Page 15 of Omega Tricked

The guy snorted a humorless laugh. “What are you, some kind of tease?”

“What?” I wrinkled my brow.

“You walked in reeking of arousal, and now you’re going to pretend you don’t want to get laid?” The guy’s mouth was a hard line.

My face warmed because it hadn’t occurred to me I’d have been giving off a scent. God, I really had forgotten how this worked. Of course I’d been wafting pheromones. I’d been thinking about sex for days, and that scent would have been obvious to any nearby alpha with a halfway decent sense of smell.

“I’m not obligated to have sex,” I said, my voice wobbling. “I’m allowed to come in and have a drink.”

The guy hesitated, and then he gave a slow smile. “Sure you are.”

Relieved he’d backed down, I drank a big gulp of my beer and stood. “I’m going to use the restroom.” I needed to clear my head and figure out if I was staying or going.

“I’ll save your seat, beautiful.”

I shivered as his voice washed over me, and headed straight for the bathroom. Once inside the small room, I splashed my face with cold water and stared at myself in the mirror. “You’re a fucking idiot,” I hissed at my reflection. My auburn hair was mussed and my blue eyes bright against my pale skin. “What are youdoing?”

Someone walked in, and I pretended to wash my hands. I was confused as hell about what to do next. A part of me felt I was overreacting, and a part of me wanted out of this bar immediately. But I didn’t want to act like a coward. Maybe I wasn’t ready to fuck anybody tonight, but I could still sit and finish my beer. The only way I’d ever get over my antisocial behavior was if I forced myself to be around other people. Dr. Peters was probably right about that.

I exhaled and made myself return to my seat. The alpha who’d been talking to me earlier was still there. I slid onto my barstool and noticed there was a second pint next to the one I’d bought. “What’s this?”

“I bought you a drink.” He studied me, his muddy brown eyes scanning my face.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted another drink.”

He shrugged. “Well, I already paid for it.”

Irritation rolled through at his arrogant assumption I’d want him to buy me a drink. His smug expression brought back all my resentments against alphas and their controlling behavior. Just because he’d sat next to me and bought me a drink, that didn’t mean he owned me or that I owed him anything. But knowing how alphas thought, he probably disagreed.

I signaled to the bartender. “You know what? I think I’m ready to cash out.”

She raised her brows. “So soon?”

“Yeah. This isn’t really my scene.” I had to squelch the desire to give the alpha next to me a dirty look. I wasn’t ready for this yet. I still had way too many angry emotions against alphas swirling around inside of me.

“Whatever you want.” She went to the cash register.

The alpha gave me an assessing look. “I didn’t mean to offend you. You just seemed really uptight, and I thought another drink might help loosen you up.”

He was saying the right words, but something about his tone didn’t feel sincere. “I’m not looking for sex. I just want to finish my drink in peace, and then I’ll be on my way.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I picked up the drink I’d bought and finished it off quickly. I eyed the beer he’d bought uneasily. I didn’t want to feel obligated to him.

He gave a gruff laugh. “It’s just a drink. No need to overreact.”

I didn’t respond.

He gestured to the drink he’d bought me. “Look, I get you don’t want to hang out with me, but don’t waste the beer.”

“Why don’t you drink it? Then it won’t go to waste.”

He held up his glass. “I’m more of a rum and Coke kind of guy.”

“Oh.” I frowned. Maybe he really had just been making a nice gesture by buying me another drink. Anytime I’d ever gone out drinking in the past, alphas had always bought me drinks. I probably was making too much of this. It was just a beer for goodness’ sake. I sighed and picked up the second pint. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He shifted to face me. “What’s your name?”