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It only took me fumbling with my purse for a split second, and then he was howling, the sensual heat in his gaze replaced with the burn of pepper spray.
I left him on the floor and rushed back to the door, eager to put some distance between the cursing beta and myself. I only made it a few steps when I collided with someone else, another male who soothed my wolf’s nerves instantly.
"I'm sorry," I breathed, looking up at Gabe. "I don't know how he found me, but we need to get out of here. It won't take him long to shake off the mace, and when he does, he's going to be out for blood."
Gabe gave me a hard look, his expression blank. He gently nudged me to the side, ignoring my pleas to run. Instead, he let himself into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, sliding the lock back in place.
"Come on, Ella." I felt a tug on my shirt and turned to find my sister. Surprisingly, there was no crowd forming behind her. In fact, there wasn't so much as a concerned employee checking in to see if we were alright. No one in the entire bar seemed to care about Neil getting pummeled and cursing up a storm in the bathroom. "Gabe can handle it. Let's get you out of here."
"But Neil--"
"Jeremy's on his way, and Trace is waiting outside withbackup to take Neil into custody. Gabe just wanted to be the one to kick his ass first,” Mariam said, smirking.
I bit my lip and nodded, following her outside. I couldn’t help smiling to myself at the sound of Gabe beating the shit out of Neil in the women’s restroom.
Chapter 18
“Not. One. Word,” Gabe said, gripping the steering wheel a little harder than necessary.
“At least I’m not horny anymore,” I said, ignoring the warning and trying to lighten the mood. “This would be a lot worse if I was still horny.”
“Because you were before? What, in the bathroom?” I opened my mouth to answer, but he shut me down with another glare. “I still can’t believe you were throwing back drinks in a bar.”
I slumped back into my seat and looked out the window. It was well past midnight at this point. The alcohol had long since worn off, thankfully, but now I was left with a small headache and an empty stomach. At least Neil wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
“Can we please stop for some food?” I threw in a pitiful frown, hoping it would win me some points. It must have worked because Gabe pulled into the next drive-thru, grumbling as he did so.
Moments later, I had a huge burrito and soda, eternally grateful for the instant availability of fast food.
“So, you aren’t talking to me, right?” I asked,unwrapping the burrito carefully.
Gabe refused to smile. “If I am, it’s not working so well. Do you have any idea what Neil was planning to do to you? What would have happened if I hadn’t been able to track your scent in the parking lot?”
“And what if you hadn’t guessed the right bar?” I chimed in, mouth full. “Yeah, I know what he wanted. I was the one who maced him.”
“Not helping,” he said, scowling. “I’m serious, Ella.”
I swallowed the bite of burrito, feeling the weight of his words.
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to put myself in danger. I just... I didn't know how to handle it."
He nodded sharply. “I understand. You didn't know how to handle your attraction to him."
Whoa. What? I set the burrito down. "No. I didn't know how to handle being rejected by you while I had your penis in my hands."
Gabe swerved and slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to an abrupt stop on the side of the road. I braced myself against the dashboard, my heart racing.
"What did you just say?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
I swallowed hard, realizing too late that my filter had failed me. "I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to say that out loud."
"You didn't answer my question," he said, his eyes locked on mine. “Rejection while holding… what did you mean by that?"
I took a deep breath, knowing I couldn't lie my way out of this. "I meant that I was attracted to you and throwingmyself at you, and then you rejected me."
There it was. The truth, out there in the open between us. I waited for Gabe to say something - anything - but he just stared at me. My heart raced as the moments passed, and I began worrying that this might have been a mistake. I shouldn't have been so vulnerable, so open with my raw feelings.
Gabe’s expression was unreadable. Then he reached out and cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing against my skin. His touch sent a shock of electricity down my spine, and I could feel my entire body responding to it.
