Page 39 of Fake It ’Til You Mate It

“Yes. I just said that.”

Duh. “And the deputy.”

“He is.”

But he’s his brother?

I turn on him, trying to look past the slick facade.

Max doesn’t like it. “What are you staring at?”

“You’re making me blush,” Riordan dead-pans.

I want to hush them both as I focus. Instead, I say almost distractedly, “He’s handsome⁠—”

Yeah. Wrong thing to say because, suddenly, Max growls and the tension in the air cranks up.

Crap. “No.” I smile over at the Alpha before I think better of it. “You’re handsome, too, Max.”

“Max?” Riordan raises his eyebrows. “Getting friendly with the suspect, are you?”

“She’s not a suspect,” he glares at his brother. “She’s in protective custody.”

I’m almost choking on the testosterone. Phew.

The rest of the wolves are smart enough to keep out of it. You think I would be, too.

Nah.

“Okay. I’m trying to figure this out.” I point at Max, then Riordan, then Max again. “Who’s older?”

Riordan juts out his chin. “Me.”

And he’s an alpha wolf. A dominant alpha wolf. He buries it well, especially when he’s next to Max, but if he’s any less dominant than his younger brother, I’ll walk around with Gus’s beloved bag of flour on my head and call it my new hat.

I screw up my face, trying to figure it out.

To my right, Max’s growl turns into a snarl.

What the⁠—

I leap back, heart thudding wildly as my head shoots over to the normally stoic sheriff. He has fangs out, claws on display. His eyes are more of a molten lava than dark gold, his wolf riding him so hard, it’s like he’s seconds away from shifting on the spot.

He’s losing control. I was focusing on his brother, and Max looks like he wants to rip out his throat.

My leap backward helps. Putting some distance between me and Rioran does more to keep Max in his seat. He clears his throat, but it doesn’t matter. He snarled and we all heard it.

He snarled, like a protective wolf warning other males away from his mate.

Uh-oh…

If that realization wasn’t bad enough, Gus suddenly jumps off of his perch on my shoulder, landing with a soft thump as he hits the wooden floor. Quick as a flash, he moves through the gathering of predators like a shark slicing through the ocean.

With the rest of the wolves watching, Gus hooks his tiny claws in Max’s jeans, climbing up his leg, jumping off of his thigh, and landing expertly in the middle of his desk. Then, whirling around, he rears up and starts chittering in warning at Max.

Huh. I guess Gus isn’t a big fan of seeing Max’s jealousy. Me… I’m all for it, but I don’t think I’d like to see how the Alpha will react when a wild opossum starts chewing him out

I take a step forward.