I couldn’t help noticing Saffron sitting on Aurum’s other side. He regarded me silently. His expression was harder for me to read. It wasn’t disapproving, but it wasn’t exactly friendly either. It baffled me how anybody struggled to tell the twins apart when they were so different.
“Beautiful. Now the gang’s all here, and we can begin!” Gaius announced. He handed out luxurious menus to all five of us. “Feel free to catch up and mingle. Just holler when you’re ready to order.”
He waltzed away, leaving the table in awkward silence. Or maybe I just felt it was awkward since I barely knew the other three people present. There was Saffron, of course, who I’d at least exchanged words with before. But I didn’t recognize the other two omegas. They were both tall, fit young men who’d never talked to me.
Saffron frowned and did a verbal head count. “Wait, wasn’t there another winner? I thought Gaius listed four omegas.”
“I wonder if it was the guy I kicked out this afternoon,” Aurum said casually.
Saffron stared at him. “What? Again?”
“Yeah. Another dickhead. Don’t worry about it.”
“What happened?” one of the other omegas asked.
Aurum’s eyes flashed sharply. “He insulted Mylo. So, he went bye-bye.”
I shrank in my seat as both winners glanced curiously at me. They were probably judging me in their thoughts.
Something tapped my shoe. I thought I’d accidentally bumped into the table leg, since I was fidgeting nervously, but then it touched me again.
Was that... Aurum’s foot?
I went utterly still. My temperature shot up.
He nudged me again. And again.
What was he doing? Trying to distract me from my nagging thoughts? But how did he even know?
A slight smirk nestled in the corner of Aurum’s mouth. He knew I was flustered, and he kept doing it.
Thank gods other people were at the table to pick up a conversation. I worried my flushed cheeks were obvious, butnobody else seemed to notice. They ignored me, chatting about the food and the challenge with Saffron.
It was actually a huge relief. Whatever Aurum was doing, itdiddistract me from comparing my body to other people’s. I cleared my throat and picked up the menu, though I couldn’t fully concentrate on the dishes while Aurum’s foot nudged mine. It sent weirdly pleasant tingles up my leg.
“S-so,” I mumbled to Aurum. “What’re you gonna get?”
“Huh?” He sounded genuinely confused. “Oh, right. Dinner. I dunno. What are you having, Mylo?”
It was never easy talking about food with thin people, but Aurum counteracted my anxiety like a warm blanket on a cold night.
“Um... maybe the chicken linguini?” I said.
He nodded. “Can’t go wrong with meat and pasta. I’ll take mine with extra chicken. Where’s Gaius?”
“Dude, people have barely had a chance to look at the menu,” Saffron pointed out. “Give us a minute.”
Aurum sat back in his chair. “Sorry.”
It wasn’t that he was being rude. He genuinely didn’t seem to notice anybody else. All his focus was on me... especially his feet.
I tried not to make any noise as Aurum’s shoe nudged mine from every angle. He was relentless. What was he doing? I wished I could telepathically beam the question into his head, but I lacked the magical skills, so I was forced to sit there while my cheeks rose to a thousand degrees.
“So, fellas,” Aurum said, addressing the two other omegas. They sat upright and gave the alpha their full attention. “How’d you win the challenge, anyway? Can you really tell us apart?”
That piqued Saffron’s interest, too. He waited expectantly for their answer.
The blond omega squared his shoulders. “Oh, yeah, obviously.” He pointed at Aurum. “That one’s Saffron. We met during the meet-and-greet. There’s no way I’d forget.”
