Page 35 of Knot That Delicate

"No, I don’t," I insisted. "We kissed. So what?" I looked up at him.

He cocked his head to the side, a look of disbelief taking over his face.

"Oh, hush," I said. "We’re both grown adults. You kissed me. Oh no, the world is ending."

"Wait, you’re…not mad at me?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"No, I’m not mad at you," I said, waving my arms in a dramatic gesture. "I’m mad at you now because you’ve been avoiding me like I have the bubonic plague. You know, if the kiss wasthatbad, you could’ve just said so. You didn’t have to avoid me."

Carter’s eyes widened. "It’s not that. It’s not that at all. I’m not saying that I…"

I cut him off with a laugh. "I’m messing with you. It was a good kiss. Iknowit was a good kiss. Yes, I haven’t had many kisses, but I know it was a good kiss. So, we kissed."

Carter eyed me. "You can’t stop saying the word ‘kiss,’ can you?"

I shook my head. "If I keep saying it, maybe you’ll stop acting like it was a big, scary thing."

"But you’re an omega. I shouldn’t be treating you like that," he protested.

I huffed. "Stop thinking about me as an omega. I am aperson.I am Juniper. I am not just an omega. A pair of tits that can take a knot—you know what? You’re beginning to offend me now."

Carter’s eyes widened further, and he shook his head with a gesture that meant no. "I don’t mean it like that. I mean, we should show you better respect. You’re not in this position willingly. I was taking advantage."

That made me laugh. I doubled over, laughing so hard as he watched me, bewildered.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because you thinkyoutook advantage of me?" I asked. "Darling, I was taking advantage of you.Iwanted to kissyou,and I kissed you."

Carter’s brows furrowed. "No, that’s not what happened. Ididtake advantage," he said, repeating his earlier sentiment.

"My god, you are so pigheaded." I laughed, shoving him lightly. The gesture should’ve only made him move back a step or two, but I didn’t take into account that he was standing on a slippery patch of mud. The small shove sent him backward, his feet flying out from under him as he fell ass-first in the mud. He made a sickening squelching sound as he landed, mud splattering everywhere—including all over me.

For a few seconds, we didn’t say anything, we simply stared at each other, covered in dirt. Then, at the exact same second, we both burst into a fit of laughter.

"You look so stupid," I said.

"Me?" Carter asked. "You’re the one who’s flecked in mud."

"Yes, but you’re the one who’sdrenchedin it," I pointed out, gesturing to him.

"Yes, but I’m an alpha," he said with a smirk. "We live to get down and dirty. Omegas, on the other hand, are little princesses who don’t like getting messy."

My laughter stopped, and I glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you? I am not some little omega princess," I declared, leaning down and picking up a handful of mud. I didn’t know what possessed me—maybe it was my anger at being called “princess” or maybe it was the idea that I had to be clean, perfect, and pretty. That had been ingrained so much into my head in the basement, I just wanted something different. So, with that handful of mud, I flung it straight at his smug alpha face.

Unfortunately, even at such a short distance, I was not a good shot. It landed square on his chest, splattering over his clothes.

"What the hell?" Carter laughed, looking at me in surprise.

"I was aiming for your face," I admitted with a shrug.

Carter studied me for a moment, a few thoughts flying through his eyes that I couldn’t quite discern. Then he reached down, and since his reflexes were faster than mine, before I could even blink, my shirt was covered in a splattering of muck.

I gawked at him. "Oh, you’rein for it," I said, reaching down again.

And it was like the flood dams had burst. Both of us were scrambling to grab dirt and throwing it at each other. I managed to get in one or two good hits before we were in such close quarters that Carter’s arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me to his chest.

I looked up at him, his entire face coated in mud, those bright eyes sparkling down at me with an inhumanly pretty grin.

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