Chapter Twenty-Six
Felix
June
“You want table seven tonight?” Ally asked, pointing to the group of gorgeous alpha men laughing loudly. I followed her gaze as I worked to make drinks with her behind the bar.
“Can I flirt with the hot one?” I asked.
She shook her head at me. “Our opinions on who you’re referring to are vastly different.”
“Won’t Wyatt be sad that you’re not waiting on them?”
“He’ll be fine. Besides, it was Bennett’s turn to pick where they had guys’ night, and he chose here, so he might as well benefit from it.”
“Aw, you’re not a terrible sister like he says at all,” I said, patting her shoulder.
“What?” She drew back. “Does he say that?”
“Of course not, but he clearly likes Oak the most.” I grabbed another round of beers for the guys.
Ally sighed. “Yeah well, she is a better sister. She got the nurturing gene.”
“Pretty sure you have that in you, Ally,” I said with a wink as I left her to bring the guys their drinks.
“Felix!” Reid yelled. “Looking fine as always. Love the boot.”
I shook my head. “Thank you, Reid. I’m just happy to be back on my feet and at work again.”
“Bennett’s been telling us about his plans for the new garage. I can’t wait to start working on some logo designs for him.”
I handed each of them a beer. “That’s great.”
“Come here, baby,” Bennett said, a lazy smile on his face. He pulled me onto his leg and I swatted him playfully.
“I’m working.”
“Mhm.” He scented my neck on each side. “There’s a guy at the bar who keeps watching your ass, I’m hoping my scent will repulse him.”
“Possess—”
“Are you going to call me that forever?” He kissed the back of my neck.
“At this rate, yes.”
“Hey,” Wyatt said from his spot next to Reid. “Has anything suspicious happened to you that you think might have been Ryder?”
“Uh, no,” I said. “Hello to you too, Wyatt.”
Reid squeezed Wyatt’s shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He’s singularly focused on this case now that he’s convinced there’s some big drug ring conspiracy in town.”
Wyatt sighed. “He’s right. I’m sorry. Something just isn’t adding up and I’m not sure how all of this was happening under the radar and for how long, you know?”
“I get it. I’ll tell you if anything happens. But things have been remarkably quiet and if I know Ryder, he probably ran from whatever he was facing,” I said.
“Okay, yeah, that’s what Donovan thinks too. Even he thinks I’m too obsessed with this case,” Wyatt said. “Usually he’s the one overthinking everything.”
Reid’s eyes widened. “Never fails to amaze me when baby bro and I agree on something.”
“You agree on Oakley,” I said with a laugh.
Reid’s eyebrows snapped together. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You know.” I looked around the table. Wyatt stared at his beer bottle with remarkable interest and Bennett gently shook his head, telling me to shut up through the bond. “You two both obviously have a thing for Oakley. Doesn’t everyone know that?”
Bennett cleared his throat. “We don’t talk about Reid’s interest in Oakley, handsome. Ever.”
“Uh, why not?” I asked. “I thought her and Donovan weren’t serious.”
“They’re not,” Reid growled. “And our interest in her is not the same.”
“Right,” I said, the tension settling heavily in the air around us.
“Felix, back to work,” Ally barked from behind the bar.
“Yep, gotta run. See you all later. Really sorry about mentioning the thing I didn’t know we didn’t mention!” I kissed Bennett on the cheek and took off, scurrying behind the bar.
“What happened to you?” she asked. “You looked panicked and clearly needed saving.”
“Did you know that Reid has a thing for Oakley?”
Ally laughed. “Did you not?”
“No, that’s the point! I thought everyone knew.”
“Oh yeah, we don’t talk about that,” she said, pouring vodka in a glass.
“Why not?” I asked.
She gave me a stern look. “You’re just going to have to trust me on this one.”
“Do we talk about Donovan and Oakley?” I asked, baffled.
“Not in front of Reid if you want to live a long and peaceful life,” Ally scoffed.
“I am so confused,” I said.
Ally sighed. “I’ll bottom line it for you: Reid pretends Donovan and Oakley aren’t a thing, Oakley pretends she doesn’t actually care about Reid, Donovan pretends he doesn’t care about Oakley and Reid hooking up, and the rest of us pretend we don’t know anything at all.”
“Sounds healthy,” I said. “I’ll just keep my mouth shut about all of them since I clearly don’t actually know anything.”
“That’s for the best,” Ally said, walking away with two vodka sodas.
By the time my shift was winding down, the guys were still going strong and had broken out into a loud game of poker.
They were all several beers in, and it was great seeing Bennett relax for the first time since my accident—even if the buzz he was sporting was making me a little unsteady due to the new bond.
Note to self: When we drink together, we’re going to feel the effects twice as hard.
I dropped off a basket of onion rings and loaded fries. Wyatt and Reid cheered. “Yes! How did you know we wanted these?” Reid asked.
“Um, twenty minutes ago, you yelled we need more onion rings, sweetheart at Ally and she reminded me that you were all my problem tonight.”
“Oh yeah,” Reid said, already shoving fries in his mouth.
Bennett snaked a hand around my waist. “Any chance I can get a water, handsome?”
“I’ll be right back,” I said. “Are you all closing down the place?”
“What time is it?” Wyatt asked.
“Almost ten already.”
“Then yes, because these two are staying for you and Ally anyway, am I right?” Reid asked.
Bennett and Wyatt both nodded as they stuffed their mouths with onion rings.
“We’ll let you know when we’re ready to go,” I said.
I dropped off a water for Bennett and focused on closing out the rest of my tables while Ally worked on the closing checklist.
When we were both done, we leaned against the bar, watching them. “How long until they notice we’re ready?” I asked.
“I can send Wyatt horny vibes through our bond. That should do the trick,” she said.
“Works for me.” I shrugged.
Ten seconds later, Wyatt’s head snapped up and a smile spread across his face as he stared at Ally.
He really does love her.
“See. Magic,” Ally said, pushing herself off the counter. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you,” I said as the guys all stood up, picking up what was left of the mess on their table. “Wow, they’re well trained.”
Ally laughed as she approached Wyatt. “Of course they are. Welcome to the Winchester family where I run the show, Felix.”
Yeah, she definitely runs the show with these alphas. It’s not even a contest.
“Ready to go home?” Bennett asked me, scent marking my neck.
“Always.” I stepped behind him and wrapped my arms around his neck, hoisting myself onto his back.
He laughed and held me up under my legs. “Let’s get you home so I can fuck this sweet ass,” he growled as he gripped me harder.
“I wouldn’t say no to being bent over the back of your truck in the parking lot,” I whispered in his ear, laughing as we all walked through the door.
Ally turned around to lock up behind us and all four alphas froze.
I looked around for the source of their tension, spotting Ryder leaning against Bennett’s truck with his head tipped back and a gun in his hand.