Page 5 of Same Rogue
And she fell apart in the safety of her solitude.
She was such a stupid girl who was never going to find the one.
Her phone vibrated, and the instant she saw Bridger’s name, the same instinctive excitement bubbled up in her chest before she remembered he wasn’t real. The text from the catfishing couple said,We are so sorry. We really messed up, but we had good intentions. Bridger has been having a hard time, and we just had a good feeling about you. Sorry. If you need anything, please ask. We want to make it up to you.
Go fuck yourselves. Both of you.Send.
She blocked their number. She just wanted to put all of this behind her as soon as humanly possible.
Needing to tie up all the loose ends, she connected a call to The Mark Bar and Grill, and waited the three rings it took someone to answer. “The Mark, this is Anna, what can I help you with?”
Anna was the one who hired her. Gah, this was going to be hard. She’d liked her during the Zoom call interviews. Anna was human but didn’t mind hiring a werewolf. She was even up for taking out the extra insurance businesses were required to in order to hire a werewolf.
This sucked.
“Hey, Anna, it’s Kit. I just—”
“Kit!” Anna said loudly. “Bartender Kit! Oh my gosh, I was just looking for your number. Are you a psychic?”
“Umm, no?”
“I know you aren’t supposed to start training until tomorrow, but we had both bartenders call out tonight. I need you, girl. Please tell me you are in town.”
“Ummm…”
“We’re going to be slammed and I’m desperate. Please. You can keep all the bar tips tonight. It’ll be chaos but I’ll help you from the front of the house as much as I can.”
“I just…I’m not dressed for—”
“Please.”
The pleading in Anna’s voice got her. Kit was nodding before she even said yes. She could help her out tonight and then let her know in person she was going back to Alabama. Then she could subtract her tips and send Bridger back that much money and feel better about it all. Plan solidified in her mind, she asked Anna, “Dress code?”
“Jeans, hot top.”
“When do you need me there?”
“Half an hour ago.”
Kit wiped her cheeks and huffed a laugh. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She actually felt better with a plan and a challenge. She could avoid the pity party her brain would put her through tonight and could be productive instead. She could be around people and see smiles and make people happy, and that was her jam.
She rifled through her duffel bag and readied as fast as possible. She slathered on another layer of make-up and scrunched up her hair, put some hairspray in it for volume and practiced her customer service smile. Good enough. She would be locked in by the time she got there.
Kit grabbed her purse and bolted for the door.
Today, every single thing had gone wrong, but tonight, she could have some fun and take her mind off it all.
Chapter Three
Bridger sat at the back of the Pack meeting, listening to Liam light up Vic and Lyric. He’d never heard his Alpha so angry at any of them. Bridger was having trouble feeling sorry for Lyric and Vic though. They deserved the callout.
Bridger wasn’t usually one to tattle on the others, but he wanted to nip this find-Bridger-a-mate plan in the bud, for all the Pack. Liam would ensure it didn’t happen again and that Bridger be left alone, as he preferred.
Tattoos and dark hair—the complete opposite of Amelia.
He imagined his late mate smiling, but over the years, the exact shape of her face blurred a little. He would need to dig out the box of old pictures soon. She had bright blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and full lips. The most she ever wore was mascara. You couldn’t pay her enough to mar her skin with tattoos. She was perfectly curvy and much shorter than him. He closed his eyes and tried to remember how it felt to hug her.
