5. Caleb #2
“You seem jealous,” he pressed.
“I’m not,” I lied, turning my eyes away.
“Especially of your new sister.”
“Fuck off, do not call her that.”
Nick’s laugh only made my body heat more. “Hey, if the shoe fits.”
“She isn’t my sister. I don’t even know the bitch. And she isn’t that hot.”
“Jealousss,” Nick drew out the ‘s’ like a snake, the seat creaking under him.
“Why would I be jealous of some gold-digging omega whore?” I snapped, my eyes finding the other alpha again, to watch the rise and fall of his chest.
“I wouldn’t mind an omega right now,” Nick muttered, letting his head fall back to look up at the torn upholstery. “Anyone, really. So long as I could stick my dick in them.”
“Your standards can’t be that low.”
“Nah, probably not. But whether you want to keep lying to yourself or whatever, there’s one thing that's obvious—that girl isn’t low standards.”
“You’re an idiot.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and her profile up, scrolling through, looking for ammunition to prove Nick wrong. It was more difficult than I thought it’d be.
Photo after photo scrolled by. Nights out with friends. Selfies at the gym. A particularly cute pic of her in a little red dress standing in some park, and another that was a video of her actually riding a motorcycle on her own.
Fucking annoying.
“Let me see,” Nick said, reaching toward me.
Before I could tell him to fuck off, his hand was wrapped around mine, pulling my arm—no, my phone—toward him.
I didn’t let go, though—it was my phone. So we sat there, hands together, while he scrolled through her page for himself. My body pressed to his in an awkward sideways position that nearly put my head on Nick’s chest.
“Fuckin’ stunning,” he hummed with an obvious shift of his hips.
“And probably easy,” I said, way too bitterly for my taste. “Shame she’s not your type, blonde and all.”
“I’ll make an exception. She should have the chance to be with a real alpha, you know? They’re in short supply at your house.”
My indignant gasp was involuntary. “As if I’d want an easy little tramp like that! Besides, we both fucking know that I could pull her easy, just flash a credit card and it’s done.”
“I don’t think so, you see that?” He paused on an image of the omega taking a selfie with her phone through a webcam, a bustling office behind her. “That’s a girl who likes someone who works for a living. You’re a nepo baby, bro. But me? A blue collar guy? I’m just her type.”
I pulled the hand he was wrapped around back, making him face me. It was purely a coincidence that the action also pulled the alpha’s face closer to mine. “You think you’re better at getting girls than I am?”
Nick’s citrusy, floral scent poured from every inch of his body, his steady gaze locking onto mine alongside a cocky smirk. “I don’t think so, I’m fuckin’ sure of it.”
“Not a chance, you little bitch.”
“Then why don’t you prove it?”
“What do you mean?”
He shoved my screen in front of my face, another photo of her—in a cute bikini with little orange flowers—filling my vision. “We see who can fuck her first.”
“I don’t want to fuck her,” I snapped, trying to pull away, but with Nick’s grip on my hand, I wasn’t going anywhere. “Besides, where's the challenge in nailing some cock-hungry omega?”
“You can’t lie to me,” Nick purred, his long lashes nearly kissing his cheeks as he looked at me through them smugly. “You can to lie to everyone else, even yourself, but you can’t lie to me, Cal.”
“A-And why’s that?”
“Because, dumbass, I know you.”
“You don’t know shit,” I said uncertainly.
If I so much as shifted, we’d be kissing, Nick’s breath ghosting against my lips, making it hard to pay attention. He was so close my vision couldn’t even fully focus on him, his face blurry as I tried to look at him.
“Fine, if you think fucking her is too easy, why don’t we raise the stakes? Whoever knots her first wins.”
This was stupid.
Criminally fucking dumb.
Fucking my new step-sister was going to make my already tense home life even more unbearable. And dealing with Nick’s bruised ego? That was a whole lot of mess that I didn’t want to deal with.
I should’ve told him to go fuck himself, but the hungry look in Nick’s eye—whether it was from the rut or his desire to prove himself to me—was too tempting to ignore.
Finally, I forced the question that really mattered past my stiff lips, “What do I get if I win?”
“What do you want?” Nick asked, entirely unfazed.
We were no strangers to betting, but somehow this felt different.
More serious than a schoolyard dare or footrace.
I took a couple seconds to think about it, really think—what did I want from Nick? Right now, nothing that I could ask for without destroying the tenuous peace we’d made. And it wasn’t like he had any money, or that I needed more.
The idea came to me as childish and ridiculous as this entire situation was.
“If I win, you owe me a wish.”
“A wish? I’m not a fucking genie, dude.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I didn’t ask for three, idiot.”
Nick laughed hoarsely, low and deep and sinking into me like a stroke against my skin. “Fine, a wish then. Just the one.”
“What do you want?” I asked, embarrassed by the eagerness in my voice.
The other alpha's charming, if not overly smug, smile grew sinister. “Your car.”
I blinked in surprise; of all the things he could’ve said, this was a surprise.
“Which one?”
He mumbled something I didn’t quite catch. “What?”
“Whichever one I like the best, after I’ve won.”
I was pretty sure that wasn’t what he’d said, but every time I opened my mouth to speak, I was flooded with more of Nick’s pheromones, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could handle him being this close to me. “Fine, but you’re going to feel real stupid when it takes me less than a day.”
“You’re an awfully overconfident dickhead for someone who can’t even muster up a single compliment about her.”
“Like that matters,” I shot back.
“You’re so fucking delusional, man.”
“Am not.”
“Are too,” Nick half purred, jerking my hand back toward him so that my lips grazed his jaw.
“W-What are we, in h-high school?” I huffed, the flood of Nick’s body heat dismantling the last of my faked calm.
“Jesus,” he groaned, low and soaked in a growl against my ear.
I pulled back just enough for my eyes to track the way his tongue darted out, licking over his lips. “W-What?”
“Your scent,” he whispered. “It’s fuckin’ everywhere. You’re perfuming like a goddamn omega.”
He was right; my earthy citrus mixed with his tender florals, like the perfect cup of tea.
“I can’t take it anymore.”
I didn’t know what he meant, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. Nick used his leverage on my hand to pull himself impossibly closer, our chests sealing together so that my shirt was dampened by his sweat and the rain, sticking between us.
“W-What are you doing?” I asked, my voice rising in alarm.
I was sure he could feel the way my hardened cock pressed against his thigh, my stiffened length twitching so much it was like it had its own heartbeat. If I didn’t get out of the car, my secret would be out.
I wanted Nick. Or at least, I thought I did.
Right now, it felt a whole lot more like need.
“Just be a good friend and bear with it, yeah?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer before he closed the gap, our lips colliding roughly in an all-consuming, passionate kiss.