Page 42 of Knot Her Beta

Before I can protest further, he lifts Quinn from my arms and tosses her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

She squeals in delight, and Sprinkles comes racing back to bark circles around them.

Jared bounces her. “Hang in there, princess. Those feet are not touching ground again until you get home. Them’s the rules.”

“You just made that up,” Quinn says.

“Correct.” He carries her ahead, her giggles trailing behind, and the path curves, leaving Emily alone beside me.

The trees close in where the path bends, and I let the quiet stretch another few steps before I give up on waiting for it to feel natural.

“Have you heard from Grady since he left?” I ask.

“He’s been sending texts.” She sighs. “Short ones that are getting less and less frequent.”

“Is he doing all right?”

“Seems like it.” She pauses. “His family is keeping him busy after not being at home for a while.”

“He’ll be back in no time.”

She studies me for a moment. “You should reach out. He misses you, too.”

Guilt shoots through me. Emily and Jared hadn’t been the only fallout when things went down with Carson, and I’ve missed the easy friendship I had with Grady, too. Every time I think about reaching out, I find another reason not to.

The easiest reentry would be the Saturday Market, which we bonded over originally. won’t open again for another three months.

Do I really want to leave it that long?

No, and it’s become clear I need to be the one to mend the bridges I broke.

As I open my mouth to tell Emily I’ll reach out to the Beta, my boot catches on a root where the gravel drops to packed dirt, and I pitch to the left.

Panicked, I grab for the nearest thing, which is Emily, my hand closing around her forearm as she turns into me, and then somehow her jacket is bunched in my fist, and her free hand has found my shoulder, and we’ve come to a full stop, facing each other with no space between us.

Neither of us moves.

This close, her jacket zipper bites cold within my grasp, where I’m still holding on. Her lips are level with my jaw, and the months of careful distance have vanished. My heartbeat fills my ears, which is why it takes me a moment to register the second one, distinct and rapid, where her breasts flatten against my chest.

“I got you,” she says, very quietly.

“Yeah, you do.” My focus drops to her lips, and the scent of my pheromones perfume the air.

Her nostrils flare, and a purr rises between us, but then Sprinkles’s bark breaks the spell.

Her arms drop away, and she steps back, though the space between us is smaller than it was before as we start walking again, her sleeve brushing mine with every other step.

We catch up to Jared and Quinn, who had stopped to wait for Sprinkles to mark some territory before we move on together.

Around the next turn in the path, the Homestead comes into view. Holden stands on the porch, one hand on the railing, a kitchen timer ticking on the small table beside him.

“There she is,” he says, and Quinn wriggles until Jared sets her down.

She bolts for the steps, Sprinkles thundering after her, and Holden catches her at the top of the stairs, tucking her into his side.

Only then does he notice the three of us still standing on the path, and he grins. “Are you all staying for dinner?”

He extends the invitation as a foregone conclusion, because no one ever turns down Holden’s cooking. But if we join the Wright Pack, it will be noisy, and Emily and Jared will be focused on everyone else, and I’m selfish enough to want their attention for myself.