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,Lachlanknows. 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.
