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“I know you’re used to people falling at your feet with those baby blues, but I’m not going to be one of them. I said no, and I’m not changing my mind.”
The sharp tension radiating off the alpha made me want to recoil. I refused to. Standing my ground with assholes was the only way I knew how to do things.
“Why?” Kevin asked, looking crestfallen as he scanned me head to toe. “I know you like me. The only way you’d say no is if you were taken, and there’s no bondbite on your throat. What gives?”
“For the sake of being in a professional environment, I’m not going to say what I’d actually like to. Instead, I’ll remind you that no means no and if you bother me again, I’ll be going to HR.” I hooked my arm through Allie’s and dragged her away, tossing the printed report into my boss’s office on our way.
“What the heck was that?” Allie asked. “Didn’t you used to give him eyes? You guys were flirty central not that long ago. What happened?”
“Everyone in the office gives him eyes. He’s pretty.” I shrugged, thumbing the elevator button to take us down to the lobby. “Doesn’t mean I want to date him.”
“You used to joke about dragging him into the janitor’s closet,” Allie pointed out.
“Janitor-closet makeouts isn’t dating and I’m allowed to joke about pretty people railing away my office stress.” We stepped out into the sunshine, making our way down the street to get some rice bowls for lunch. “Besides, if Kevin can’t accept a simple no, I wouldn’t let him anywhere near me.”
“Fair enough. He did get kinda pushy. Dodged a bullet, I suppose. I bet he’s not told no very often.” Allie nudged me while we stood in line. “No luck with anyone else, then?”
I froze, searching her brown eyes for any hint that she knew about Luca. “Of course not. You know me, single and ready to mingle. So long as it’s not a coworker.”
We talked about less fraught topics while we ate. Allie and I had been work besties for years. I’d never imagined anyone would get close enough to me to want to have me as a bridesmaid. Stella had asked, but I couldn’t even bring myself to attend the wedding, let alone celebrate it by being in the wedding party. I still remembered the terror that had flowed through me when Allie told me she’d gotten herself bonded by accident. Sidney was a good man, though. Allie’s happiness grew because of him. It wasn’t like Stella, where each passing day a little more of her light dimmed.
Telling from the start wasn’t easy, though. Rodney hadn’t been the worst when he’d come into the picture. Stella had been happy once; he’d taken care of her for as long as it took to get her hooked before giving glimpses of his true colors. By then she was in too deep.
I shook myself out of those thoughts. The Marinos were a surprising family. They’d welcomed Allie as one of their own, I’d become friends with Nicky, and Luca…Luca was a good man I didn’t deserve. I harbored too much fear and bitterness to be with someone so sweet.
“You okay?” Allie asked, poking me with her toes beneath the table.
“Yeah. Sorry, still feeling a little out of sorts.”
“No worries. Took me a little while to feel a hundred percent after, too.”
Luca had stayed all of Saturday, attending to my every whim, picking me up groceries, filling my freezer with meals I could warm up in minutes, and letting me cling to him the whole day. He had skipped work to take care of me, going home briefly when he would have finished his shift, staying long enough that his parents wouldn’t be suspicious, and sneaking out again to stay with me until early Sunday morning. I couldn’t remember another time in my life when I had felt safe like that.
I had worn a mask to pick up my nieces, taking them to a Sunday matinee of the latest fairytale movie. It was an easy enough way to spend time with them without having to use up too much brain power. Plus, I got to sit the whole time and that had helped.
“How was meeting Nicky’s band of lovers?” I asked as I neared the bottom of my rice bowl.
“They all seem super nice,” Allie replied. “If she can get out of her own head, I think she’ll be happy with them.”
Why did that sound familiar? Nicky and I didn’t have a ton in common, but apparently living in our heads was a trait we shared.
“I never thought she’d have it in her to handle a whole pack.” I picked up my drink and swirled the straw. “Good for her. She could do with some solid railing.”
Allie snorted rice out her nose and dissolved into giggles. “You can’t say things like that when I’m eating.”
“You knew what you were getting into when we became friends.”
She beamed at me, bright and beautiful. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I guess this means Luca’s the only one left to find someone and the Marinos will be a complete set.”
I shoved down the twist in my stomach at her words. “You really think Nicky’s a done deal? What’s Mama Marino think about all this?”
“Depends on which kid we’re talking about. She and I had a little girl’s day and ended up talking about it. With Nicky she happy-cried that the pack was clearly so into her and taking such good care of her. With Luca it was definitely a sad cry. I love her, but that woman is not prepared for an empty nest. Luca knows it, too. Poor thing. He and I have talked about him moving out a few times when he’s come over for dinner at our place and you can see that the guilt swallows him whole when he thinks about it.”
“I can’t quite decide whether it’s worse to have a mom that doesn’t care if you leave or one that cares too much.”
“Loons,” Allie said seriously, “don’t even make that comparison. For all her faults, Mama Marino loves her kids and chooses them first. You should’ve gotten the same from yours.”
“O-kay!” I clapped my hands on each syllable. “We got too heavy for lunch.”
