Chapter 22
Allie:
LUNA!!!!
OH MY GOD
I’M DYING
PICK UP YOUR FUCKING PHONE
I NEED TO DISH
Luna:
I WAS PEEING!!!!
KEEP YOUR PANTIES ON
Allie:
NO PEEING THIS IS AN EMERGENCY
My phone went off a moment later and I answered Luna’s call with an excited shriek.
“What on earth is going on?”
“I saw him at the grocery store!”
“Saw who? Catch me up so I can scream too.”
“Sidney the heat helper!”
There was a beat of silence before Luna echoed my shriek. “The one from your first heat? Tell me everything. Is he as hot as ever?”
I let out an animalistic sound. “He’s so fucking pretty, Loons. We’re having dinner tonight and I don’t know what to do with myself. I need you to come over and dress me.”
“You scored a date with him? Damn, girl, you work fast.”
“I don’t think it counts as fast when it’s been four years since I’ve seen him.”
Luna laughed. “It totally counts as fast. You run into him once and you get a date? I support you. Get that alpha dick.”
I burst into giggles. “So can you come over?”
“I will be there with fucking bells on. I have my own date to cancel because we need to make sure that everything is perfect.”
“You don’t have to cancel the date for me.”
Luna scoffed. “The hell I don’t. How often does my bestie encounter the alpha of her dreams? It is my duty, nay, my privilege as your best friend to be there for you in this moment.”
Luna was an absolute gem. We had started at the architectural firm—albeit with her in finance and not as an architect—at the same time. We’d been attached at the hip ever since. I still had to tell my other bestie from university, Meg, about this, but she was much more reserved than Luna and I needed the screaming energy right now to get me through tonight.
“I’ll pick us up smoothies on my way over and see you in, like, an hour. Does that work?” Luna asked.
“I will stew in my feelings until you arrive.”
I had only just moved into a new apartment and the majority of my things were still in boxes. The only thing I had really unpacked was my closet and I set upon it as soon as I hung up with Luna. I ripped out every remotely nice piece of clothing I could consider for a date and hurled it onto my bed, digging through the mountains and coming up hopelessly short. He had already seen me in a T-shirt and jeans and basically no makeup, so he obviously wasn’t turned off by that since he had agreed to see me tonight, but I wanted to knock his fucking socks off.
I was laying face-down in the pile of clothes when Luna finally arrived.
“Girl, did you turn into a tornado?”
“It was either this or go completely bonkers while I waited for you.”
“Okay, that’s fair.” Luna set down the smoothies, shrugged out of her cardigan, and bundled her blonde curls into a messy bun. “Let’s get down to business. What kind of vibe are we going for? Cute? Smoldering?”
“I want to melt his brain when he sees me.”
“That can be arranged. First we need to pick out the underlayers.”
“Red or black?” I asked.
“I think black for this first one. It’s classic for a reason.” Luna dug through my dresser and found one of the few matching sets I had. She held up the black lace thong and matching soft-cup bra. “I vote these ones.”
“It’s not too much?”
“Allie, are you or are you not specifically going to this guy’s house to get laid?”
“I am, but?—”
“No buts. This is brain-melting. This is what we want. Suffer through the butt floss for the moment when he sees it for the first time and all that blood runs south.”
“Okay.”
Luna rustled through the mountain of my wardrobe on my bed for the next items. She held up each garment to me before deciding against it and chucking it over her head. Eventually we settled on a cranberry scoop-neck shirt that nipped in at the waist, some black leggings with a hint of sparkle that I could pair with my knee-high black leather boots, and a light black leather jacket.
“God, you’re gonna be so hot.” Luna beamed at me.
Once I was dressed, Luna had a towel draped over my chest while she did my makeup and curled my hair. I had never made a huge deal about dates or dressing up for partners before. But it was nice to have the ritual to settle me before tonight. Luna chattered away in my ear, wielding the curling iron with frightening precision. I wasn’t sure if we went overboard on the makeup, combining a bit of a smoky eye and a red lip, but Luna insisted I looked good so I tried not to question it too much.
“You have to keep me posted, okay?” Luna said. “I’m sure he’s probably a great dude since you’ve obsessed over him all these years, but I need to make sure that you’re safe. And then we are absolutely going to have to have a dish session afterward because I need to know all the sordid details.”
“I promise I will keep you informed.”
“Is there anything else you want to do before you go over?”
“I could use a couple of shots to calm down the butterflies in my stomach, but otherwise I don’t think so.”
“You’re gonna do just fine. You’re the cutest little knockout ever, and if he doesn’t appreciate you, I will come over and kick his ass six ways to Sunday.”
I pulled Luna into a hug, the soft sweetness of her mango lemonade omega scent in a delicate cloud around her.
“I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be. You’ve leveled up your skills since the last time you saw this guy. It’s gonna be fine.”
I knew she was probably right. There were only so many things that could go wrong during a date when I already knew that he was great at taking care of me. I didn’t have to worry about if I would enjoy myself or if I would be safe, because he had answered both of those questions for me long ago.
It took a lot of cajoling from Luna until I was calm enough to put myself in the car and drive over.
I parked in his driveway and gave myself a couple moments to breathe before getting out. He had moved since last time. I saw his silhouette sprint to the door and it wrenched open a moment after I rang the doorbell.
“Hey, stranger.” I beamed up at him and gave a little wave. “I love the new place. It’s so fancy.”
I held still as his gaze swept over me, potent as a touch, taking in every detail from head to toe, his eyes lingering in a way that had my whole body heating. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for tonight, but I was damn certain I wasn’t going to let another four years pass before I got his mouth on mine again.