Chapter 15 #3
Until now, we hadn’t talked about our families—especially from my end, since I didn’t want him to know I was the Alpha’s daughter.
I could lie to him now and keep up the ruse, but as a wereball fan himself, there was no way he wouldn’t somewhat recognize my brother’s voice.
But maybe he wouldn’t be scared off like I originally assumed?
“Um, Lachlan. Lachlan MacKenzie.”
“The Highlander?” He muttered it like he’d just discovered I was related to Voldemort. “That’s your brother?”
“Is there a problem with that?”
He didn’t answer, but in the background, I heard low, masculine voices—muffled, fast-paced. He was probably at his apartment.
“Ivy, listen, I—”
A loud bang made me whip my head around. Zeus had just knocked over our aloe vera. The shuffle of shoes followed, echoing through the corridor. Lachlan’s roommates were filing in.
“Have to go, Rudy! It’s neighbors and roommates’ breakfast day!”
I felt as light as a feather, and my heart was flying on top of it.
Until I remembered I had a date that night.
But my vagina deserved some attention.
And so did I.
Sillas picked me up at home like the gentleman I knew he was, punctual and respectful, waiting for me outside the door. The boy ignored Makena’s whistles from the window and Tiziano with his bullhorn, which he used to shout various pieces of (unwanted) advice.
As if we didn’t have werewolf ears and couldn’t already hear it perfectly without that terrible device, which would come to a horrid end when I returned home.
First, we went to that book café Sillas had bragged about, only to leave twenty seconds later. Sillas’s ex worked there, and neither of us wanted to get poisoned. We then ended up at Jekyll it would be wasteful to let that go and teach a new non-mate. I looked over at the Dark Diamond hunks and asked out of curiosity, “Who’s your brother?”
“Not here. Always showing up late.”
The skin at the back of my neck prickled.
She looked over my shoulder, eyeing Sillas, and whistled softly. “Not bad at all…but wait! Isn’t he a Comets’ defender?” Her eyes widened at me. Her lashes were long, painted with blue mascara on them.
Then her nostrils flared.
“And you’re from Dark Diamond,” I finished the sentence for her. “Please don’t tell me you’re one of those werewolves who judge by the pack.”
It would completely ruin my opinion of her.
“Only if you play on Comet’s female team.” She patted my shoulder. Her own shoulders were sculpted. “But you don’t, or I would’ve remembered you. Or one of the injuries I gave you.”
“No, I don’t like it very much. My parents made me watch the game before I could do my homework!”
“And I never did mine so I could play.”
We grinned. She was wearing lipstick, a dark shade of gray that nearly matched her eyes.
“Do you happen to know the Highlander?” I watched her tuck a blond strand behind her ear.
My lips thinned. “You could say that. Why?”
She shrugged, averting her eyes.
Uh-oh.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” Before she could answer, someone else yelled it from above us.
“Hey, Bella! Come up! We’re about to start.”
Two girls, their six packs on display between their leather pants and crop tops, were standing around a billiard table, sticks in hand.
“That’s my call…and my name.” Bella beamed at me. “What’s yours?”
“Yvaine.” I held out my hand. Hers folded around mine, her shake as confident as she looked. Her skin smelled of argan oil. I had the same!
“Cool name! It was a pleasure to meet you, Yvonne from Comet.”
I didn’t correct her pronunciation. It was so loud, and my name wasn’t the easiest, even in quiet places. “Same! By the way, you have the same name as my mom.”
“Really? Never met anyone else with my name.”
I waved at her, laughing when she ordered me to call for her if I got bored with my date.
That was the second (third, if I included Rudolph) Dark Diamond pack member I had personally met outside of wereball, and they weren’t bad at all.
“Hey, what took you so long?” Sillas jumped up when I returned to the table, taking the drinks from my hands and placing them on the table.
“I met this cool girl, and we chatted for a moment.” I smiled at his frown.
From there, Sillas took over, telling me all about his trip to Cambodia to help study rare disease vaccines.
It was nice. Natural. Not cosmically forced.
I wasn’t nervous, or sweaty, or suffering from heart palpitations.
