“I look crazy? You look like an alien,” Liv says, laughing so hard. “Oh my God, I’m going to pee myself from laughing so much.”
Once the giggling dies down, Kelsey sends off a text on her phone.
“Oh, Kelsey, let me see the commissions you sell.”
“Do you want to see the ones my brother knows about or the ones he doesn’t?” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Obviously the ones he doesn’t know about,” Liv says.
Kelsey scrolls through her phone and hands it over to Liv and me. “Holy shit, you draw sexy art?” Liv asks. The image is of an angelic-looking man, he has wings and all, sucking one man’s dick while that man is eating out a female angel, who looks like she is having the best time of her life.
Kelsey shrugs her shoulders. “Yeah, I have an Artdox account and have subscribers who commission art for fandoms or personal use.”
“I don’t care how much it is, would you draw my pack?” Liv asks, licking her lips.
“As long as you’re paying, hell yeah.”
“Do you need like dick close ups, or…?” Liv asks.
Kelsey coughs and laughs, spilling some of her margarita on the floor. “No, just reference photos will work.”
“I’m totally having you draw my guys. River would straight up lose his mind if you gave me angel wings and he was going down on me,” Liv says, smiling. Kelsey and I laugh, but Liv just looks at the picture in awe. I have no doubt that Kelsey may have found her number one customer.
“Why doesn’t Smith know?” I ask Kelsey.
“He babies me sometimes, and I don’t want him treating me like a little kid when it comes to this. Among other things,” she says.
“Your secret is safe with me,” I promise her.
“Thanks, Cami. I love my brother so much, and I appreciate him being there for me, but I don’t want him hovering over me like a helicopter parent.”
“The first night I went off suppressants, he held me all night long. He said you’d gone through something and he did the same for you. I think that’s the moment I knew I was going to fall in love with him,” I tell her, blushing.
“He did. It was a really dark time for me and Smith was always there. My brother is the best protector you could ask for. I think you two would be great together, but promise me, if he does let you into his heart, you will protect him back,” Kelsey says and her eyes are nearly filled with tears.
“Kelsey, I would never want to hurt your brother, ever,” I reply.
She wipes away the start of tears and nods. “I know. It’s just, he deserves this so much. We’ve been through a lot. I just want to see Ha—Smith, happy.”
“Wait, what were you about to call him?”
“No fucking way. I’ve said enough already. He hates his name, it’s pretty stupid, honestly. But he will tell you when he trusts you,” Kelsey says, putting her hand in mine, and we smile.
We both look over to Liv, whose eyes are filled with tears. “Okay, are we done with this? Because I can’t deal with all this emotion. I have cupcakes,” she says, smiling.
“You know I can’t turn down sugar,” I say, and we eat cupcakes. Kelsey and Liv continue to drink and I feel exhausted. Just another reminder that my heat will be here before I know it. I might be at Heat Haven with Alphas I’ve never met, or maybe by some miracle Smith will be there with me.
It’s not long that I feel myself fall asleep to the sound of Liv cooing over Kelsey’s art work and describing the fifty different ways she wants her pack drawn. I hope I don’t dream of Grayson having tentacles dragging her down into the Nordic seas to ravish her.
I groan as the alarm goes off to the apartment and I panic. The blaring is jarring, and I stumble to stand up. After I blink my eyes open, Liv touches my arm with wide eyes.
“Shit, Cami, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about the alarm. River is here. I promise to come back in the morning for breakfast. Can you turn the alarm off?”
Smith, wearing only his boxers, which is a sight in itself, is holding a baseball bat and running out by the front door. He grabs River by the collar of his shirt.
“Hey, man. Fuck off,” River says.
Quickly, I grab his forearm. “It’s okay, it’s Liv’s pack,” I reassure him. He drops the bat and grabs my face.
