Page 152 of One Winter Knight
“Does this have anything to do with my little sister and Gwen going to pay ransom with lasagna, cookies, and scrunchies yesterday? They wouldn’t tell me why–something about plausible deniability?” She rubbed the bridge of her nose as Grif continued to hold her, Dean and Jonas joining in.
“Hale only took your car to the race so he had money for the trip,” I replied.
“Car race?” Verity looked about ready to explode. “He didn’t just steal my car, he raced it?”
“Hale knows he’s not supposed to take her car,” Jonas replied.
“I know. But it wasn’t just any race, it was Manhattan After Midnight. He got third. We didn’t wreck it,” I pleaded. I especially didn’t like alphas being angry at me. Even alphas like Verity that were all pastel and sparkles on the outside.
Also, no cake pops? Shit.
Verity sighed. “Okay, so you and Hale are friends. You are now both bonded to an omega and each other?”
“Yeah. This is Fiona. Mi Reina. Mi Amor.” I showed her a photo.
Anders, another forward, and a friend of mine, whistled. “She’s hot.”
“Yeah, she is.” I nodded.
Verity softened. “She’s adorable. But, and I mean this in the nicest way, I really hope the other two people in your pack are really responsible, because I wouldn’t let you and Hale watch a goldfish.”
“Saoirse’s really responsible. She’s a delta. And Dusty’s an alpha. He’s singing the national anthem tomorrow. He goes by BroKen for his music,” I explained.
“Carlos and BroKen formed a pack? Kylee is going to have apanic attack.” LeeAnn smirked.
“Pretty sure she already has,” Nia replied.
I looked at Verity. “I’m sorry. But go easy on Hale? He’s being really hard on himself right now. Yesterday he told us about your parents. Maybe just reassure him that no one’s going to let him traffic a baby?”
“Oh, he told you that.” She sighed. “I’ll try. It’s just that I don’t want him to drop out–or not go to the program he wants.”
I nodded. “Neither do we. Right now he’s literally emailing professors and seeing what his options are. Also, he’s making a spreadsheet of local PhD programs still accepting applications. There are good programs here in New York.”
“True.” Her look remained skeptical.
“Um, I’ll give Fiona her charm?” I held out my hand.
She shook her head. “I’ll do it when I meet her.”
“Practice is on the ice,” Coach Atkins yelled.
I quickly texted Hale.
Me
Verity knows.
Hale
Shit. Did she see my livestream? Maybe Mercy showed her?
Livestream?
“Verity, I’ll take good care of him. I promise.” Shooting her a hopeful look, I left the locker room and went out onto the ice, as her mates tried to calm her down.
Welp. I guess I’ll never be getting cake pops again.
When I finally made it back to the townhouse, there were work trucks in front. I’d bought everyone a round of beers at Tito’s, then we went to visit Jasper. No one seemed too mad at me. Also, the back office seemed to like their treats. Good. I really couldn’t do anything about Kylee, but I’d like the rest of the third floor to not be mad at me much or often.
