Page 69 of Pack’s Pledge

“Beau, baby,” Adrian growled. I looked up at Britt to see her pupils wide, her gray eyes dark. She couldn’t tell by scent how I was feeling, but she didn’t have to. “Rein it in a little bit, hmm? Britt has to go to work.”

“Oh, shit,” she swore, eyes going round. “Oh, I’m going to be late!”

She slid off my lap, running over to the door where her purse was—the one Adrian and I had picked out for her, so many months ago—and then back, dropping a quick kiss on Adrian’s lips, then mine.

“You’ll come by, later?” she asked, and I nodded.

“Of course.”

“I’ll see you in a few hours, then,” she said. “And don’teventhink about starting without me,” she hissed, then, “I’ll know if you do.” She pointed at each of us in turn, scowling seriously. “Bye!”

“Damn bond,” Adrian called over his shoulder, as Britt rushed off, the ding of the elevator sounding her departure. He smiled at me, nudging his knee against mine. “Do I want to know what you were really talking about?”

“Hmm, yeah, you do,” I said, smiling back at him. “But… you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Okay, baby,” he said, and tucked my hand into his. “I trust you.”

“I love you, too,” I said.

He scoffed. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “That, too.”

I let my head fall onto his shoulder. “Yeah. That, too.”

Adrian

“Have I told you,baby, that I am so,so, thankful that you work at a real fucking bar, now?” I said, leaning over the bar top towards Britt.

She turned to me from the beer tap, sliding across a pale drink on a cardboard coaster.

“You might have mentioned it a few times,” she said, generously. “Onerealbeer for the handsome alpha. You’re sure you don’t want anything fancy?” The shelves behind her were stacked with glass bottles of all different colors and sizes. Britt could rattle off a whole essay on every one of them.

“I’m a simple man,” I said, taking a sip, sighing. “Beau, on the other hand, would like an Old Fashioned. Get muddling.”

Britt rolled her pretty gray eyes. “Themostannoying drink,” she said, getting the sugar cubes, the bitters. “What, he expects to be spoiled just because he’s an omega?”

“That’s about right,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s changed, since we got all packed up. It’s a shame.” He had changed—we all had—but I knew it was only for the better. Britt did too, and smiled as she crushed the wedge of orange in the bottom of the pint glass.

“He’ll get a warm shot of cheap vodka next time, and he’ll be thankful,” she muttered under her breath, and muddled harder. “Stop it, A,” she chided, and I tore my eyes from the way her breasts moved under her tight tee shirt as her arms pressed the juice from the pulp.

“This fucking bond… always tattling on me,” I said, and she looked up through her long lashes with a smirk.

“I’ll be off duty in like… 10 minutes,” she said, glancing over my shoulder to where Beau and Conall sat at a table. “Then I’ll come sit with you.”

“On my side of the booth,” I bargained, and she rolled her eyes again.

“Sure, whatever,” but she was smiling.

“I love you,” I said.

“You’re overcompensating,” she said, “just because we said it last—”

“I just wanted to let you know.”

“You just want me to sit next to you,” she laughed. “Now go,” she handed over the Old Fashioned, “and I’ll bring Conall his drink when I get off.”

“No, you’llget offwhen we get home,” I said with a wink and she made a face.

“Go!”

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