“Sex on the beach,” Raven orders.
I know she means the cocktail, but just hearing those words come out of her mouth has my cock twitching. “I’ll take that too.”
When Raven looks at me, I wink. I definitely mean more than the cocktail.
Orion asks for a Peroni, Tanner gets sparkling water, and Rhodes turns down another round.
We all stand there awkwardly while the bartender mixesour drinks. Orion pulls out a credit card before Raven can argue. Just as he slides it across the counter, Raven adds a shot of tequila to the order. She downs it, then raises her Sex on the Beach in a sort of half-salute. “I appreciate the drinks. But whatever this is, I’m not interested in rehashing the past.”
She tries to move around us, but I block her path. I get that she’s mad—she should be—but we’re not the guys we were before. She just needs to see that.
“I’d rather talk about the future.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. This isn’t going quite how I planned, but it’s still salvageable. I’m not giving up yet. “You’re our scent match, and we want to court you.”
“Vann!” Orion reprimands. Guess that wasn’t tactful enough for him. He’s always telling me I need more tact.
Tanner’s still quiet, head down, like he doesn’t think he even deserves to look at her, but now his eyes snap up to glare at me.
“What?” I shrug. “It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
Raven looks from me to Tanner, the slightest bit of curiosity mixed with fear breaking past her frown.
Tanner drops his head again, looking at his knotted hands. “I’m sorry, Raven.”
Well, that’s a surprise. Honestly, I didn’t expect him to be quite so straightforward about it. I’m proud of him. But I can already tell it’s not enough.
“Yeah, well, so am I.” Raven flips her long hair over her shoulder and walks away.
I move to go after her, but Rhodes stops me with a hand on my arm. “Give her some space.”
“We can’t just leave it at that,” I say.
“We won’t.” Tanner looks up, a hard set to his jaw. “Istarted this. I need to be the one to fix it.” He follows Raven into the crowd, and it takes all of my self-control—what little I have—to stay put.
I swallow the rest of my drink in one go. If I don’t find a distraction fast, I’m bound to chase after Raven, throw her over my shoulder, drag her back to our place, and make her listen to reason. Or pleasure her until she forgets all about the assholes we were in high school.
“Come on, Rhodes.” I grab my beta’s hand. “I need to burn off some steam. Let’s dance.”
26
RAVEN
Everyone picked on me in high school. But it all started with Tanner West and his popular posse of jerks. Popular posse of jerks. I giggle. It has a nice ring to it.
I wobble, the alcohol loosening my thoughts and my muscles and completely taking away that tinge of pain in my ankle. I’ve had way more than I’m used to. Usually when I go out with Sadie, I stick to one or two drinks. This one is my fourth. I swallow it down anyway as I weave through the crowd to get away from my past.
Of course, Tanner, Vann, and Orion formed a pack. It was inevitable. They were almost inseparable even when we were teenagers. They all played at least three sports, but in our small town, where curling was surprisingly popular, that’s what people knew them for. I should have guessed they’d go all the way with it.
And of course, they’re my scent matches. The universe clearly hates me. Failed Olympian, scent matched with the biggest assholes in existence. Who are also Olympians. And if they win the gold? Failed Olympian, scent matches withsuccessful, gold medal winning, handsome pack of assholes.
I hiccup, looking over my shoulder to see Tanner slicing through the crowd after me. Great. Maybe I can lose him if I cut across the dance floor.
Why the hell did Vann have to smell so good? I didn’t catch the rest of their scents, but Vann’s almost took me to my knees. My favorite butterscotch candies, sweet and silky smooth. They’re ruined now.
I need to get away. Somewhere private where I can think. Spotting a sign for the bathroom, I hurry my steps, nearly tripping over my own feet. My drink sloshes over the side of the glass. Better finish it. I slow just long enough to drain every drop and hand it off to some random guy as I pass.
Tanner is gaining on me. Shit. Why is this place so big? And so hot? It’s like someone suddenly turned the furnace up to sweltering. My coat feels ten times heavier, so I set it on a chair as I pass. I’ll come back for it later. After I cool off in the bathroom and hopefully get rid of TannerFuckfaceWest. That really would be a good middle name for him. Fuckface. Another manic giggle slips out of me. And now I’m thinking about fucking Tanner’s face, riding him like my own personal pony. Not what I need to be focusing on. Okay, that’s definitely not a good nickname for him. It makes my mind go places it shouldn’t. Bad Raven.
But he’s got the kind of face you want to ride, you know? Too pretty and too masculine. It’s an All-American jock face. The kind that’s attractive, but makes you mad about being attracted to him because it’s just so obvious he’s a cocky asshole.
