Chapter 12 Subtle #3
“And you’re all here helping her pick out a dress?” She continued to smile, trying not to ask outright if I was the pack’s omega. “Is there anything I should know?”
“All four of us need new suits as well,” Demetrius said as his hands softly rubbed along my shoulders. “With regards to Ivy, nothing formal has been announced, so we’d appreciate some discretion with her being here today. I’ll be sure you get great tickets to anything that might be announced soon.”
“Oh wow! This is huge!” She beamed at me before working to regain her composure. Gesturing to all the racks around the storefront, she added, “I am your girl for discretion! Let’s find you all some clothes!”
Lily took a few quick measurements from each of us before we separated around the store, looking through the racks one by one. The store was soon filled with the sound of chiffon and satin rustling about as my hands glided over all the beautiful fabrics.
There were so many dresses to look through, and after a few minutes of searching, I started to gravitate towards my packmates, listening to their discussion on suits.
Lily was trying to convince them to pick out a unified look; something that united them as a group without looking like they bought their suits in bulk.
After much back and forth, they finally settled on a style that suited all four well.
Lily handed Isaac and Preston options to try on, and they made their way to the back fitting rooms.
Meanwhile, I resumed looking through the dresses while Lukas brought more and more absurd suggestions to me, making me laugh.
I wanted to find something elegant, but I was having a hard time deciding amongst any of these gorgeous gowns.
I'd never worn anything even close to how elegant these dresses looked.
I continued to indecisively wander the store when Isaac reentered the room in his suit.
My eyes, my feet, everything in me wanted to gravitate towards him as he stood in front of the mirrors, inspecting his suit.
My hands especially had a strong desire to rub all over his chest. Of course, I held back, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off him.
He looked amazing in that suit, highlighting the longer side of his black hair and bringing out gold flecks in his brown eyes.
Why did he always feel like temptation walking to me?
After a brief moment, he looked up and caught my eyes watching him in the mirror. He slowly turned his head towards me and lifted his hand, gesturing for me to come over to him.
My feet moved before I even realized it, and soon I was standing right next to him.
Pivoting towards me, his brown eyes stared down at me. “Does this look like a good fit?” His hands glided down the smooth fabric of the suit, gently highlighting his taut muscles underneath.
My fingers twitched by my side, wanting to touch his chest. I licked my lips, biting my lower one as I nodded in reply.
As if sensing my desire, he reached for my hand and brought it up to trace down his chest. “Do you like the way the fabric feels?”
I nodded again, my breath quickening as he continued to guide my hand along his jacket.
He stepped a little closer to me and leaned forward, softly speaking in my ear. “I really enjoyed our kiss earlier today.”
As soon as he mentioned our kiss, my mind flashed back to it—me perched on the barre, our arms reaching for each other as our mouths couldn’t get enough.
“You two kissed?” Preston said, suddenly appearing right next to me. I jumped at his voice, dropping my hand from Isaac’s jacket and taking a step back.
“I…um,” I stumbled upon my words as my face burned red. This felt weird talking about kissing them with each other. Guilt shot up through my stomach, racing across my mind. Would I have to deal with jealousy over everything I did?
Preston smiled at me while Isaac chuckled.
“It’s okay if you kiss us both, you know,” Isaac said while Preston faced the mirror to view his suit.
I glanced between both men, letting Isaac’s words settle my nerves a bit.
He continued as he gently ran his fingers down my arm.
“We want you to like all of us, Ivy. It helps if we’re all viewed equally in your eyes.
Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed moving forward with any of us. ”
He reached around my waist and pulled me tighter into his arms, facing me towards Preston. “Does he look good in that suit as well?”
“He looks very good,” I softly whispered. My whole body burned with both desire and embarrassment. It was one thing to be told I had permission to like them all; it was a whole other thing to actually put it on display.
“I always thought Preston looked like a handsome, stereotypical prince,” Isaac said. “Do you agree?”
My eyes raced up and down Preston’s form, taking in his perfect dancer posture along with his short, styled blond hair and stunning facial features.
“Yes,” I replied, a bit more breathy than I meant to be, which earned a sweet smile from Preston. He lowered his gaze, his cheeks blushing a bit before he glanced over to me with those gorgeous, green eyes of his.
Isaac smoothed the fabric down his own jacket, his eyes finding mine through the mirror. “If he’s your prince, what does that make me?”
