Page 106 of Just One Bite
“Why the fuck do you have her shirt on?” It’s harsh, but the alpha blood is kicking my ass on self-control. Did they steal this from her locker?
“Do you like it?” she says, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Pain shoots through the center of my chest like I’m getting rammed with a Rage stick right in the heart.
Then I smell her—my girl.
But it’s fleeting, moving away.
“Move.”
I brush past the girl and chase Olivia’s scent through the crowd.
The pain is growing, and my face heats as I walk past door after door.
I stop at a door at the end of the hall. All my senses settle. She’s close. There’s a soft sniffling inside. She wants space, so I have to use my full willpower to stay outside. When she emerges, I’m both impressed and sad that she hides her tears so well. The only indicator is the redness in her cheeks.
“I sensed it. Through the bond,” I say. “She had your shirt on. It wasn’t … it wasn’t what it looked like.”
“I know. I don’t know what I’m doing or why I’m crying.”
Olivia’s eyes well with tears again, and I haul her into a hug while she sheds the rest of them into my shirt. We’re getting looks, but I hide her face with my jacket.
“There’s a lot going on,” I murmur. “You don’t have to know how you feel about it all at once. Have you eaten today?”
I plant a kiss on her forehead, and she wipes her cheek. We haven’t talked at all. You don’t need to talk to hold someone while they sleep.
“I did.”
“At five this morning?”
She nods.
I take her to the dining hall immediately and fill a plate with a high-protein sandwich, fruit, and some fries. We sit in front of a window where it’s warmer. She keeps rubbing her hands over her legs like she’s cold, so I give her my blazer.
My worry dissipates when she takes a few bites of her sandwich.
“With everything going on, it makes my stomach hurt, so I haven’t wanted to eat a lot. But I think that’s making it worse.”
“So that’s why I feel like I want to puke every time I wake up?” I say, handing her a fry.
She nibbles it slowly. “Haven’t you seen the latest about Olivia Osborne?”
“No. I try not to check that stuff.”
She slides her phone in front of me, and the entire feed is filled with her or us. Some are just full threads dedicated to her. The others are weird theories about our relationship. I stop when I read a headline:Olivia – The Master Manipulator.
The stealing is starting to make sense.
“I should say something.”
“No, that will just make it worse.” She sighs. “I’ll just let everyone at Doxlothia hate me right now.”
“I don’t hate you.” I move the hair gathering close to her food and push it behind her ear.
Stupid. So stupid. Of course she knows I don’t hate her. Now I look like an asshole who is pressuring her. I cringe internally at my own pathetic monologue.
The corner of her mouth twitches. “I know.”
