Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mason
Irub my damp hands against my shorts, hating that I’m so damn nervous about this date.
Alexander and Davis have had their solo dates with Crew and Kiara already, and it feels like a lot to live up to their dates.
Not that it’s a competition, but I don’t want to fuck up the momentum we have going with the two of them. I’d never be able to face my pack mates if I ruined this.
Hell, I wouldn’t be able to face myself if I fucked this up.
As soon as Akira told us Kiara was moving back with Crew in tow, I knew we needed to do everything we could to make Kiara ours. I wasn’t sure how Crew would fit into it—I sure as hell never thought he’d be our scent match—but I knew that anyone Kiara loved would be easy for us to love too.
I was right.
Crew is sassy and more than a handful. Add Kiara, and they’re trouble for days.
But I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Now I just need to make sure not to fuck up our date. It should be simple, right?
“Mace?”
Kiara’s quiet voice has my head jerking up to find her and Crew standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at me.
Shit.
Were they talking to me while I was giving myself the worst pep talk ever?
See? I’m already fucking this up.
“You both look amazing,” I tell them, forcing a smile, and it’s not a lie.
Kiara is in another of the short, flirty sundresses she seems to favor. This one is black with cherries, and it turns my forced smile into a genuine one.
She’s always been able to do this—to cheer me up and put me in a good mood no matter what’s happening around us. One look from her, and I can forget everything.
Except maybe how much is riding on this date doing well.
Shaking my head, I take in Crew’s red polo that matches the cherries on Kiara’s dress over his swim trunks, and my smile only grows.
Could they be any more adorable?
“Thank you, alpha. You don’t look half bad yourself,” Crew says breezily, linking his fingers with Kiara’s and heading for the door.
The door shuts behind them before my mind catches up with the fact that I need to go with them.
Fuck this noise.
I am not a fan of this being nervous bullshit.
I hurry outside, just in time to see Crew close the passenger door behind Kiara. I’m moving so fast, I almost fall down the stairs and barely avoid running into Crew.
His hands land on my arms, and my eyes flicker to his. He looks more than a little amused as he gazes at me. “Take a deep breath, Mason.”
“What?”
“I can smell how nervous you are. You smell like burnt leather, and it’s not a pleasant scent.”
I flush because I’d forgotten he could smell my scent. What kind of alpha am I that my omega—no, wait. He’s not mine yet—is having to calm me down?
“It’s okay to be nervous, big guy.” His voice has lost its teasing tone. “This is a big deal, and it’s been years in the making. I promise you, Kiara is going to love whatever you have planned, and as long as she’s happy, then I’m happy too. Although I’ll probably love it too.”
He takes my hand and lifts it to his chest, and I can’t look away from the rising and falling of his chest.
I blink, realizing I’ve automatically slowed my breathing to match his. Part of me wants to melt into the touch, but the other part is pissed that I needed calming in the first place.
“Don’t do that.” There’s a bite to Crew’s words that has my eyes jerking up to meet his once more. “I just got your ass calmed down. Please do not ruin my good work.”
I frown. “You shouldn’t have to calm me down.”
He snorts. “What do you think an omega is for? Besides all the sex stuff, obviously. Omegas calm alphas just as much as alphas calm omegas. There’s nothing wrong with needing someone else to calm you down—especially when it’s your scent-matched omega.”
“I don’t know why I’m freaking out so badly,” I admit.
“Because this is important to you, but stop thinking about what it could mean. It’s just you, me, and Kiara hanging out and getting to know one another better, yeah?”
I tilt my head as I consider him. His words make sense, and I can feel a sensation of calm sweeping through me. “Yeah. You’re right. Damn, you’re good at this.”
He grins. “So Kiara tells me. Now, how about we get this date on the road?”
“Sure.” I hesitate for a moment before leaning in to brush my lips against his cheek. “Thanks, Crew.”
His hand raises to cup his cheek, his eyes wide as he watches me walk around the car.
With a chuckle, I climb inside to find Kiara watching me carefully. “Better?”
“Yeah. Much better. Thank you.” Should I be embarrassed that she also knew I was freaking out?
Her smile makes butterflies flutter in my chest as she glances over her shoulder. “Did you break my omega?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I just kissed his cheek.”