There was actually a study that suggested feeling butterflies or nerves for someone was a red-flag.
“Want to head out?” he proposed, our elbows touching, faces inching closer.
The more the alcohol flowed, the more dangerous it became for Sillas ‘Chainsaw’ Wilder to stay there, without reinforcements from Comet. So, sensing some turbulence rising within Dark Diamond’s gang, we decided to leave—with excellent timing.
At the main entrance, someone important arrived, and the DDs crowd got even bigger.
We took the side exit.
Once outside, in the fresh air, I reactivated my olfactory senses away from the sweat, alcohol, and werewolf armpits.
As if the universe were somehow set against our date proceeding, his wereball mates appeared out of nowhere, as drunk as skunks, with some girls from the female team. Fortunately for me, Lachlan wasn’t there, as he had gone home to spend some quality time with Ian.
“Aw! Look at the cute couple!” They all snickered, fluttering their lashes.
A wasted Gaius slurred, “Hope you guys never meet your mates. That’s some huge crap.”
Then he barked out a laugh, followed by a beer-fueled burp. A girl was attached to his hip, like a living purse.
I bristled as I watched how he rubbed at his chest. It somehow reminded me of my own chest issues.
“Gaius, my man, why don’t you go home?” Sillas patted him on the shoulder.
“Not until I eat this chick up.” Gaius glanced at me with a smirk, ignoring the girl’s gasp as he bit her shoulder, almost marking her.
The battle between Makena and Gaius would never end.
“Does the Highlander know you’re going out with Chainsaw?” he asked.
“Yes, Lachlan knows. But does he know you’re all wasted this close to the next game?” I tilted my head. The six players glanced at each other, their nervous gulps coordinated.
“Now that I think about it…you two make total sense!”
“Yeah! Both doctors and…and…you like coffee and books and stuff!”
After we got rid of them—they practically scurried away like a herd of elephants that had spotted a barn mouse—we strolled around the park.
“Wow, you can be scary sometimes. Happy to be on the right side here,” Sillas snickered from beside me, and we went on chatting. As time passed, I felt more and more comfortable with him and his simplicity.
“Sorry, I know this date has been a bit messy,” he said, scratching his neck with one hand while the other rested next to mine, grazing it, not grabbing it.
“No, it’s been fun.” I glanced up at the stars above us. And I only checked my phone three times.
“Ivy, I know we’re not mates, but I…I really like you.” He exhaled, his breath smelling like mint. I was sure he’d flossed, too. Maybe unlike Lucien. “I admire you a lot as a person, and I feel very proud of you.”
He stopped, grabbing my hands in his and facing me. I looked up at him, taken aback by what I read all over his face.
“If you decide to share more of your precious time with me…if we date date, like a couple…” He cleared his throat. “I’ll show you that it’s worth it. I’ll make you feel good. So good.”
I opened my mouth, but he didn’t let me say a word.
“You don’t have to answer me now. I know you see me as your non-fated mate with benefits.” He paused. “For now.”
“Sillas… I’m not a wereball game that you can win or lose.”
You’ve already lost, unfortunately. You are not my mate.
He slid his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and rocked forward.
“And you have much better things to do than share your big brain with us mere mortals,” he teased, and I joined him.
“My brain’s the typical three pounds, like most!”
“Maybe a tenth of a pound more, just to contain that info I didn’t know.”
“Maybe yours weighs less.”
“Ouch!” But he took a step closer, eyes fixed on my lips, his palms sliding back and forth over mine. He whispered, “So pretty under the stars… and during the day too”
We were under a large pine tree, an umbrella shielding us from the gaze of the sky, while his eyes shone with their own supernatural magic.
“Give me a chance.”
The great wereball player blushed, and it broke my heart.
Then Sillas’s fingers caressed my cheek, and even if there were no sparks or heat, I could feel him scanning my face, his gaze lingering on my lips.
A heartbeat later, he leaned forward, our noses touching, breaths mingling, lips fusing. And, like we had many Sundays before, I kissed him back. He took me back to his apartment, our Sunday night spot, and he showed me just how much effort he was willing to put to make this work, many times over.
And just this night, just this time, we were more than NMWB.