I’m back at the shelter, a way to leave the bar behind me. Stretching my neck to release the last of my pent up emotions, I walk back out into the fray.

There aren’t any more incidents as I take my place back behind the bar, and the guys hang out with me for a while before going to play pool.

“Who are they?” Orla asks, leaning toward me as we wash cups during a small break.

“New friends,” I tell her. “They came to say hello.”

“They also must be pretty powerful alphas for Caleb not to have lost his mind about one of them being behind his bar,” she says. “Be careful. Most alphas just want to fuck omegas like you. If that’s what you’re looking for, let your freak flag fly. You seem really standoffish though.”

“I have good reason to be,” I say, turning to find something else to do. Orla sees too much, and it makes me uncomfortable for some reason.

She could just be making conversation, but I’m not great at small talk either way.

Before I know it, it’s two in the morning, and Duncan and Callum are walking back up to me.

“Can we offer you a ride home?” Callum asks.

“I shouldn’t accept it,” I tell them as I finalize people’s tabs. “I appreciate it though.”

“Are you really going to walk home at this hour?” Duncan asks. “Fuck, you do this every night, don’t you?”

“I have a shadow, but yeah,” I tell him.

“You and I both know that’s not safe,” he says. “I called Aisling because breaking into where you’re staying would get me marked for death by her alphas. I also respect the fuck out of you, and would prefer to not completely force my sparkling personality on you.”

Callum snorts as I roll my eyes. “You have a very high opinion of yourself,” I tell him. “I appreciate that you understand that where I’m staying is an alpha free zone. I don’t want to break any rules by accepting a ride.”

“What if I drop you a block away?” Duncan asks hopefully. “Are you hungry?”

“Trying to feed me again?” I tease him before turning to an alpha to hand him his tab. “I hope you have a great night, Sir.”

“Sir my ass, lass. Albert works just fine,” the alpha says with a slight chuckle as he signs the paper and adds a tip. “Are these boys bothering you?”

The Kelly brothers are in their mid-thirties, and hardly boys, but the Irish are an interesting group.

“No, Albert, they’re not at all,” I tell him. “Thank you for checking on me.”

“Any time, lass,” he says, pushing the paper back to me and leaving.

“People seem to like that you’re working here,” Duncan observes. “You do your job and don’t pepper people with questions. The alphas here come to unwind after a long day or to continue to work, depending.”

Lalala. I don’t need to know.Caleb’s blatant disregard for rules clues me into the fact that he’s connected to the mafia. He hired Aisling at sixteen, for goodness sake. I don’t need to get pulled into mafia shit.

All I want to do is stay outside of it, get my life together.

“So, are you hungry?” Callum asks, pulling me back to his brother’s earlier question.

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