She giggles. “Then you definitely broke him. Kissing and sex are second nature to him, but he sometimes forgets about the romance of it all.”
“Are you saying I’m not romantic, Kiki?” Crew sounds wounded as he climbs into the backseat, but I can see the grin on his face.
“You know better than that. You just don’t know what to do when someone romances you.” She spins around to look at him. “Do you remember that alpha doctor who was trying to woo you?”
I can’t help the growl that slips out. “What alpha doctor?”
Kiara snickers, patting my arm condescendingly. “Nothing for you to worry about, you big bad alpha. This was years ago. It’s actually a funny story. I’ll tell you all about it if you promise to stop being such an alpha.”
“I’m an alpha, so I’m not sure I can stop being such an alpha.” I grin when she sticks her tongue out. “But I’ll try to behave so I can hear the story.”
“Can we not?” Crew whines, but we both ignore him as I pull out of the driveway.
I laugh as Kiara regales me with tales of the alpha who left gifts for Crew for a year before finally getting up the nerve to ask him out.
Apparently, he didn’t answer the man, who’d suggested a romantic dinner followed by a romantic carriage ride.
No, my scent-matched omega just spun on his heel and ran away before avoiding the doctor in question until Kiara had to be the one to let him down.
“That’s amazing,” I admit, pulling into a parking spot.
“Are we going night hiking?” Kiara asks with raised eyebrows. “Because I promise you, I’m not dressed for that.”
I chuckle. “Not exactly. We’re just going to the lake. You should be just fine in your flip-flops.”
Her eyes widen. “Ugh, I haven’t been to the lake in years. I love the lake. Wait. Are we even supposed to be here after dark?”
“Do you really care?” It’s my turn to lift my eyebrows as I turn to her.
It’s not like this is the first, or even the hundredth, time we’ve come to this exact spot after dark.
Every weekend it was warm enough to do so, we’d come to the lake.
Sometimes during the day, and sometimes at night.
Then, during the summer when she wasn’t visiting Crew, we were here every night.
It was the local hangout spot for the high school crew we ran with.
Luckily, kids don’t seem to do the same thing anymore. Probably because the sheriff went to school with us, and he likes to bring his pack up here at night too.
I made sure to post on the town message board to reserve the lake for the night when I was planning our date. It’s not official or anything, but we started doing that a few years ago when everyone started packing up.
The number of times the guys and I walked into the clearing to find someone we know fucking their pack is insane. Hence, the unofficial system to reserve the lake.
“I guess not,” she agrees. “Although there might already be people there.”
“Already taken care of, Kiki. Now, are we doing this or not?”
Crew opens his door and slips out. “I’m definitely doing this. This is one of the places I was so excited to have Kiki show me. She always raves about it and the hot springs.”
“I’m not planning to dip into the hot springs tonight.” I swing out of the car and wait until Kiara joins us before continuing. “The caves are dark at night, and I have other plans for the night. But we’ll all go together one night.”
“I can live with that.” Crew puts his arm around Kiara, pulling her against his side as he presses a kiss to the top of her head. “What exactly do you have planned?”
Rather than answer, I circle my truck and pull out the basket I stowed in the bed, holding it up. “A picnic and midnight swim with a bonfire.”
“And s’mores? Please tell me there will be s’mores.”
I grin at her adorableness and nod. “I would never bring you to a fire and not bring s’mores. I value my life too much for that.”
Kiara steps out of Crew’s hold and skips to me, tugging on my arm until I lean down toward her. She presses her lips to my cheek, her smile never slipping. “Thank you.”
I flush a little at the contact, but try to hide it by clearing my throat and ducking my head. “You’re welcome, Kiki.”
Not knowing what else to say, I head for the path that’ll lead us to the lake. I pause for a moment to make sure they’re following me before stepping into the trees.
Ten minutes later, we arrive at the empty lake. Luckily, the moon is almost full and lights up the clearing that surrounds the lake. It’s not a large lake, but it’s deep, which is apparently what makes it a lake.
Delilah tried to explain it to me once, but I tuned her out. Rude of me, I know, but she lost me.
