“What? No, why the hell would you think that?” Ian asked, his face marred by confusion.“Because I missed your birthday, you turned down my date, and for one, you haven’t been texting me.” Avery reminded her, and she watched warmth seep into Ian’s face, but he looked like he had no idea what she was talking about.“What date?” Ian asked with an arched brow.“I sent you a text, remember?” Avery asked, and Ian’s brows knotted instinctively.“You mean the ‘let’s meet up tomorrow’ text?” Ian asked, looking surprised, and Avery nodded. “Wow, I had no idea that's you, asking me out on a date.” Ian looked like he was holding back a laugh, and Avery playfully smacked his shoulders.“What’s wrong with it? I didn’t want to give it away since it was meant to be a surprise. I’m truly sorry I missed your birthday. I got caught up with things at the office. Normally, there’s always a big party for any of the Archers. Even Eloise had one when she wasn’t an official family yet,” Avery said with a han
Ian wasn’t sure Kaden would show up at the gaming room, but he did, looking a little bit lifeless and exasperated.Even as he introduced him to Derrick, who he often told him about, his reaction was rather bland; not like Ian expected him to be excited or anything, but his smile was forced, and his expression was grim.Even as Derrick kept handing his ass to him while they were playing, Kaden hardly said anything when normally he would have said a few things to cheer him up.“Spit it. What’s got you looking like oversoaked noodles since you walked in?” Ian finally asked after Derrick decided to get them some food over at the private gaming room they booked.“Was it obvious?” Kaden asked, and Ian arched a brow. “I’m sure soggy cereal is less obvious than you are; what’s gotten into you?” Ian asked, and Kaden sighed.“First off, I almost rejected my mate,” Kaden confessed, and Ian’s face went blank from the shock.“Hold on a minute, you found your mate? Since when?” Ian sounded betrayed
The plan was for Kaden to return to the pack right after the Elite party, as he was done with his duties as his alpha’s beta, but that was disrupted when he met Natalie, his mate and yet his alpha's date.He was quick to figure out there was nothing between them, though. After all, Ian was someone who wore his emotions on his sleeves, and the fact that he wasn’t seeing Natalie was obvious.Natalie, on the other hand… he couldn’t exactly say, since she had a hollow look in her eyes. A look of someone exhausted who didn’t expect anything good from the world, a look of total defeat.Kaden wished he could tear off that look off her face and fill her eyes with hope and life, but she wouldn’t give him the chance to.She tried asking for her number, but she didn’t leave any openings, nor did she accept his advances. Natalie seems a little older than him, maybe with a couple of years or, at most, four, but her stunning looks made her look absolutely younger than her age.Although she pretends
The moment Avery realised she missed out on Ian’s birthday, she became a little disoriented.Even while Rosie started to tell her about what’s been going on in her life since their misunderstanding, she couldn’t keep up.At least she didn’t miss the biggest details of Rosie telling her she had gotten back with Lewis. It’s not surprising.They’ve always been like that; their relationships were always on and off, and this one was their longest breakup yet since they at least tried to stay apart for a few months before getting back together.The two have the tendency to make her feel very uncomfortable; technically, being trapped between your assistant and your best friend isn’t fun.Avery gave up trying to mediate or fix things between them after the third time, but, well, it worked out.“Avery…is something up? You look disturbed.” Rosie noticed, and Avery sighed.She wondered how she could forget Ian's birthday when she knew the exact date; after all, she figured it out during Finn’s f
The moment Avery realised she missed out on Ian’s birthday, she became a little disoriented.Even while Rosie started to tell her about what’s been going on in her life since their misunderstanding, she couldn’t keep up.At least she didn’t miss the biggest details of Rosie telling her she had gotten back with Lewis. It’s not surprising.They’ve always been like that; their relationships were always on and off, and this one was their longest breakup yet since they at least tried to stay apart for a few months before getting back together.The two have the tendency to make her feel very uncomfortable; technically, being trapped between your assistant and your best friend isn’t fun.Avery gave up trying to mediate or fix things between them after the third time, but, well, it worked out.“Avery…is something up? You look disturbed.” Rosie noticed, and Avery sighed.She wondered how she could forget Ian's birthday when she knew the exact date; after all, she figured it out during Finn’s f
“Ian”, Derrick called again, drawing Ian’s attention after glancing into his phone for the umpteenth time since they met up.“Seriously, dude, are you even listening to me?” Derrick gave him a knowing look. “Why the hell have you got your eyes buried in your phone all day? You’ve got a girlfriend or something? Wait…is the article about you and that girl…what’s her name again… Natalie Howard, was it? Is it true?” Derrick asked, wearing a pensive look, unsure if he got the name of the girl right.“Seriously, I have no damn clue why anyone would think that.” Ian frowned.“I’m pretty sure shopping and hand-in-hand parties are places you go with a girlfriend,” Derrick mumbled. “Nat’s my friend, and that’s it. I haven’t heard the end of it from everyone from school too,” Ian complained, playing with the straw of his cappuccino drink as they both tucked into the corner of the cafe closest to Derrick’s place.“Really? That’s too bad. I thought she was kinda cute,” Derrick tsked. “So, you’ve