48. Quinn
Chapter 48
Quinn
D ane’s dad calls the room to order, starting in on a speech, his arm around his son. “Thank you all for helping me welcome Dane home. He’s made our tiny little town famous…”
Rosie squeezes my hand in sympathy as we watch Dane fight a grimace.
“But that’s nothing compared to the joy of having him home, and this time, he’s brought a pack for us to welcome. Join me in celebrating them!”
Dane winks at us but doesn’t make any move to get us to join them.
Nash kisses Rosie’s cheek, then mine. “I’ll take one for the team.”
He throws himself into the fray while I nudge Rosie away from the thick crowd gathered in the center of the house. People are mingling about inside and on the lawn, most of them decked out in green and white—the hometown colors.
Before we can escape to the back patio for some air, an older omega calls Rosie’s name. She waves to the woman, and the omega calls her over.
“Go, I’m gonna grab us drinks,”I say.
She gives me a chaste kiss. “We can hide with them for a minute. They’re friends with Grandma and a riot.”
I nod and make my way back toward the kitchen. Usually, I don’t mind these kinds of things. Growing up, I attended functions in the city all the time with my family pack. But tonight, I’m irritable. I don’t know if it’s because our plans with Rosie got all twisted and I hate that we fucked up or if it’s the unusual heat of this spring night… I’d rather be home in my sweats.
Before I can make it to the kitchen, the Knotty Pines football booster club president yanks me into introductions with a new group. She and another woman I met with Dane’s papa earlier tell me about their upcoming Founder’s Festival plans.
The back of my neck itches, making me regret my decision to wear this turtleneck. Once she gets started, the president drones on and on, and I feel a drip of sweat sliding down my neck.
When I can’t take it another minute, I smile and slip away with a flimsy excuse. She’s been yammering on about Dane’s brilliance for the last ten minutes, and while I love the man, I don’t need a career highlights reel. The omega was also a toucher. I can relate, but her cherry cordial scent was sending my stomach rolling.
Dane’s papa gives me a commiserating smile that says, "Run while you can," from across the room, and I duck into the kitchen without getting stopped again. I take two glasses of champagne from a server, tossing back one and handing him the empty flute.
The chilled liquid bubbles down my throat, but it does little to quench the heat building in my neck. I tug on my collar, convinced it's suffocating me.
He eyes me with amusement. “Need extra?”
“Yeah, and I could get behind an ice pack,” I admit, fanning myself.
He hands me another glass, and I wave a thank-you, going in search of Rosie.
The scene I’m met with when I find her doesn’t help. She’s standing in the crowded living room, barely any space between her and a pretty beta man. My teeth grind, my omega instincts wailing in my head.
He leans in to say something above the crowd, clutching her forearm. Rosie throws her head back with a laugh. My laugh.
Despite omegas’ reputations for being territorial, I’m not generally a jealous person. A few times early in our relationship, I had words with an omega who tried to make moves on Dane, but I’ve only really lost my shit a few times. I have a feeling this might be one of those times.
“There you are.” I sigh, sliding a possessive arm around Rosie’s waist after handing her a glass of champagne. “I got stuck with the football boosters.”
“No worries,” she says, leaning into my embrace. She smells slightly like caramel corn, and it grates on my nerves, making me itch to cover her in my scent.
“Riddick, Ms. Maple’s grandson, was telling me about his adventure taking the infamous bridge club over for a visit with Grandma Lily. One of their friends already lives there, and they planned a little tea party in her room.”
That is a sweet and entirely rational reason for the two of them to look like old friends. Except I’m very familiar with being the old friend in love with Rosie, and I don’t like how his eyes linger on her chest or how he’s still too close.
“How sweet,” I say.
Riddick’s eyes dart to me, and he lifts his brow in challenge before his eyes flit to her bare neck.
Motherfucker.
“I was just telling her I’ve got a section reserved for the Spring Fling game and I’d be happy to save her a seat,” he says.
