Page 28 of Sweet Heat

“Hey! What are you two doing here?” I ask, moving out of the way so they can enter. Mari hands me the box, and I close the door behind them, locking the bolt.

“Just wanted to check on you,” Emma replies, her eyes scanning me with concern. Glancing down, I realize I’m still in a pair of ratty pajamas from the night before, and I have no idea what my hair and face must look like.

Probably like I’ve been wallowing and sad. But that’s not the reality. Alex’s barbs didn’t even come close to the sting of Miller’s rejection.So there.

“I’m good. I’ve been working on those commission pieces…” I trail off, shifting the bakery box to one hand to rake my fingers through my long hair. They snag in some knots almost immediately, and I huff before giving up.

“Hiding behind those commission pieces?” Emma asks, plucking the box from my hands and heading toward the kitchen. Mari loops her arm through mine as we follow down the hallway.

“A little, but they’re also coming incredibly well. And so freaking pretty too.” Emma plops the box on the table, then grabs some plates from the cabinet, making herself right at home. We rarely spend time here, preferring their apartment for privacy, but Emma never forgets anything.

“I can’t wait to see them,” Mari says softly, giving me a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Something about her has been a bit off lately. Even though I’ve asked, she keeps telling me everything is all right, but my instincts are tingling. She ducks her head, opening the bright-pink bakery box, and I peer inside.

“Oh my gosh, you guys didn’t,” I moan, looking down at all the delicious churros. “I can’t eat that…”

“Fuck yes, you can,” Emma growls, sounding more like an Alpha than her usual beta self. She glares at me with hard eyes, pointing her finger. “Don’t you dare let them get in your head!”

The sounds of plates smacking on the table make me wince, the ceramic almost cracking under her angry grip as she slaps one down in front of each of us.

“Ready to fill me in?” Mari asks, chewing the inside of her cheek. I’m surprised Emma hasn’t already told her about the hot mess of a date we went on.

“Ugh. It was nothing. Alex and Wyatt just made some comments about me needing to diet. Then when we ordered dinner, they insisted I have salad, even though I tried to order a pasta dish.” I shrug, trying to seem indifferent when it kind of hurt. Alex had seemed like a nice guy, but last night, his true colors had shone brightly.

“They were dicks,” Emma spits out, placing a churro and some caramel sauce on my plate. “I had half a mind to stab them in the knots. You didn’t even tell her about the packing bullshit.”

“Oh, yeah. They were obsessed with the idea of us becoming one big happy pack. Kept asking Emma if she would be willing to go through knot training.” I frown, picking up the sweet dough and taking a vicious bite. Emma doesn’t even know about how Alex shoved his tongue down my throat at the end of the night. The memory of him trapping me against the wall makes me shudder. If not for the sweet treat in my mouth, I might gag.

I stand, going to grab some water bottles out of the refrigerator for all of us, but her words stop me in my tracks.

“Well, they go in the never-again pile.” Mari rolls her eyes. “Why are Alphas such assholes? My sister’s having a ton oftrouble with hers, too. My parents arranged her mating with a Guardious Pack, and now she’s pregnant again. The last time I spoke to her, she looked so sad. With the rules there, she can barely even leave the house without one of her Alphas.”

She fills us in, and the more she talks, the more shocked I become. It’s insane how omegas are forced to live on other continents. It puts Alex and all his stupidity into perspective.

Not enough to give him a second chance though.

Couch time, pillow forts, tons of junk food, and two movies later, my bad mood has completely dissipated by the time I hear a key unlocking the front door.Owen.It swings open, thumping against the wall, and I smirk.

“Better not have left a mark, or I’ll tell Mom and Dads it was you,” I yell, laughing. “I’m in here. Fully alive, and I don’t need a babysitter.”

He doesn’t respond or make his way into the den. The complete silence makes tension prickle low in my belly, my natural anxiety ramping up. Mari pauses the movie, her eyebrows furrowing. We untangle our limbs from the blankets and creep slowly toward the door, unsure what we’ll find.

“Shhhhh, be careful. We don’t want to be too stupid to live.” Mari reaches out, clasping my hand in her suddenly sweaty palm.

We should have skipped the horror movies…

“Owen?” I call, keeping my feet light and my steps silent. I move to peer into the hallway, but Emma yanks me back behind her, raising something that glints, catching my eye. She must have grabbed one of the baseball bats my dad has over the fireplace mantle.

Jumping into the hallway with the bat raised, she lets out a wild scream and swings hard, creating a whooshing noise, but it never connects with anything.

“What the hell!” a familiar voice shouts. “Are you insane? You could have killed me!”

Miller.

“What are YOU doing?” Emma fires back, still gripping the bat. “Who comes into a house full of women and doesn’t answer like a creepy, skulking loser?”

“I had headphones in.”

“Excuses. Excuses,” she huffs, whirling around to put the bat away. With a deep breath, I step into the hallway. Nerves flip in my stomach, and heat slowly pulses in my core at the mere sound of his voice.

---