Chapter 5 #3
Seb leans comfortably on my shoulder. I can see his reassuring grin from the corner of my eye.
She glances between us and nods. "I think… yeah. I think that might be nice."
"Is there someone you can call and let them know who you're with and where you are going?" Clarke asks.
Her face relaxes into a gentle smile. "Yeah. Definitely. Loz will kill me if I don't let her know where I am."
"Loz?" I ask.
"Mmm. My bestie, and fair warning, she will hunt you down if anything happens to me."
Seb bursts out laughing.
I smile. "Good. You should have people who look after you. Call her, little starlet. Zeke's gone to get our driver. Your friend can vet us while we wait."
She pulls her phone from her purse, hits the contact marked 'Loz', hitting the speaker button so we can all hear. "Hey, Loz!" Her voice is breathy with excitement.
"Yeah, babe? You getting dicked down by some hot alphas? Or betas, no judgement." The thick Aussie accent blares down the phone. I think it's the one Seb called 'bogan'. Or maybe 'ocker'. He swears there is a difference, but I can't pick it.
Dellie closes her eyes, her lips pinching back a mortified smile. Seb bursts out laughing.
"Sorry, Loz. You're on speaker. Uh. I probably shoulda led with that." Her voice has gone squeaky.
There's a loud snort from the other end of the phone. "Yeah, that woulda been a good idea. Who's with ya?"
Dellie clears her throat. "Uh. Some—some guys I met tonight… uh…"
"Huh. Lemme talk to the fuckers."
Seb raises an eyebrow, struggling to keep a straight face, and holds out his hand, palm up. Dellie places her phone in it.
"Hey, Loz!" he chokes out. "I'm Seb, and Dellie was kind enough to hang out with my pack and me for a bit tonight. You from our neck of the woods?"
I hear a huffed sigh from down the phone. "Not fucking likely. You sound like a Sydney North Shore fucker if ever I heard one."
Dellie is bent over in gales of silent laughter, tears coursing from her eyes. Seb snorts, but a muscle in his jaw gives a tiny flicker.
"Okay, that's fair. But Bondi, I swear. Via New York. Anyway, I just wanted to ring and let you know Dellie is with us. We'll look after her and make sure she isn't pressured into anything—and we'll make sure she gets home safe."
"Oh yeah?" The nasal twang on the phone turns skeptical. "And who's 'us'? And then I wanna speak to Dellie properly, make sure you aren't some psycho fuckers who actually have her locked in a basement somewhere."
I try, and fail, to hold back my laughter. "I'm glad she has a friend like you to have her back, Loz. I'm Allen Xerxes. And the rest of our pack is James and Zeke and, uh, Ralph. We're staying down in Brentwood—"
"Oooooh. Fancy." The voice sounds a little snarky.
"Crikey Moses, Loz! Let the man finish," giggles Dellie.
"Huh. Only if he makes sure you finish first," Loz grumbles down the phone. This has Sebastian nodding violently and James hiding his mouth behind his palm as his face glows red.
"Oh, don't worry, Loz, I will," I say, winking at Dellie, who is now the color of a tomato. "But only if she wants to—and if she asks very nicely. And I'll make sure she gets home safe."
"Yeah, you fucking well better. Treat her right, you hear? And for the love of fuck, please make sure she sends me her fucking location. Babes here keeps forgetting to do that," she grumbles, pointedly.
Zeke waves at me, pointing at the black SUV that's pulling up around the corner. He cocks his head at me and raises his eyebrows, silently asking permission. I wave it away, trying not to let my irritation show. He shrugs, and he disappears inside.
I clear my throat. "I will. Loz, our car's here, so I'll need to let you go. Thanks for having Dellie's back."
I turn off the speaker and hand the phone to Dellie, holding the door open for her as she climbs in.
She's in the back row, wedged between Zeke and Clarke; Seb, James and I are in the middle row.
Zeke is fussing over Dellie's seatbelt, which initially refused to latch properly.
James is turned around, glaring back at Zeke, his mouth half open, as though he's about to remind him not to twist too far.
I mutter a perfunctory greeting to Charlie, who's calmly sitting in the driver's seat like the best scent in the world isn't curling out invitingly from the back row; but, ever the professional, he simply returns it with a polite nod as he pulls away from the curb.
She's murmuring into the phone. I try not to eavesdrop, but can't help the smirk tugging at my lips when I hear the whispered snap down the line that sounds an awful lot like "they are really freaking hot, okay?!"
Seb leans over to me, and points at the time on his phone. It's not even eleven. We will be home well before midnight. "I told you, we would leave with Cinderella," he says, glancing back at Dellie, "and you'd better be hungry."
My left eyebrow shoots up. "And if I can't find any words to eat?" I murmur.
He shrugs, grinning wickedly. "You're the clever one. I'm sure you'll think of something."