Page 5 of Knot that Simple

And I was.

Shit, I knew I was, but in my heart, I felt like hers.

Tadgh grabbed Alice’s hand, and Gabriela followed Oisin, telling him what she knew about Ireland.

Me?

I stayed behind, realizing I hadn’t said a word to her.

CHAPTER 3

GABRIELA

I knewI wasn’t likable. I wasn’t anyone’s favorite at school, but that was probably because of Mom. Whatever, Mom wasn’t the point.

The point was…the silver fox wasn’t saying a word to me.

The man was gorgeous—broad shoulders, piercing blue eyes, and salt and pepper hair, though most of it was salt. It worked on him. He looked so handsome, my steps faltered when I saw he held the sign with my name.

And yet, he never even said hello.

I could only guess his voice was as delicious as his body, but again, it was only a guess.

He didn’t say a word to me.

I looked down at my leggings and sneakers. I knew I should have dressed up, but I had just faced three long flights. I was exhausted, and looking pretty wasn’t a priority when I left Bolivia.

It was now.

At least Alice looked happy. She bounced on her toes as we made our way through the parking lot to their car, her hands secured in Tadgh’s. He was beautiful too. The youngest of thethree, his hair was dark brown, with eyes of emerald green. He was clean shaven, and there was something boyish about him.

The last one, Oisin, gave me a sense of calm, of sturdiness. Not as tall as Lorcan, but way taller than me, he had lines in the corner of his eyes. His hair was a little long, almost sweeping his shoulders, and every time a strand got loose in front of his eyes, he brushed it back with his right hand.

I liked that move a lot.

The three of them were perfect, and it was hard to believe they were there for me. I couldn't ignore the growing certainty that once they properly met me, they would realize I wasn’t a big deal.

I was just a twenty-six year old waitress. I had nothing to offer. No education, no career. I was nobody, and they were three hot guys.

When was the other shoe going to drop?

I followed them to a gigantic white car parked in the upper level of the parking lot. From there, I had a view of Dublin and, just like from up in the sky, grey was all my eyes could see.

It was a miserable day, dark and raining right from landing. I hugged Alice to my side, wondering if we even had clothes warm enough for this weather.

It was June, though. This was supposed to be their summer. Yet, a gust of wind almost blew me away, and I gulped, alarmed.

“It’s just a bad day. It’ll get better,” Tadgh told me with a dismissive wave of his hand.

The village where they lived was hours from here, right down in the Dingle Peninsula, and I started to second guess my decisions. When I accepted Teresa’s help, I also accepted that their end game was to find me a pack. I didn't think I would end up in Ireland, no, but I had to honor my word.

The wind slapped me again, right in the face, and I had to gather all my strength to force a smile, pretending I believed better days would come.

I had to remind myself that Teresa did a background check on them, and they had been communicating with their village leader since we matched.

If I was going to let some trauma seep through—and I shouldn't—what really scared me was being unlovable. I wanted them to like me, and I didn’t want the mating thing to be the reason, which was stupid.

The mating call was chemical, and for that reason, they could find the right pack for me through my blood samples. They were supposed to smell my perfume and fall in love.

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