Chapter 8
I held the stem between my fingers, its pretzeled perfection sealing my victory. “Third place isn’t so bad,” I taunted Eva with a smirk, taking her hand in mine to place the damp knot into her palm. “Better luck next time, princess.”
Was she always so warm? Or was that just the bodies pressing almost too close around us, the alcohol thrumming through our veins?
“What do you mean, second place?” she asked indignantly, her pink pigtails bouncing as she scowled up at me. “I finished first!”
"I wouldn't call either of you first," Tara said, making Ivy laugh beside her.
“No, you didn’t,” I pressed, ignoring them as I made no move to let go of Eva's hand. “I clearly did.”
“Did not,” she huffed, leaning into my space.
The air between us shifted, charging with something that had nothing to do with friendly competition as her earthy, sun-ripened berry scent reached my nose.
Usually, other omegas did absolutely nothing for me. But Eva? I hadn't stopped thinking about her for weeks.
I raised an eyebrow, giving my best impression of Cameo’s haughtiest voice. “Really, that’s your best argument. ‘Did not?’”
“Aw, come on, guys…” Tara said, though Eva paid her no mind.
I didn’t either, too focused on the way that her fingers tightened around mine, thumb brushing along the back of my hand in slow strokes that had my muscles tightening, coiling like I was preparing to pounce.
“Well, you didn’t!”
“I think it was a tie,” Jesse said, obviously trying to calm the tension. They pulled an untied stem from their mouth. “I couldn’t get it. I thought this was just something they only did on TV shows.”
“Nope,” Tara said. “I used to practice all the time.”
The beta sighed, anguish-stricken. “I guess my kissing skills need work.”
Tara gasped comically loud, making Ivy laugh. “That’s not true! Your kisses are perfect.”
As if to prove it, she wrapped her hands around their waist and pulled them in for a steamy kiss.
My face reddened, and I couldn’t help but glance back at Eva, our eyes meeting before she pulled her hand away.
Was that… rejection?
“Whatever, I’m going to the dancefloor,” I said, needing an excuse to get out of there.
Now that I was here, I wasn't entirely sure why I agreed to come. Indi's call about making out with Eva was still at the forefront of my mind when Tara texted to invite me out, and even though I was trying to be chill about it, I was fucking irritated.
After the Packtacular, things with my alpha had been a little…
off. Not in a tangible way, at least not enough that I felt like we needed to talk about it.
But it was clear that Indigo was distracted.
Unsurprisingly, they didn't want to talk about it.
None of them did, but it was obvious that something had changed between the pack and me that night and in the days following.
Now that Indigo had admitted his crush on her, had come to me wanting to talk about what that meant for us—nothing, they'd insisted.
That this was the first time they'd seen each other since Halloween, and they weren't going to go looking for a repeat if it made me uncomfortable…
But it felt like denying my alpha something they clearly wanted, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
Especially when I had my own feelings for Eva in the mix.
Indi told me it wasn’t a big deal, but I saw the way they looked at her that night.
And honestly, the effort they'd been going to avoid her was even more telling.
Why wouldn't Indigo be interested?
Eva was hot as fuck, had a pussy that felt like magic, and was just so… bubbly. Like some kind of generically franchised cartoon princess.
And, maybe the most damning part, she didn’t have all the baggage I did. A life with Eva, a pack with her would be easy.
Not to mention, she was the kind of fuckable that breeding kinks were made for. And for a pack looking to have a baby, it was just too perfect.
Just thinking about it pissed me off.
I had no idea how the other guys felt about Eva—it wasn't like the Lombardi pack stayed up at night talking about their feelings and braiding each other's hair. But Cameo and I had gotten closer since Halloween. He wasn’t the most romantic alpha on the planet, but he'd started making a real effort.
Eventually.
At first, I wasn't sure that he was interested in me at all. The pair of us passed each other for a couple of days in a weird sort of crossroads.
That was until he came down to the movie room one night while I was waiting for Indi to be done working and shoved his cock down my throat while we watched some final girl fight for her life against a killer.
It was a little confusing at first, his gruff communication style and general lack of small talk making my hackles rise.
But I'd gotten used to him, and since I'd moved in, I'd caught myself more than once hanging out somewhere specifically to tempt the alpha into taking me however he wanted.
