Page 86 of Knot a Bad Idea

“You’re amazing,” Liam says offhandedly as I start to doze in and out. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d be fine,” I mumble. He strokes my hair while Hunter gently snores against me, leaning his head on my shoulder.

“Maybe,” Liam admits. “Butfineisn’t the way I want to live anymore. Now that I’ve met you, there’s no going back, April.”

“Sap,” Hunter mumbles sleepily. I pinch his arm, and he groans in annoyance.

“Anyway,” Liam says pointedly. “There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time. And…I feel like I never find the right time to say it.”

I swallow, unsure where this is going. IthinkI might know, but I don’t want to be wrong.

“April,” he whispers, and I hold my breath. “I?—"

But the sound of the front door opening interrupts us.

Donovan is home.

Liam falls silent.

Donovan’s ocean scent wafts into my senses, and I jolt up, the mood ruined.

I need to speak with him.

“I’m going to my room,” I stammer. “Please tell Donovan I’d like to talk to him.”

Before they can react, I hurry to my room like a coward.

I wasn’t ready for whatever Liam was about to say, and I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to Donovan about his past.

But it’s now or never.

16

DONOVAN

Everything comes down to her,like it always does.

Every thought isApril, April, April.

I’m losing my goddamn mind, and I’m hiding in my office like a coward.

I don’t bother checking my phone until hours after Liam laid in to me, telling me that he and Hunter were going forward with pursuing April after the contract ends whether I liked it or not.

That just because I’m too fucked up for a normal relationship doesn’t mean that they are.

So, I stay in the office, putting way too much thought intoAxtonand working on new programming.

Work has always given me clarity.

But April has invaded my mind like a virus, not allowing me a moment of peace.

“Have you ever thought it’s because you’re too far away from your mate? That avoiding her makes you physically ill?”

Liam’s accusations ring through my skull.

Of course, I’ve thought that.

“It’s fate, Donovan. And I won’t let you take her from me.”