“Did I say something to upset him?”
“No, don’t take it personally. He’s a hard guy to get to know.”
“But you all are best friends?”
“We are. We all just clicked. I’m not sure how to describe it. We work well on and off the ice. We live together, work together. I guess we kind of do everything together.”
“Are you guys romantically involved?” It spews out of my mouth before I even think about it, and I feel my cheeks heat.
Eli laughs and puts his plate of food on the counter. “No, nothing like that. It’s more like we’re family.”
I nod and hum, trying to figure out exactly how I feel about that. “No girlfriends back on campus?” Clearly feeling bold as fuck tonight, aren’t I?
He grins. “No. No girlfriends.”
Anders walks back into the kitchen, limber and quick on his feet. I know a decent amount about hockey, haven’t been to a game in person, but my dad used to watch it all the time when I was a kid.
He doesn’t mention Mikael at all as he makes his own plate and puts it on the counter, standing just like Eli is. What gives? It’s warm in the cabin. I want them close, so I can get a really deep whiff of what they’ve got going on.
“Something to drink?” Anders asks.
“Sure.”
“We’ve got water, lemonade, beer, and tons of alcohol.”
“Are you guys twenty-one?”
Anders grins and shakes his head. “We’re all twenty.”
“Same. I’ll have a vodka lemonade,” I say confidently. I haven’t really spent much time drinking, but one drink might help me relax a little more around these guys. Maybe help me feel emboldened to take what I want.What is it that I want exactly?
“Coming right up. Eli?”
“Beer is good.”
Anders makes my drink first and places it in front of me. He waits, staring at me with his intense, pretty, gray eyes. I take a sip and hold back a wince.
“Need it sweeter?” I don’t want to be a bother, so I shrug. Before I can stay anything else, Anders slides the glass out of my hand and adds two drops of this pink liquid and slides it back. “Try it now.”
I sip and hum, barely tasting the vodka. “Perfect.” I give him a smile, and I swear his chest puffs up before he turns to the fridge and grabs two beers. His veins pop and his forearms flex when he pops the tops of the bottles. That… that is what they mean when someone says the female gaze. Because that did more for me than any Alpha who knotted me at Mercy.What the fuck?
The cool cocktail helps calm my nerves and I drink it a little quicker than I should. I hum and look around the extravagant house. “So what do you want to do?”
“Ever playCatan?” Eli asks, and I shake my head. “Well, you’re in for quite the treat, little Omega.”
I think I perish on the spot when he calls me little Omega. I’ve never liked the phrase before, but from him? I don’t care ifCatanis the worst game on the planet, having him call me little Omega is worth it.
“I should have picked more wheat! I don’t think either of you explained this game properly,” I say with a pout as I roll. My resources are absolutely fucked. I’ve got a shit ton of ore, and neither of these Alphas will trade with me.
“Seems as though someone is a sore loser,” Eli jokes, and I give him a scowl, taking a sip of my second vodka lemonade, handcrafted by Anders himself.
I blink my eyes at Anders and give him the biggest puppy dog eyes I can imagine. “Please, Anders, won’t you trade me for some wheat?”
Eli laughs. “Anders is the most cutthroat of all of us. He won’t trade for anything.”
“Anything?” I ask, fluttering my eyelashes at Anders. I watch his throat bob, his Adam’s apple moving deliciously up and down his throat.
Anders clears his throat. “I could be convinced.”