“Definitely my devil,” I softly spoke, my eyes darting back and forth between these two men.
Preston’s eyes found mine through the mirror and gave me a subtle wink.
Once again, I was speechless.
***
Preston
Ivy said I looked very good. She also said I was her prince.
I would happily be her prince anytime she needed me.
Butterflies raced through my stomach as her eyes kept darting between Isaac and me.
There was a little jealousy there, knowing she'd kissed Isaac, too. At one point, I’d been her only kissed packmate, but obviously that never would have lasted.
Yesterday, Isaac and I suspected she’d kissed Lukas as well. He would not stop talking about her photoshoot, and her pictures looked amazing. He wouldn’t say if he kissed her, but Ivy admitted it earlier today.
“So you’ve kissed me, Isaac, and Lukas,” I teased her slightly, keeping my voice quiet so only Isaac and Ivy could hear me. “Demetrius too?”
She shook her head quickly, licking her lips.
“But you want to?” Isaac leaned in closer, brushing a hair off her shoulder.
“I…this is weird to talk about,” she said as her arms reached up to smooth down my jacket. Her touch had a comforting strength to it, and before I could stop myself, my chest purred in satisfaction.
Her eyes darted back to me, smiling as she stopped and stepped back.
“When we purr, it means we like what you’re doing,” Isaac said, his eyes watching Ivy.
“I know, we’re just not alone here,” she said. I glanced up at Lily in the mirror, who was trying her best to pretend not to be watching us.
“I think she figured it out when the five of us showed up together,” Isaac teased. “But we could start kissing if we want to send a clearer message.”
“Looking good, gents,” Lukas loudly stated behind us, forcing all three of us to jump in surprise.
“Jesus, Lukas. Could you be any louder?” Isaac grumbled.
“Sorry, this just looked a little too intimate over here,” he said. “Thought I’d check out what you all were whispering about.”
“We were talking about who Ivy’s making out with,” Isaac softly spoke, pulling Lukas closer. “She told us you kissed her and fondled her breasts.”
“Woah, we only kissed!” Lukas held up his hands.
“I said we kissed, that’s all!” Ivy gasped, shaking her head at Lukas.
I rolled my eyes as Isaac snickered. “I was just checking—seeing if your stories lined up.” He paused briefly before adding. “Tongue?”
Lukas glanced towards Ivy, refusing to answer.
“Who kisses the best so far, Ivy?” Isaac asked, running his thumb down her jawline. “We need to know so we can improve our technique for you.”
My heart pounded in my chest. What if she said I was the worst?
Ivy cleared her throat. “All kisses have far exceeded my expectations. There is no better or worse, as they each have felt unique and wonderful in their own way. All have made me weak in the knees, wanting to strip off my clothes and beg for more.”
My heart stuttered at that image—Ivy taking her clothes off and begging me to take her to my bed. All three of us grew quiet, darting our eyes between each other.
“If you need to practice, though,” she added. “I suggest practicing with each other.” With a smile, she walked off to join Demetrius.
My attention turned back to Isaac and Lukas. “I’m not kissing either of you.”
“I'd kiss you…for science,” Isaac said as Lukas chuckled.
***
Ivy
After roughly fifteen minutes of shuffling through more racks, I had to admit that my pack had better taste than me.
I kept gravitating towards the clearance section, knowing these dresses were less expensive.
After the third clearance dress I held up, Demetrius paused my hand while he shook his head.
“You’re not paying for this, Ivy. I invited you to this event, the pack will buy you a dress,” he said, setting my clearance dress back down.
“I feel weird about that. It’s your money, and I’m like a mooch for taking such an extravagant gift,” I said, looking around at the racks. One dress alone in this store equaled more than my entire wardrobe put together.
“Gentleman,” Demetrius called over Lukas, Isaac, and Preston. “Ivy is having an issue picking out a dress she likes because she doesn’t want to spend our money. How do we solve this?”
“Ivy goes to the event naked,” Isaac smirked, earning a swat to the stomach from me.
“We each pick out a dress for her,” Lukas said. “She doesn’t have to see the prices at all.”
Everyone agreed to Lukas’s suggestion and quickly began rummaging through the racks, selecting a dress they each liked. Once all the dresses had been gathered, I found my way to the dressing room.