Chapter 6
Clover
That fucker.
I cradled my Manolos to my chest. Someone had broken the heel, and it sure as fuck wasn’t me. I treated those babies like gold, because that was how much they fucking cost.
Marching my way across the backyard and into the main house, I went on the hunt for Meadow’s practical jokester alpha. Arlo was going to rue the fucking day he hurt my shoes.
“Arlo!” I yelled through the empty halls, knowing I wasn’t risking waking Forest, because he and Meadow were at a Mommy and Me yoga thing.
“He’s not here,” a voice called back, and Phin poked his head out of the kitchen. He was the chillest and sweetest of Meadow’s alphas, and made absolutely killer food when he had time. “What did he do this time?”
I held my mangled shoe aloft.
Phin winced. “Oh. That was from last night. He put on his own theatrical production for Forest, and Meadow doesn’t wear heels. I’m going to assume that happened when he fell on his ass after tripping on Beckett.”
“Why did he need heels to do a theatrical production for a baby? Forest doesn’t care about footwear.”
Phin shrugged and offered me a sympathetic smile. “What can I say? Arlo commits to the bit. How much were they?”
“Sixteen hundred dollars.”
“For a pair of shoes? Are they plated in gold?”
“I don’t question the price of style. Only Arlo’s good sense.”
“I’ll add the replacement cost to your account,” Phin promised. “Plus a little extra for the emotional distress of having the grossly overpriced heels damaged by our chaos goblin, maybe enough for a second pair because he’ll probably end up doing this again at some point.”
I laughed at that. “Thank you, but I’m still going to commit crimes on your pack mate. Where is he?”
“Some restaurant. He went for dinner with a friend. Do those crimes need to be committed tonight? I can go get the address for you.”
“Please do.” I trotted after Phin. “Is a glitter bomb too far? I’m leaning toward no, but I also don’t have a lot of perspective when my shoes have been murdered.”
Phin only shrugged. “It would serve him right. He tried to do the same thing at a friend’s new house and only didn’t succeed because he got frisked by their security. I’m all for glittery revenge, as long as he doesn’t get any on the baby. Meadow would hate that.”
“I’ll text you a warning so you can meet him outside with a hose after?” I offered.
“Sounds like a plan.”
My phone pinged with the information for the restaurant. “You’re the best.”
I blew him a loud kiss, taking the information and my poor shoes back to the guesthouse. A quick check online assured me that if I left now I would be able to catch the nearest joke shop before it closed.
Luckily, my car baby was back, and with tires more suited to the LA heat. Once I had a hot pink glitter bomb in my possession, I navigated the crowded roads to the address Phin had given me.
It didn’t have valet parking, which surprised me, considering Arlo was never one to skimp when it came to friends. Maybe the food here was so incredible that part didn’t matter. I squeaked into the last available spot, holding my breath the entire time because the parking lot was snug as fuck.
Arlo’s car was instantly recognizable, despite the lack of personalized knicknacks inside. Not as ostentatious as mine, but obviously owned by someone with “fuck you” money.
Slinking up next to it with the sparkle-filled contraption under my arm, I was faced with the predicament of actually getting into the car.
Glittering up the outside wasn’t nearly as satisfying when he could go through a car wash.
I wanted the inside to be forever infused with the reminder of his crimes.
As if by magic, the door unlocked. Oh, shit. That probably gave me about five seconds, tops, before Arlo actually got over here and caught me. I whipped the door open and hurled the device inside, swinging the door shut again before sparkly pink erupted everywhere.
“What the fuck are you doing?” a voice boomed.
A voice that definitely didn’t belong to Arlo.
Arlo sounded like a crazed puppy. This guy sounded like a pissed-off, rumbly man.
That rumble would actually have been kinda nice in another context with far less clothing.
A storm of red hair in a fancy suit bolted toward me, bringing with him a wave of delicious musk rose that had my stomach clenching.
I beamed at him, putting on my game face. That little chicken shit sent someone else to do his dirty work. Was this a friend of Arlo’s? His very gorgeous friend? Hello, handsome.
“Hey there!” I grinned. “Nothing to see here. I’m just leaving my friend a little gift in his car,” I said, gesturing to the vehicle that was full of a bright pink cloud.
He glared at me, chest heaving. His shirt was tailored so perfectly that his pissed-off breathing put those buttons to work.
Oh my.
Getting angry eyes in a parking lot shouldn’t have gotten my engine revving, but my bits weren’t getting the memo.
“If it’s for your friend, why did you put it in my car? Oh my god. It’s everywhere.”
I stilled.
Could I have put it in the wrong one? My stomach dropped down to my toes. Shit.
No. There was no way.
The car was identical to Arlo’s.
Had he loaned the car to his friend?
“N-no,” I stammered. “This is his car.”
“No. It’s mine. What kind of person does this?” The handsome stranger glowered at me, getting all up in my personal space with that stupid delicious scent. “You decided to fucking glitter bomb my car because you’re pissed at your boyfriend?”
I took offense to that. I mean, sure, Arlo was good to Meadow, but the idea of riding that pony made me want to gag.
“I assure you, he is not my boyfriend,” I said adamantly, crossing my arms. Whether I pushed that fact because the concept of kissing Arlo was gross or because I didn’t want this hottie to think I was unavailable, I didn’t know, but push it I did.
“That doesn’t change the fact that my car is full of glitter! Do you know how expensive this vehicle is? You’ve trashed it! They’ll never get it all out.”
Fuck. He was not chilling out about this. Was he one of those car guys who was obsessed with their mechanical baby, or had I fucked up on a level I didn’t even grasp?
“It was an honest mistake!” I insisted, holding my hands up in surrender.
He glared at me, such anger behind his eyes that I could practically feel my lady parts shriveling up, despite their previous excitement over the hot alpha.
I had vandalized a very expensive car.
It was all Arlo’s fault for dragging me into this mess.
Given the way this alpha was looking at me, he would have happily shoved me off a cliff. Reasoning with him wasn’t an option, but luckily, I was excellent at distraction.
Scrambling, I reached into my purse and fished out a couple of ten dollar bills.
Approaching the angry alpha gingerly, like he would bite my head off—which honestly felt like a distinct possibility—I kept my hands in the air.
“Look, this was clearly a horrible mistake on my part. Blame Arlo, it’s all his fault. ”
“I think I’ll blame the demonic omega in front of me who committed glittery assault!”
I shoved the bills into his hand, caught off guard by the electricity that leapt between us and the rush of his musk rose scent from the contact. Even pissed off, he could at least still appreciate how cute I was, and that scent rush proved it.
“I’ve got to run.” I beamed, trying to act casual as I turned to leave.
His strong hand gripped my wrist, hauling me back to him. “No,” he growled.
My whole body thrummed. Fuck, I wanted to hear that growl as I came on his knot. Why was I so freaking horny lately? There had to be something in the LA water.
My choices were to distract and bolt or make some truly terrible decisions with this alpha, and as tempting as that might be with how fucking good he smelled, I had to consider safety at least a little.
Standing on my tiptoes, I threw caution to the wind, planting my lips on his cheek, winding one of my arms around his back, landing right on his ass and giving it a squeeze.
Fuck, he smelled even better this close.
And his ass was perfectly grabbable.
Breaking away, I resisted the urge to whine at the loss of him plastered against me. Pasting on my bright smile, I nodded decisively. I’d come back for my car later tonight once I was sure he’d left—it was too ostentatious to slip away unnoticed—but right now, I needed to bolt.
“Gotta go!” I declared, reaching down and grabbing the purse I had dropped before spinning and running out of that parking lot like my ass was on fire, ignoring the dazed alpha shouting after me.