Page 88 of Knot a Bad Idea

It smells like her sweet slick.

“Hey, man.” Hunter greets me, and I nod my head at him. “Nice of you to actually show up.”

I glare at him.

He raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms as he leans against the rail of the stairs. “You finally going to go apologize to her?”

I stalk toward him. “What I say or do with her is none of your business,” I sneer. He looks slightly concerned, but then he buries it with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, I’m just saying, an apology would probably go a long way,” he adds. “She’sdefinitelyin a good mood now.”

He cocks his head and looks at me with a shit-eating grin.

“If you’re trying to make me jealous, it won’t work,” I snap.

Hunter leans his head back and laughs. “It just did.” He flicks his eyes upstairs. “She’s all yours. Don’t fuck it up this time.”

I ignore his jab and hurry to her bedroom, following her sweet Omega scent.

I knock on her door, ignoring the nerves in my gut.

Only Liam experiences anxiety—not me.

April opens the door, and her warm eyes widen when she sees me.

“Hi,” she says, her scent washing over me. She’s sweeter than normal with intense notes of honey, vanilla, and sugar.

My inner Alpha stirs, the instincts totakeandclaimoverwhelming me.

I stuff them down.

“I got your message,” I say. “You wanted to talk?”

She nods and holds the door open. “Come in,” she says. I follow her inside, and she leaves the door cracked behind us.

She sits on the bed, but I stay standing.

“Thank you for my nest,” she says quietly.

I shrug. “It was all of us.”

But that’s not true. I had the mattress custom made for her, and I researched the thread count and materials of each blanket carefully.

This was all made specifically for her, by me. Yes, I made sure that Hunter and Liam’s scents were on it, too, but mine is the strongest scent in the nest.

She shakes her head and sighs. “I don’t know why you’re like this,” she says, her voice low. “Just accept the compliment, or we’re not going to get anywhere.”

I feel like I’m going to jump out of my skin.

“I could say the same for you,” I say evenly. “When’s the last time you accepted praise easily for who you are or what you’ve done?”

She shifts uncomfortably and looks at the floor in defeat.

I’m the biggest asshole of the century.

Life was so much easier when it was just a contract. When I didn’t want to fall to my knees every time I look at her.

When I didn’t believe I was looking into the face of my mate.