It was easy to worry that a physical relationship was all Cameo was after, and maybe that was true, but it seemed pretty unlikely after I started to receive the gifts.
Occasionally, following no pattern as far as I could work out, I'd come home to find some obscure vintage comic that he'd left for me in my nest. Or my favorite snacks. Or, once, one of his T-shirts pristinely folded atop my fabulous, embroidered cushions.
Odd, but at least it felt like he cared… in whatever way he did.
Marcus, on the other hand, was still a jackass. He did nothing but insult me and start arguments over anything and everything.
I knew I wasn’t the perfect omega, but he didn’t even want to give me a chance. After Halloween, I had hoped things would change, but as time went on—especially after our conversation in the kitchen this morning—I was starting to think that he would be much happier if I disappeared.
“Yes to the dance floor,” Tara said as she pulled away from Jesse, leaving them looking dazed.
We made our way through the crowd to find a spot to claim for ourselves, finding one near the edge of the platform.
Tara was quickly all over Jesse, grinding her body all over them.
Their hands moved across her body, the ease and familiarity obvious.
And, even though they were a beta… it was easy to feel a little jealous.
I started moving as well, letting myself feel the music as I closed my eyes, disappearing into my own world free of annoying alphas and confusing omegas that I desperately wanted to kiss.
It worked for a while, my attention fully locked on the beat and the movement of my body. That was, until the song changed, and I let myself glance at Eva.
Then I was right back where I started. Watching. Wondering.
On the outside of something that I wanted to be mine.
She was dancing with Ivy, the two bouncing around and laughing like they were old friends. Her short skirt rose and fell with every hop to reveal a hint of her lacy white panties.
Did she have to wear that outfit? Was I being punished for a reason?
Her tits looked so big in that top, and with all her bouncing, they were like jelly. I was mesmerized, my traitorous cock twitching in my pants like it'd forgotten we were supposed to be a little annoyed with her for kissing my alpha.
But that wasn't how I really felt. If anything, I was jealous of Indigo, not her.
Enough, I thought sternly.
She wasn’t the point of coming out. I didn’t need to get wrapped up in this omega that'd mixed up my pack like a funhouse mirror.
Tara invited me to have fun, and I needed it. The opportunities to blow off a little steam were few and far between with the homebodies that I'd packed up with.
I couldn't even picture Cameo in a sweaty club—he'd probably combust from all the touching. Especially the accidental brushing of strangers.
A few songs went by, and the dancing continued. Tara moved to dance with Eva a bit, and Ivy had shifted towards me. I let my body wave against hers to the beat. Though she wasn’t exactly my type, blondes were never really my thing; she was cute and seemed to be down to have a good time.
Exactly what I needed.
I let her turn, her ass landing against me to grind to the beat, and immediately felt eyes on us like a physical thing. Before I could stop myself, my head turned and I caught Eva's eyes. Her mouth set in a hard, annoyed line. I couldn't help the smirk that curled my lips.
Good.
She should feel at least a little bad.
Knowing she was watching, I let my hands drift over Ivy a bit more than I normally would've. Grabbing at her thighs and waist as I bent to speak in her ear.
"You're gorgeous."
She continued to move as she met my eyes. "You can kiss me if you want. You're trying to make her jealous, right?"
I blinked.
"Oh, come on, you've barely looked at anyone else all night. And there's a cute beta over there that's been making eyes at you since you started moving."
"I—" I started, not exactly looking to get into it with a stranger. "Um…"
Naturally, my eyes moved to try and spot Eva again, but she was nowhere to be found.
Worry pricked at my chest that had nothing to do with whatever game I was playing. It didn't fucking matter that it was an alpha-free club—I didn't like that my girl was out of eyeline.
Not your girl, Joon, I reminded myself.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Ivy, who nodded and continued to dance, joining a group of beta girls.
I turned to Tara, who was back to dancing with Jesse, tapping her shoulder as she rose from the floor with her hands on the beta's hips. “Where’s Eva?”
“Bathroom! Said she needed a minute.”
Before I could overthink it and second-guess myself, I was headed after her.
Sure, I could've chalked it up to the drinks, but even I knew that was a stretch.