I quickly unfurl the blanket and settle onto it with Crew and Kiara before pulling out the food I got from the bakery in town, Back Home Bakery. Croissants and sweets, plus a container of chicken salad and a fruit salad. We talk quietly as we eat, and it’s really nice.
I can’t believe I was so nervous about this.
Thank goodness Crew was able to calm me down. I was really turning this into something more than it needed to be.
Once we’re eaten our fill, I build the bonfire and set it alight. As soon as the fire is lit, Kiara has a marshmallow on a skewer as she burns the hell out of it.
She’s always done this. She never browns the damn thing—she just sticks it into the fire until it lights up before blowing it out.
Half the time she doesn’t even bother making a s’more, just stuffing the hot marshmallow into her mouth and burning her tongue, which is exactly what she does right now.
“Hot. Hot. Hot.” She hangs her mouth open and pants, as if trying to cool the marshmallow already in her mouth.
“You know, I would’ve thought you might have outgrown this,” I tease her, grinning when she glares at me.
She can’t answer me as her mouth is full and her tongue burning, but eventually she swallows the marshmallow. “There’s nothing to outgrow, Mace. This is the only way to eat roasted marshmallows.”
As if to prove me right, she adds another to a skewer and sticks it in the fire before repeating the process.
“Please tell me you don’t eat them like she does.”
Crew chuckles. “No, I prefer to get mine golden brown and as part of a s’more before eating it.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Thank the gods. I don’t think we could deal with another heathen.”
“Whatever, Mason. Keep talking shit.” Kiara is grinning as she watches me skewer a marshmallow and hand it to Crew before doing another for myself.
It’s been years since I’ve done anything as mundane as sitting beside a bonfire and making s’mores. It’s actually really nice.
Damn. What is it with me and thinking things are really nice all the sudden?
Shaking my head, I set my skewer aside after I’ve had a couple of s’mores and pull off my shirt. “Does anyone else feel like a swim?”
A whine has my head jerking toward Crew, who has Kiara sitting in his lap. Both their eyes are locked on me, filled with hunger.
Damn, I should’ve thought about taking my shirt off sooner.
“Like what you see?” I ask, flexing for them, and that seems to snap them out of it.
“As if you need your head to be any bigger.” Kiara climbs to her feet and pulls off her dress, revealing a sexy as hell black bikini.
My cock is instantly hard, and my trunks do nothing to hide that fact.
“Yeah, no offense, Mason,” Crew says, his voice teasing as he loses his shirt. “You’re hot as hell, but nothing is hotter than Kiara in a bikini.”
Looking between the two of them, I want to argue that him shirtless next to Kiara is definitely hotter, but they’re already marching toward the lake.
I trail behind them, snickering when Crew squeals over the coldness of the water.
“It’s not that cold. Stop being a baby.” Kiara tugs Crew further in until only her head is above the water, and Crew is chest-deep. “I forgot how much being short sucks.”
“That’s something I can fix, baby. Come here.” Crew lifts her until she wraps her arms and legs around him. Their faces are close together, and I find myself wishing they would kiss.
Definitely a selfish thought, but the one that follows is even more selfish.
I wish I was squeezed between the two of them.
Fuck me.
“Are you coming, Mason?” Kiara calls, glancing over her shoulder.
I froze in place when Crew lifted her into his arms, so I continue until I reach the pair. “The two of you together are…hot as hell. And I’m thinking maybe being in the middle of nowhere, half dressed with both of you might have been a mistake.”
“Nah,” Crew coos, reaching out to grab my hand and drag me closer. “Not a mistake, but the best idea you’ve ever had.”
Then his lips are on mine, and I freeze again.
Am I supposed to kiss him back?
Get your shit together, Mason. Of course you’re supposed to kiss him back.
So I do, and it’s a damn good kiss. When Crew pulls back, I barely stop myself from chasing his lips. But then he’s turning my head toward Kiara, who’s watching me with desire in her eyes.
“May I—”
“Yes,” she cuts me off, giggling. “Shit. Sorry. I hope you were about to ask if you can kiss me, because otherwise this is going to be embarrassing.”
Instead of answering her, I kiss her, and it’s everything I imagined it would be—and so much more.
We are so fucked, but I couldn’t be happier about it.