Page 23 of Knot That Difficult

There’s no way he said what I think he said, right?

Connor shrugs and looks amused, keeping a soft smile on his face. “If you have any free time, I’d love to take you out,” he says gently.

I open and close my mouth.

My inner Omega does thesplits.

I forgot how to talk. Where are April and Skylar? Where are my friends to help me through this?

What about Ben?

I know I look ridiculous. I must sound like a crazy, overcaffeinated Omega who’s never had a thought in her head.

But Connor doesn’t judge. He just watches me patiently, taking another bite of macaron while I struggle to form a response, like he has all the time in the world.

“We can go wherever you want,” he adds.

Ben’s words from our anniversary flit into my mind.

Anything you want.

My inner Omega screeches at me, clawing her way through my chest.

Connor smells like heaven. My heart is racing, and his eyes are so green?—

But the door to the café opens, and I lock eyes with my favorite person in the entire world.

“Hey, babe,” Ben says, giving me a smile. Then he looks at Connor, and I see the gears in his head turn.

Oh, my god.

April steps out of the stockroom with a box full of coffee beans, and I leave the register without giving Connor an answer or greeting my boyfriend.

April calls after me, but I barrel into the stockroom, heading past Luke and almost running into Skylar.

“Skylar. Emergency.Emergency!”

But Skylar isn’t bothered by my cry for help. “What could you possibly need help with, Dev?” she sighs, rummaging through a shipping box. “I’m trying to adjust inventory after your new boyfriend’s coffee delivery arrived.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I’m going to strangle her. Why doesn’t anyone else see this constitutes an emergency?

“You’re right, because you haven’t told him he can take you out yet. Now, be a big girl and go back out there.”

“ButBen’sout there. And they’re probablytalking.”

Skylar stops what she’s doing and turns to me. “If the biggest problem is that Ben is a considerate, patient person, your life could be a lot worse.”

She’s right. I’m not the one that was kidnapped, like Skylar.

Skylar and April are both strong, and sometimes I forget about the trauma they faced.

Of course, my problems aren’t significant compared to a literal kidnapping.

At my face, she softens her tone. “I’m not trying to be harsh, Dev, but you can do this, and you don’t need my help.”

I chew my lip. She just doesn’t get it. Going out with Connor is arisk.

I’ve worked so hard to have the people in my life, and I can’t lose them.

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