When He's Sinful (The Olympus Pride 3)

Havana made a sound of agreement. “In other words, you have a history of telling tales, and a history of being an asshole toward Aspen. So I’m sure you can imagine why you’d be at the top of our suspect list.”

Randy’s mouth set into a thin line. “She probably orchestrated it all herself to set me up. Whatever the case, I didn’t spam her. I didn’t hack into her social media account. I didn’t create or send any porno pics of her.”

His tiger growling at the memory of the photos, Camden took a single, aggressive step forward. “If I find out you bullshitted us here today just as you’ve bullshitted me before—”

“I’m not lying. Look, I don’t like her—that’s no secret. But I have nothing to do with whatever’s going on around her. Now if you’ll excuse me …” He stepped back and slammed the door shut.

Drawing in a deep breath, Camden turned to Aspen. “Let’s go.” He shepherded her to the car with his hand on her lower back.

Inside the vehicle, Bailey asked, “Well, do we believe Randy?”

Havana clicked on her seatbelt. “Hard to tell. He seemed sincere, but he also seemed so eaten up with bitterness that I can easily imagine him getting a kick out of anonymously fucking with Aspen.”

Sighing, Aspen nodded. “Yeah, so can I.”

CHAPTER FOUR

They returned to the rec center to finish their shifts. It wasn’t until Camden—who’d been crowding Aspen all day—was called to the office by Corbin that she had a chance to talk to her girls in private. It was as Bailey and Havana were leaving the small supply room that Aspen blurted out, “Oh, by the way, Grant thinks I’m his true mate.”

The girls spun to face her, their lips parted. Bailey closed the door, and then both females were immediately up in Aspen’s space.

“Say that again,” said Havana while Bailey asked, “Grant thinks what?”

“He believes I’m his true mate.” Which still boggled Aspen’s mind.

Havana let out a low whistle. “You know, he asked me lots of questions about you—what you like, what you don’t like, what your interests are, what your favorite food is. I got the feeling he wanted help getting close to you. I mean, you don’t exactly make that easy for people. But I never guessed that he believed you’re his mate.”

Bailey studied Aspen’s face. “Considering you don’t seem pleased by his announcement, I’m guessing you don’t agree with him.”

“You guessed right.” Aspen lifted her shoulders. “I’m not feeling whatever he feels.” So, on the one hand, she felt sorry for him. It wasn’t truly a case of his predestined mate rejecting him, but he believed it was. On the other hand, she couldn’t help but be annoyed with him, because he wasn’t willing to listen to her.

Havana pursed her lips. “It’s worth noting that I didn’t feel the pull of the mating bond either.”

“But you did feel that Tate could be your mate,” Aspen pointed out. “Your body gave you lots of positive signals. I’ve had none of that. And although your devil was mad at Tate back then, she didn’t fight his assertion that he was your mate. But my bearcat was horrified by Grant’s declaration.”

“Because she disagreed with him, or because the thought of mating freaks her out the way it does you?”

Aspen blinked at her Alpha. “You think it’s possible that he’s right?”

“What I think is that you’ll struggle to sense your mate, because the thought of mating makes you nervous thanks to the whole extravaganza with your mom.”

Aspen rubbed at her neck. “Camden said something similar earlier.”

Bailey tilted her head. “He knows about Grant?”

“Yep. He was at my apartment when Grant showed up this morning to ‘talk.’”

“Well that explains a lot,” said Bailey.

“What do you mean?”

“All throughout today, Camden has acted more territorial than usual. He hasn’t strayed far from your side. He checked on you multiple times. He glared at any men who came too close. Hell, he even growled when one of them touched your arm. I thought he was just all wound up about the photos, but now I get it. He’s feeling off-balance. Camden thinks of himself as the man in your life. He’s not going to react well to someone wanting to steal that role from him.”

Havana nodded. “Which is another reason why I believe you’ll have trouble sensing your mate, Aspen. Fears can block the frequency of a mating bond. You fear that you’d lose Camden if you mated someone. You worry he wouldn’t cope well with the strain that a mating bond would put on your bond with him.”

It was a worry Aspen harbored. Which was why she was hoping he found his mate before she found hers.

“I think you’re right to be concerned,” said Bailey. “The connection you guys have … It’s deep and intense and goes beyond simple friendship. Personally, I think he’ll find it hard to see you mated. Very, very hard. He thinks of you as his.”