He rolls his eyes but taps his chin. “I did hear a rumor that I have a present for you,” he says, and my smile widens as he takes the handful of peach taffy out of his pocket. I hold out my hands as he pours the candy into them.
“Thank you. I love these,” I groan, glad that my dress has pockets as I stash the sticky goodness away to eat for later.
“Kurt’s been stressed lately?” Leon asks, grabbing some food off the table and shoving it in his mouth.
“I guess a little about the club growing, Who all’s coming, anyway?” I ask, wondering if he will give me more insight than Kurt did.
“About fifteen of em’ comin’. Ever since the Jacksonville chapter went down, there’s a lot of men needin’ a new club. We need to impress them,” he answers quietly so that only I can hear. “Where the fuck is the keg?” he questions, looking around.The two prospects sitting at the picnic table opposite of us stand up quickly.
Two prospects I don’t know the names of look at my brother wide-eyed. “On it, Ambien,” they say, and I do my best not to laugh. I’m proud to report that I succeed.
“You waiting for me to stick a finger in your ass or something? Hurry the fuck up,” my brother barks at them, and I smile to myself. I love seeing how much the club respects him. My brother kisses the side of my head and abandons me to help the two idiots with the keg.
Bored, I place a few pieces of watermelon, cheese, and a handful of pretzels on my plate. The sun is scorching, and thank fuck, they put out multiple tents this year. I’m sweating and praying for a light breeze when I pop a piece of watermelon into my mouth. The juices drip down my forearm, and I quickly lick them up.
“Hey, Lily,” a familiar voice says. I look up and sure enough, it’s my favorite Beta and long-time crush, Axel.
My perfume automatically pours out of me, and a smirk takes over his face. I’m starting to wonder if he’s torturing me on purpose without any true intentions of moving past flirting. If he made an actual move, I’d pounce on him in a heartbeat. It’s hard to tell with him, if he flirts because it’s fun or if he wants more. I desperately want more.
“Hey, Axel.”
He grabs the rest of the watermelon in my hand and pops it into his mouth. I swear I nearly watch it melt on his tongue before he swallows. He gives me a grin as he leans down on the table with his knuckles pressing against the wood. He has the prettiest blue eyes, and they glisten with mischief as he winks at me.
God, I want him. I’ve been pining over him for an embarrassingly long time, watching as he comes and goes fromthe compound. He gives me little tiny crumbs of attention, and I devour them whole. If he were to make a stand against the club and decide to be with me, I’d do whatever he wanted.
Maybe it’s pathetic, but if you had a second of Axel’s attention, you’d understand. He makes me feel like the most desirable woman on the planet, and that says a lot seeing as we haven’t kissed, barely touched, and I have thousands of people who watch me online for money.
“Fucking delicious,” he whispers.
There’s a loose piece of dirty blond hair blowing in his face and every inch of me is itching to tuck it behind his ear. Damn, I want to be able to openly touch him so bad.
“Do you want another piece?” I ask softly.
“Yeah, I think I do,” he says.
I watch as he looks around the picnic, just waiting for one of his brothers to come over here and ruin the moment—they always do, and it’s usually my brother. Axel is a Beta, and I suppose to most of the club that means he’s less of a threat to me, but his reputation in the club probably makes him the most dangerous person for me to be around.
Axel didn’t seem to give a fuck when my stepdad declared I was off limits and instead should be seen as an expensive jewel the club needs to protect. While Axel has definitely done his fair share of Omega-sitting duty, he’s the only one in the club who flirts with me. His defiance against my stepfather only makes me want him more.
It doesn’t hurt that he’s one of the younger guys in the club too. He’s beautiful, wild, and devastatingly fun. I know there will never be a dull moment with him around, and I desperately need some adventure in my life.
I smile as I pick a piece off my plate, taking a bite before holding the rest of the fruit to his lips. He purposely licks myfingers as he sucks and draws the watermelon into his mouth. He’s intentionally slow as he leans away from my hand.
The things I would let him do to me with that mouth. He knows the power he holds over me as he licks his lips while pulling back.
I’m about to open my mouth and say something flirty when my brother interrupts the moment, grabbing Axel by the cut and pulling him away. Axel just smiles in my brother’s face, listening to him rant about how I’m off limits or some shit.
Axel and my brother are close in age and are tight, so I know when we flirt it pisses Leon off. I don’t really care, though. Leon can date whomever he wants, so can anyone else in this club. It’s unfair that the one person I want for my own is someone I can’t have.
It’s involuntary when my eyes roll to the back of my head. It’s so stupid that they want me out of the life. I love being here; Ibelonghere. Wouldn’t it be better for me to bond with people my stepdad already trusts instead of ending up with an outsider who might have less than great intentions?
My attention shifts from my brother and Axel as I note a presence to my left. Before I turn, I already know who it is by her scent alone. She might be a Beta, but Shelby always wears the same perfume meant to emulate an Omega’s scent. I don’t blame her. Designations aside, women have got to do whatever they can to get ahead in life. I’m actually pretty fond of the flirty Beta.
“Hey, Shelby.”
“Did you hear about the nomads?” she asks but doesn’t pause long enough for me to answer. “It’s about time we got some new dick around here. Some girls are getting bored,” she says.
Shelby and a lot of the guys in the club refer to her as a sweet butt. She enjoys hanging around the club and keeping the club members happy. She also gets protection, affection, and the lifestyle she wants. Plus, as far as clubs go, she could have donemuch worse; Dead Palms isn’t a bad choice. They treat their women right and do their best to take care of those they love.
