“No.” I laugh. “We just went to sleep afterward. I’ll say this for Noah, he really knows how to wear a girl out.”

“How could you possibly go to sleep like that?”

“You know, it’s weirdly comforting? Like that best kind of after-workout sleep.”

“So he gets his rocks off, and then it just . . . swells up like a balloon.”

“That’s one way to put it, I guess.” I smile around a bite of my flatbread. “Had me feeling like a bottle of wine.” Parker cocks an eyebrow in question, and I grin mischievously. “Corked,” I clarify.

He makes a sound of disgust. “You’re heinous.”

“That’s what they tell me,” I laugh.

He shakes his head as he turns his attention to his lunch, stabbing his salad with gusto. “I still can’t believe you had sex with Noah fucking Taylor.”

“At least I’ve given validity to your constant abuse of his name.”

“Hilarious.” I frown as I turn my neck, and Parker cocks his eyebrow at me. “What?”

I shake my head. “Just a little stiff. Maybe I slept wrong.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say,” Parker scoffs.

I grin, rolling my shoulders to shake out the weird tightness I’ve been feeling this morning. “Oh no. That part was absolutely right.”

He rolls his eyes, pointing his fork at me. “Have you even thought about how weird this is going to make things?”

I make a face as I chew. “Why would it be weird?”

“You went to school two times longer than I did,” he huffs. “You’re supposed to be smart.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“I’m just saying. You already had a weird web of lies going on with this guy, and now on top of that, you’ve thrown sex into the mix. And with an alpha! What happened to you being worried he’d stake some wolfy claim on you?”

“I think maybe I overinflated the issue in my head,” I tell him with a shrug. “Noah seems fine.”

“Uh-huh.” Parker hmphs. “I’m sure the newly unsuppressed alpha is just peachy after knotting his first omega.”

“Can you keep your voice down? You might as well stand up on the table and start shouting about Noah’s dick.”

A body dropping into the chair beside me gives me a start, and I tense until I spot a grinning Priya settling at our table. “Oh, are we talking about Noah’s dick?”

She leans in excitedly as she sets her tray on the table, tucking her dark tresses behind her ear and looking like we have a present she wants to open.

“No,” I assert quickly, shooting Parker a look to let him know this is all his fault. “We weren’t.”

“Oh, come on,” Priya whines. “You can’t rob me of the good stuff. I’ve already missed out on a forever’s worth of stories.”

“We were just saying how silly all the gossip is,” I offer nonchalantly, keeping my attention on my food. “I’ve heard all kinds of nonsense this week.”

Priya nudges me conspiratorially. “About Noah’s dick?”

Honestly, I can’t say that’s a lie. I’ve definitely walked into a couple of rooms to whispers about the possible mechanics of my fake mate’s equipment. But then again, I guess now I can confirm the curiosity is more than valid.

“Among other things,” I mutter.

“Well, I heard that you got a visit down in the ER today from your hubby,” Priya practically sings.

Parker pauses midbite. “Wait, what?”

“It’s not a big deal,” I say flippantly.

“Not what I heard,” Priya tuts. “Jessica from Radiology told me that you guys were making out in the hallway.”

“Seriously,” I huff. “Who the fuck is Jessica from Radiology, and why is she always reporting on me?”

“It’s not just her,” Priya tells me. “They were buzzing about it all the way up in Anesthesiology. My tech mentioned it after an epidural.”

“It’s barely been an hour,” I grumble. “People need better things to do than gossip about Noah and me.”

“Okay,” Parker chimes in. “But why exactly didn’t you start with this when you sat down? Making out with Noah in the hall is pretty noteworthy.”

“We didn’t make out,” I say with a shake of my head. “He just kissed me.”

“And you don’t think that’s weird?”

Priya cocks her head. “Why would that be weird? They’re mated, right?”

“Right,” I say through slightly gritted teeth, narrowing my eyes at Parker. “There’s nothing weird about that.”

Parker matches my expression as he stabs at his salad and shoves a bite into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as he shrugs. “I just meant he didn’t ever kiss you in the hallway before.”

I know what he means, even if Priya doesn’t—but I can’t exactly tell Parker that Noah was simply playing his part when Priya is sitting right next to us.

“He’s probably just happy he doesn’t have to pretend anymore,” Priya ventures. “Must be nice to have an alpha who can’t keep his hands off you for a whole day.”

I make a face, quickly masking it as Parker meets my eyes with one cocked this is what I’m saying brow. I roll my eyes, looking away from him. It’s not like the kiss meant anything. He was only doing it for—

“And poor Liam,” Priya tuts. “He must be so crushed to find out you’re mated.”

My nose wrinkles. “Wait, what does Liam have to do with anything?”

“Jessica said he looked like a kicked puppy when he was telling her about the kiss.”

“Wait,” I cut in. “Liam told Jessica from Radiology? Why?”

“Mackenzie,” Priya says with a shake of her head. “You gotta know that dude has been half in love with you for like six months.”

“What?” I snort in disbelief. “No he hasn’t.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s true,” Parker adds. “I’ve seen the guy laugh at your jokes.”

I frown. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“They’re pretty terrible jokes,” Parker says matter-of-factly.

“Oh, fuck off,” I scoff.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know this,” Priya says. “Like, I’m pretty sure everyone from floors two to six knows about it. At least.”

I consider this, scanning back through my interactions with Liam and trying to find any validity to what they’re claiming. I mean, sure, I would consider us good friends, but I can’t think of anything to suggest he’s been quietly pining after me. I cringe, thinking about how awkward that kiss must have been for him. It had been so out of the blue, after all, given that Noah had practically dragged me away from Liam to reach me and right into his—

I pause with my hand suspended halfway between the table and my mouth, the straw in my drink dangling uselessly only inches from my mouth. Is it possible that Noah kissed me because Liam had been there? I mean, he’d seemed a little weird from the moment he happened upon the pair of us, but at the time I had just assumed he’d had a bad run-in and was annoyed he couldn’t give me the lowdown on it.

But that’s silly. Noah doesn’t have any reason to start getting all jealous and territorial. Especially not after one night of admittedly mind-blowing sex. Unless . . . Surely all of those stories about alpha behavior are bullshit, right? There’s no way that Noah would do a one-eighty after one night.

I shake my head, taking an aggressive slurp from my straw as Parker and Priya’s chatter fades back in from where I’d stopped listening.

“I think it’s really cute,” Priya is saying.

I look up at her. “What is?”

“Noah going all soft now that everyone knows you’re mated.”

The more juvenile part of my subconscious snorts; after last night, I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything soft about Noah.

“I think it’s weird,” Parker grumbles.

Priya rolls her eyes. “You’re just jealous. You need a cute boy and a massage, dude.”

“I have a cute boy,” Parker says smugly.

Priya’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh my God, you guys have been holding out so much good gossip. Who is it? How cute are we talking?”

“Do you remember the instructor from that time you went with us to hot yoga?”

“Yeah,” Priya grimaces. “I will not be doing the sweaty yoga ever again, thank you very much. Instructor was definitely yummy though. Wait.” Her mouth drops open. “No. He’s gay?”