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
“I have absolutely no idea what you mean.” Avery feigned innocence before ignoring Arden and turning back to her mother.The whole world might have been fooled by their silly theatrical love story but she had no intention of playing along with their fucking games.But now that she thinks about it, anytime Arden listened to her or consoled her in the past, he would often tell her everything was going to be just fine once she inherited the company.It became a song he sang to her each time until it became a part of her.True, wanting to take over the company after her father had always been her purpose; she worked for it; it was her life, her dream, and while she had no choice but to give it up, she never liked that she did.But she also had no intention of picking it up because someone offered it to her or to satisfy someone else’s ambition.If she took over the company, it would be for her effort and hard work.“I know you think we abandoned you,” Avery was forced to turn to Arden aga