I bet he would.
My face sours, but I try to brush it off. “The boosters have seats for us too, if you want to go,” I say lamely, tugging at my collar.
Before I do something totally off the rails, like throat-punch this guy for making moves on my girl, I need to get us out of here.
Rosie gives me a look I can’t decipher before returning her gaze to Mr. Smooth. “It was good to catch up. I’m gonna have Quinn show me to the ladies' room.”
She sets our glasses on a nearby table and takes my arm, pulling me through the crowd until we find a hallway that’s clear of party guests. Her hand goes to my forehead, and she worries her lip.
Tugging her lip loose with my thumb, I say, “If you want to abuse that pretty mouth, I have ideas.”
Rosie grins. “We’re about to be in so much trouble.”
Wandering the hallway, I open random doors. The first is a linen closet. Too small. The second is Dane’s dad’s office, so that’s out.Rosie opens the third, and it’s a bathroom—finally. She yanks me inside and shuts the door. I’m in her arms before she can turn on the lights. We fumble in the half dark, my hands dancing over her curves as I swipe my tongue across hers.
She gives in to it then, moaning for me. I lift her onto the counter, thanking the heavens for Dane’s papa’s love of nightlights.
Her skin flickers with shadow and light, and I get lost, sucking along her neck. The stretchy fabric of her dress pulls as I step between her legs. “I need you covered in me. I don't like that you smell like him or how he looked at you.”
I wrap my arms around her, gripping a handful of her ass and rocking into her heat.
She gasps, cursing. “It’s not like that. We’ve been friends for years. His husband?—”
“Don’t care,” I say, taking her lips again in a nibbling kiss that trails down her neck.
Rosie scrambles off the counter, hands out and a wide grin on her face. “I was thinking it, but now I’m sure. We need to find the alphas. You’re going into heat.”
I shake my head, trying to clear it. My dick is hard, I’m slick as fuck, and I itch with the need to get naked. Realization dawns, and I curse. “I can’t go into heat now. This is Dane’s party, and his first game as head coach is in two weeks… I just started my job… The hearing with your grandma!”
My mind is spinning, but so is the room.
Rosie pulls me into a hug. “Oh, baby, sometimes bodies don’t operate on planned timelines. It’s a bitch.” Her hand rubs my neck, and she buries her head in my chest. “If it’s any consolation, you’re so fucking cute right now I can barely stand it.”
The hug is meant to soothe, and it does, but it also lights me up. I can’t help it. The awful caramel-corn smell has been replaced with this nutty rose aroma that I want to lick—so I do. I trace the outline of her shoulder and suck on her ear until she rubs herself against me. The pressure on my dick is all-consuming.
Rosie breaks away from me with another curse. “You’re dangerous, and I’m afraid if I don’t get help, we’re gonna start your heat in this bathroom.”
“Please,” I beg. “It will ruin?—”
“You in there, babe? Rosie?” A heavy fist knocks against the door, and Nash’s rumbly voice has me shivering with the deep need to fuck.
Yeah, okay. We might be in trouble.
Rosie throws open the door, and both our alphas are there.
“Thank gods. We need to excuse ourselves,” she says.
Dane’s growl makes me slick enough that I’m about to wet through these fucking blocking boxers. I brace myself against the counter, cursing as fire rolls through me. My gut aches. My alphas’ scents swell, and I can’t focus.
Around me, I can hear my pack, but right now, I can’t decide between crying and begging for one of them to knot me while I fuck Rosie on this countertop.
“Knot,” I beg.
One of my alphas says something, then I’m being lifted by Nash. He’s grapefruit and sea salt. I wrap myself around him, trying to get to his skin.
There are loud sounds, and I tuck in on myself. Too exposed.
Need mates. Pack. Pack.
A raspy honey murmurs in my ear, a soft hand grabbing mine. I can’t make out the words. I just bury myself in my alpha’s chest and hang on to my beta.