Page 38 of In Doubt

What the fuck is going on?

If her friend hadn’t whisked her away, I’m pretty certain she’d be wrapped in my arms right now, my mouth ravishing hers.

I groan quietly.

Shit!

It’s the way she fucking floors me with her thinking. With her ideas. With her bloody enthusiasm. She wraps you up in it, pulls you along and before you know it you’re nearly kissing her.

It’s also that fucking red dress. A light, flowy thing, tied around her neck in a bow and skimming over each and every one of her delicious curves. I want to reach out, tug that goddamn knot, and watch the whole thing sliver away to the floor.

I knew the omega was beautiful, but I’ve never seen her without those cute glasses of hers. Never seen her dressed in a dress like that. Something I’m sure was designed purely to snare an alpha like me.

Was that her plan? Did she hope to snare me?

Surely not. She hates me. Doesn’t she?

I let out a huff of air. The car’s not coming to collect me and take me back to the villa for another hour. I’m going to have to socialise. I can’t hang about here in the dark looking like a would-be flasher all evening.

I wonder why I came at all. I wonder why I ended up sitting right next to the girl I do my best to avoid. I wonder why the hell I very nearly kissed her.

Because I wanted to.

I slouch back to the table and drop into a chair next to a guy called Peter. A beta I am not blind to have noticed has been checking Giorgie out all evening. Like just about every other man at this dinner. Including her friend. The one with the scraggly hair and the equally scraggly tuft on his chin. The dude needs to shave. And keep his hands to himself. I see the way his hand lingers on the skin of her bare back. At the way he stands a little too close.

I bet he’s one of those creeps who pretends he’s a girl’s friend in the hope of worming his way inside her underwear.

My hands ball into fists and I kick at the earth under the table.

“What do you think, Jake?” Peter asks.

I drag my gaze away from Giorgie and find Peter and the other two guys he’s talking to and gaping at me. Two out of these three dudes have borrowed my lecture notes or asked for my help with assignments. Sucker that I am, I’ve helped them out. Another of my actions Giorgie would probably disapprove of. She disapproves of everything I do.

Would she have disapproved if I’d kissed her? Everything had told me she wanted to be kissed. But did I dream it? Was I caught up in the moment?

She looked so fucking beautiful. Her face flushed with excitement, her eyes shining with admiration.

Peter glances in Giorgie’s direction.

“Are you two dating?” he asks me.

I snort.

“She’s fucking hot,” the skinny one called Tobias says. “I wouldn’t mind…” He arches his eyebrow with a knowing smile.

“You think that’s any way to talk about a woman in your course,” I snarl, knowing I’m being fucking hypocritical and not giving a shit. For some reason, I don’t mind my packmates talking about her like that, but these dudes? No way.

“You are dating, then?” Peter asks, looking confused.

“No, we’re not fucking dating. Where have you been the last year, man? We can’t stand each other.”

“Didn’t seem that way earlier,” Peter mumbles.

“You betas,” I shake my head. “It’s not all about shagging between alphas and omegas, you know.”

“Isn’t it? I thought all you alphas had to do was click your fingers and the pretty little omegas would open their legs for you.” The skinny one laughs at his own joke and I have to use all my self control not to smash my fist into his jaw. I lean forward, getting right up close in his face and he stops laughing immediately.

“Let me catch you talking disrespectfully like that again, dickhead, and I’ll be breaking both your legs.”