In the Gray Read Online B.B. Reid

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Dark, Suspense, Taboo Tags Authors: B.B. Reid Advertisement1

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Rowdy reached us first since he was leading the pack, and I braced myself for what he would do or say. I already knew he wouldn’t care if he hurt my feelings. To be honest, I was more worried about what I would do if he hit on another girl in front of me.

I eyed the box cutter sitting on the counter a few feet away. I’d used it earlier to open up the new shipment of business cards that had been delivered today.

I watched Rowdy’s focus move from her face, and my heart dropped at the same time his gaze did. I felt the back of my eyes burn and inhaled to keep the hurt from spilling, but then my breath caught in my throat when his gaze completely skipped her body, torpedoing in on where our hands were still linked.

Before I could think to drop Ruen’s hand, Rowdy—in full view of the other Kings—curved his finger around one of my belt loops and dragged me away from her.

Alarmed, I instinctively braced my hands against his chest to push him away, but the warning in his eyes had me dropping them just as quickly.

As if the space he’d forced between us wasn’t enough, Rowdy tucked me behind him, inserting himself fully between Ruen and me and hiding my new friend from sight.

“Who is you?” his ignorant ass rudely demanded.

I couldn’t see Ruen’s face to gauge her reaction, but knowing Rowdy all too well, I jumped to rescue her anyway. “Can you chill? She’s the deejay I told you about, crazy. She’s here to do the party.”

There was an uncomfortably long pause, and then, “How do you know her?” he asked too calmly. His attention was still firmly fixed on Ruen but I knew the question was meant for me.

I blew out a frustrated breath. “I met her at a party, Rowdy.” And then I hesitated the span of a single nervous breath. “She’s my friend.”

“Hmm.”

It dawned on me then that Rowdy was…jealous. It sounded awfully like he was staking his claim.

And I’d foolishly thrown two apex predators in the same cage.

Fearing a blow out, I pushed between them. “Okay, enough,” I snapped at Rowdy before turning to Ruen. “Ignore him. Are you okay?”

I don’t know why I felt the need to ask.

Ruen didn’t look scared. Instead, she looked amused, her usual smirk plastered on her face. “Oh, I’m just great.”

The other Kings, sensing the tension, walked over. I quickly gave the introductions and was glad they at least had better manners than Rowdy and actually thanked Ruen for coming.

Well, Joren and Roc did. Golden just politely dipped his head.

“Oh, Atlas,” Ruen said at the first lull in the conversation. “Almost forgot. I have something for you.” Ruen’s expression gave nothing away as she dug into her jacket pocket and pulled something free.

I frowned when she held out her hand and slowly uncurled her fingers, revealing a balled-up scrap of royal blue material with tiny red hearts.

My heart skipped a beat when I immediately recognized the item.

Mistaking my shock for confusion, Ruen let my panties from last Friday hang from her finger while the Kings looked on. “You left these in my bed. I thought you might want them back.”

I still didn’t move or speak. Neither did the Kings. I just let the agony of humiliation swallow me whole.

Rowdy, of course, was the first to speak. “Friend, huh?”

I didn’t need to turn around to see that he was pissed. I could hear the storm brewing behind the quiet calm. “So, that’s why you’ve been acting like you don’t want this dick,” he mused aloud, adding to my embarrassment. “You prefer your own equipment, huh?”

Fuck my life. “Really, Ruen?”

“What?” she returned innocently. Her brows even shot up to her forehead, but I wasn’t fooled.

Rowdy had marked his territory, but Ruen had let it be known that she’d gotten there first.

“Wow, Atlas,” Roc drawled. His amused gaze was practically sparkling as it bounced between me and the panties Ruen still held out for everyone to see. “I’m learning so many things about you right now.”

Huffing, I snatched my panties from Ruen, only for Rowdy to snatch them from me and crudely sniff them before stuffing them in his pocket. He then wrapped a possessive arm around my shoulder and pulled me close until there was no space left between us. “Thanks, Rude,” he said, intentionally messing up her name. “You didn’t have to do that. Daddy would have just bought her a new pair.”

My skin grew hot, and suddenly, I understood why these two would never make sense. They were too alike. Both of them were alphas in their own right, looking for someone to rule, ruin, and possess until there was nothing left.

I could hear Roc, Joren, and even Golden snickering, and I shook my head. In some ways, the four of them were still the teenagers in the photo I carried around.


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