Page 12 of Begrudgingly Yours
Still, it can grate on my nerves a bit. Especially when I already have a girl at the forefront of my mind.
I decide to respond politely even though it feels like sandpaper on my tongue. “Things are going good. What about you, Nicole?”
She smiles wide. “They’re good, too! My classes are going great. No more science for me, just a bunch of film studies to look into.”
I nod my head, falling silent. I wait for someone else to entertain her, but no one budges. Pack Pearson is still looking between us with curious lifts of their brows.
“Have you spoken to Mother about that Shakespeare class yet?” Dax asks, still none the wiser.
Nicole shrugs. “No, not yet. But you know why… she wouldn’t understand wanting to be on Broadway or in the theatre.” She singsongs the last part so it echoes with a vibrato, liketheat-EEEER.
“That’s not fair, Cole,” Dax responds. “You should tell her, she might surprise you.”
I keep my features neutral. The others may not know, but the siblings are speaking cryptically about their A-list actress of a mother. I quite enjoy being privy to that information.
Before Nicole can respond, someone calls her from across the room. She looks back, twiddling her fingers in a dainty wave. “I’ll see you guys later, maybe.” Then she looks at me before darting away.
I let out a breath of relief.Finally.
Then I look up and see my friends trying not to laugh. Dax looks at them with confusion, trying to match their smiles on a joke that he definitely doesn’t get. Stacia looks at me for the firsttime, humor dancing in her eyes. “Wow, I bet that’s uncomfortable.”
I shrug, but Dax interjects, “What do you mean?”
Ciro points at where Nicole disappeared. “The fact that your sister has a crush on your pack mate.”
Uriah hits Ciro in the head. The beta coughs and then corrects himself. “I mean… best friend.”
“That’s not true,” Dax tries to laugh, but then he sees the look on my face. I don’t confirm or deny. Instead, I just take a sip of my lukewarm beer amid the awkwardness and try not to meet his questioning gaze.
“Are you serious?” he asks, his voice a bit harsher than normal. I fold and finally meet his eyes. He’s squinting at me, like he’s seeing something for the first time. “Is that true, Ev?”
Something about his demeanor causes me to answer seriously. “I thought it was always obvious, D.”
He stares at me, haunted. There’s a flick of irritation before he turns and leaves the group, causing silence among us after his departure. I’m left stunned, wondering what just happened between us.
The guys and Stacia look uncomfortable and unsure of where to look. I try to brush it off and drink more of my beer. The tepidness of the liquid is no longer unpleasant compared to the situation at hand.
Atlas moves a bit closer and slaps my shoulder. “Is everything okay, Ev?”
He’s looking at me like he can see everything playing through my mind, and it’s easier than I thought to say the truth. “It’s just been a bit weird between us lately.”
“Do you know why?” Uriah asks.
“I don’t know… I think we like the same girl, and that’s never happened before. New territory, I guess.” I shrug. “Maybe it’s weird because of the pack bond not clicking in.”
Atlas nods, thinking. “The uncertainty definitely doesn’t help.”
“Does this crush involve a certainblue-hairedomega that we all know?” Kendall butts in with a teasing smile.
Stacia hits her alpha in the shoulder, her eyes wide like he just spilled some kind of secret, but it was probably obvious from how Rory reacted to us at dinner yesterday.
“Ah,” I laugh. “That’s why you couldn’t look me in the eye when you walked up. Did she finally tell you?”
Her lips flatten before she huffs. “Maybe I already knew.”
I shake my head. “We see you guys a lot and you’ve never acted any differently before now. I just assumed Rory kept it to herself.”
Stacia crosses her arms. “Well, of course she told me. Now, it’s my job to ask—what is your intention with my best friend?”
