2. Austin
Austin
O ne…two…three drops of food coloring ought to do it.
Mixin' the dye in with my big bowl of buttercream frosting, I watch with satisfaction as the frosting turns from a spotless white to a vibrant, rosy-pink hue.
"Hey Noah?" I call out, spooning the mixture into my piping bag.
"What's up?" My brother asks from his spot at the kitchen table, where he's typing away, doing gods knows what for his boss and the owner of Lone Star Security, Titus Mendez. His lack of Southern accent isn't the only thing that indicates we aren't biologically related.
"Can you shoot me a quick text—just say '3 drops of food colorin'?"
"Ummm…sure?" He glances at me over his laptop, his shoulder length black hair hanging in his eyes a little, then grabs his phone and sends me the text.
"Thanks," I grin as I start frosting the cupcakes, "these are a darn-near perfect rosy shade of pink."
"What are those for?" he asks, turning his attention back to his computer.
"Titus' party tonight." I admit, my cheeks heating, and I know that if Noah looked over right now, he'd see just how much I'm blushing. The curse of the ginger, Mama says. "I reckon Hannah'll be there…"
He doesn't correct me to tell me that it's not Titus' party since he's not the one putting it on, he's merely accepting the celebration that his omega is throwing for him. And hopefully he won't put up too much of a fuss when I arrive with pink frosted cupcakes in tow.
"Dude, you just need to ask her out," he says without looking up from his screen. "Do you want me to look her up?"
"What?" I shake my head emphatically. "Ain’t no way you’re fixin’ to do that. Besides, I don't even know her last name."
Just her apartment number and that she uses knotted dildos.
Welp. There go my cheeks again, remembering the most mortifying night of my life—the same night I dropped her off at her apartment after that blasted Sheffield Pack attacked her friend.
"Doesn't matter," Noah stretches his arms above his head, showing off the black spiderweb tattoo that crawls up his neck. Mama just about had a heart attack when he came home with that one. "We know she's close with Cady De Lucca, so I can track her."
"Come on, Noah, that ain't proper." He's always doing this. Using his fancy computer skills to find out dirt on people or change my grade in chemistry when we were in high school. My piping becomes a little wobbly with nerves.
"Too late. Hannah Beckham." He gives me a wolfish grin before he turns his attention back to his screen, letting out a low whistle. "Well, damn Austin. No wonder you're so obsessed. She's gorgeous."
Ignoring the "obsessed" comment, my brows nearly shoot into my hairline at his assessment.
Noah doesn't really do women. Or men. People.
He looks at everyone the same, hasn't ever been interested in an omega as far as I could tell.
Not that he doesn't want to, far as I can tell, since if he's not on his computer, his nose is buried in some romance book or another. "You think?"
"Um, yeah, are you blind?" He asks incredulously, flipping the laptop around so I can see the picture from her drivers' license.
"Her eyes are like fucking emeralds or some shit.
And that pink hair? She'd look good with a tattoo.
Or a nose ring." In the picture, her hair is the same shade of pink as the frosting I'm currently putting on the chocolate cupcakes.
"She'd look good in anything," I mutter. Or nothing .
Turning my attention back to my cupcakes, I try to ignore how hard I got just looking at a dang drivers' license picture.
Hannah Beckham.
Am I a scoundrel for wanting her name to be Hannah Sullivan? It's a damn fine sounding name.
"Why haven't you asked her out again?" he asks, twisting his computer back around and continuing his work.
"I just…" I sigh, moving onto the next cupcake. "I embarrassed myself somethin' awful when I dropped her off after that incident with Pack Sheffield."
"Oh my gods. What did you do, Austin?" His eyes are wide as he takes me in. He's used to me being the perfect gentleman…and I was, but maybe a bit too gentlemanly. "Was it her scent?"
"What?" My eyes widen and I shake my head.
"No, I don't even know what she smells like.
She had de-scenter slathered on so thick she could've passed for a beta.
" Believe me, I've spent more than enough time trying to remember my brief time in an enclosed space with her, trying to see if I can pick out any hint of scent. Nothing.
How would her scent go with my lemony, black mint tea smell?
With Noah's cinnamon and clove? Yes, I've thought about her and Noah, because much as I want Hannah for myself, Noah is pack, even if he doesn't realize it.
Even if he only sees me as his overbearing foster brother.
A pack is more than three partners for an omega though, so we're obviously missing at least one other person— whether that's an alpha or beta.
"Then what happened?" he asks insistently.
"I took her back up to her apartment, and we had a uh…misunderstandin'."
"A misunderstanding?" He looks at me skeptically.
"Leave it, Noah," I grumble, my mood suddenly soured by the reminder of how I made a complete and utter fool of myself. "Hopefully these cupcakes'll make her forget about the whole thing."
"Well, your cupcakes are made from unicorn farts and the orgasm of a fairy," he deadpans, not looking up. "I'm sure one bite will magically wipe her memory of anything having to do with how badly you embarrassed yourself."
I can't tell if he's trying to make me feel better or make fun of me, which often seems to be the case with my brother.
I shoot him a grin and finish piping the frosting onto the last of the cupcakes.
"Fairy orgasm, huh?" I ask, putting the bag in the trash.
"You read about them in one a your little books? "
This time it's Noah's turn to blush as his typing turns quicker. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, come on brother. What was the name of that last one you were reading? A Court of Something Rather?"
"Fuck off, Austin," he mutters as I laugh, removing my apron and hanging it on the little hook from the fridge. Noah may act all mysterious and surly, but he's got a romantic streak a mile wide, even if he never meets anyone in real life that he feels that connection to.
Hopefully, that'll all change tonight when he meets Hannah.
Something tells me that no matter which way tonight goes, our lives won't ever be the same.