I chose the middle of the second row, deciding it had the best view. I sank into the soft depth and stared around the room with its dark, padded walls. The screen was massive, spanning high into the ceiling, and almost wrapping around to the side walls.
Within five minutes, the scent of popcorn, butter, and salt permeated the air, and I was relaxing again as I snuggled into the soft cushions. Kellan handed me a small remote. “You choose the film while I bring the snacks.”
We’d only just eaten dinner, and I was pleasantly full, but as the popcorn smell grew stronger, I had no doubt there was always room for snacks.
Sliding my thumb across the touch button on the remote, I found row after row of movies, recognizing maybe ten percent of them. I finally settled on a superhero flick that looked interesting, right as Kellan returned with two bags of popcorn, chocolate bars, Twizzlers, and two bottles of water.
“I wasn’t sure what sweets you liked,” he said, handing half across to me. “But there’s a ton of other options over in the kiosk.”
“This is perfect.” I clutched my goodies and tried to ignore the giddy shot of exhilaration blasting my stomach. I knew it was lame, but I was truly excited to watch this movie with him. It almost felt like a normal date with my alpha.
When the movie started, Kellan settled in close enough for me to feel his heat and energy down my right side. For once, I didn’t fight the moment as I rested my weight against him. There was a heady, fizzing feeling inside my chest, and to distract myself I shoveled handfuls of popcorn into my mouth.
“Oh wow,” I groaned as flavor burst across my tongue. “Why does this taste so damn good?” I’d bought popcorn from fairs before, but it had never tasted like this.
Kellan nodded in enthusiastic agreement. “Oh yeah, freshly popped is the only way to eat it. Along with a ton of butter.”
He’d get no argument from me.
When the opening credits of the movie finished, sound wrapped around us as if there were speakers in every panel of the wall and ceiling. It felt so immersive; I could barely keep from bouncing in my seat.
“This is incredible,” I squeaked, sounding like a freaking kid at Christmas. “I’m so excited.”
It was lame, I was well aware of that, but… whatever. Kellan wouldn’t judge me, and luckily the meaner alphas were nowhere to be found.
Kellan threw his arm over the top of my shoulders and pulled me to his side, sending my heart into splatters against my ribcage. My mind went blank as he pressed me into his muscles, dropping a brief kiss on the top of my head. “You’re adorable, pretty girl. Fucking adorable.”
Adorablewouldn’t normally feel like a compliment, but there was no way to miss the catch of desire in his voice. Adorable or not, he wasn’t currently thinking of me in a cute, platonic way.
Being plastered against his side left me floundering and unable to focus on the plot of the movie, even with intense action kicking off in the opening scene. My popcorn remained forgotten at my side, and Kellan’s scent surrounded me until I was drowning in his sweetness.
“Relax, Shortcake,” he murmured, the nickname apparently stuck now. His breath brushed over my ear. “Or do you need a little help with that?”
Oh,fuck my life. HALP! Abort mission. I was going down with this ship and there was no lifeboat in sight.
Kellan’s scent grew stronger, and I tilted my head back to find his deep blue eyes staring into the deepest parts of me. His head moved closer, and I was frozen, unable to form any coherent thoughts. When our lips were a hairsbreadth apart, there was a bang as the cinema doors slammed open. Kellan growled and I leapt about a foot in the air right as an alpha stormed into the room.
Chapter
Nineteen
The shifter swayed in the doorway, hitting me with an overpowering scent of whiskey and florals, which itched my nose.
“What are you doing, Finley?” Kellan launched to his feet and put himself between me and the drunk-off-his-ass alpha.
I tilted to the side to see what Finley did next, because there was no way to leave while he blocked the exit. Kellan didn’t move from his protective stance, but he did make a small shuffle to the side, allowing me to stare right at the final alpha in my scent match.
I gritted my teeth.
The bear might be wasted, but he was also rugged and handsome. He gave mewoodsman in the forestvibes, and at this point I couldn’t act surprised by his good looks. I just had to shake my head once more at fate’s fucked up sense of humor.
Finley ran a hand over his thick, shiny chestnut hair, which was longer than the other guys’, hanging to his jawline. His skin was light brown, and he rocked a short, dark beard that enhanced his bear slash mountain man persona.
Even from a distance the whiskey gold of his eyes, ringed with thick sooty lashes, were tantalizing. He was massive, atleast as big as Hunter, with shoulders so broad that I found myself staring at their breadth.
He finally noticed my observations and the scowl on his face deepened. “The entire fucking house smells like you.” The deep, raspy timbre of his voice sent shivers down my spine. “Chocolate and honey. Sweet, deadly temptation.”
Kellan shook his head and took a step closer. “Brother, you’re drunk. You need to sleep this shit off before you say something you can’t take back.”
