Page 35 of Little Red and Her Creatures of Chaos
Bryce’s mouth drops open. “You aren’t really going to keep me away from her.”
“Yes. I am.”
Bryce’s eyes drop to his plate, but he doesn’t say anything else. I finish eating and lean back in my chair. “I have to work tonight.”
“I don’t think that’s safe,” Nash says gently. “Not with the rogues. They would have caught your scent.”
“I can’t miss work. I have bills to pay.”
“We can take care of that,” Mason says easily. “You don’t need to go.”
That gets my back up, and I stand from the chair. “Absolutely not. I don’t need someone to take care of me.”
“We know that,” Bryce says softly. “But we want to. You’re our mate, and we take care of what’s ours.”
“I appreciate that, but we just met. Wild fucking aside, we need to slow everything else down.”
“What does that mean?” Mason asks.
I gesture around wildly. “This. The whole mate thing and telling me that I don’t need to work.”
“Like Nash said, it isn’t safe. One of us will go with you,” Mason argues.
“You can’t just sit around the diner all night, and I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“We won’t be taking that chance,” Nash says, standing up. “One of us will be there whether you agree or not.”
I have nothing to say to that, so I storm out of the room. I go to the bedroom, grab my clothes, and start frantically searching for my keys. I know this all was too fast, and I’m on the edge of a breakdown. My mom ruled my life until the day that I turned eighteen. I can’t let them do it, no matter how much I’ve loved being around them. I’m just about to scream in frustration when Bryce appears in the doorway.
“We just want to take care of you, My love.”
“I get that,” I huff, spinning around, trying to spot somewhere that I haven’t looked yet. “But you can’t come into my life, start screaming stuff about mates, and then try to rule my life. That’s not how it works.”
“It does in our world.”
“I’m not from your world, Bryce. I’m human. I just learned about this two seconds ago.” Something flashes across Bryce’sface, but it’s gone before I can figure out what he was just thinking. “I can’t find my fucking keys.”
Bryce reaches into his pocket and dangles them from his finger. “I was hoping I could convince you to stay.”
“I can’t. I need…” I blow a breath out and run my fingers through my hair. “I need space.”
The look that enters Bryce’s eyes makes my heart feel like it’s cracking in two. “I brought it down to the driveway.”
“I’m sorry, Bryce.”
He smiles sadly. “I get it. Be careful going home.” He tucks his hands into his pants pockets and strides from the room. Before I can run after him, I slide my shorts on and walk to the front door. Mason is leaning against the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He doesn’t need to say anything; his eyes say it all.
I managed to fuck up the one good thing that’s happened to me in years.
The diner was packed when I clocked in, and it hasn’t cleared in the two hours that I’ve been working. I was hoping work would take my mind off of the guys, but it didn’t. I feel their absence like a missing limb. Why the hell did I freak out? Why couldn’t I have just had an adult conversation with them? My temper gets the best of me, and sometimes I can’t stop it.
“Order up, Radley!”
I go to the counter and grab the tray waiting for me. I walk to the table and start laying the plates out for the couple who walked in earlier. “Can I get you anything else?” I ask politely, even though I feel like something is off about them.
“Not right now,” the guy answers. His hair is long, and it looks like he hasn’t taken a bath in weeks. The woman with him looks oddly familiar, but I can’t place where I might have seen her.
“Okay. Enjoy your food.”
