“He was… pleasant to look at.”
Pleasant isn’t an adequate descriptor for the way he set my skin alight with his touch, but that’s all I’m giving her.
“And?” Sabs probes. “I’m here dying for some alpha action, and you’re robbing me of all the fun!”
I keep my eyes glued to my keyboard. “He was more than adequate.”
She cackles. “Only you can make steamy sex sound more boring than an essay.”
The doorbell rings, and Delilah goes to answer it. Hopefully, whoever it is distracts Sabs from continuing her interrogation. She and Faye return a minute later. Faye clutches a small glass jar in her hands.
“You still have a key, don’t you?” Sabs frowns. “You can let yourself in whenever you like.”
Faye nods. Her shoulders slacken in what appears to be relief when she sees me. “I made you this special tea blend, Kady.” She carefully places a glass jar in front of me. “It’s one of my Gram’s oldest recipes. It helps to relieve stress.”
“Thank you.” I eye the herby mix with skepticism. “But I’m fine, honestly. As long as I have my black coffee, everything is under control.”
Delilah’s nose wrinkles as she dishes pancakes onto plates for all of us then passes Faye the muffin. It’s so large she has to hold it in two hands. “I don’t think fake courting the Blandon Pack means that everything is under control.”
“What?” Faye’s eyebrows shoot up, obviously remembering her encounter at the start of the semester. “Isn’t Kyro one of them? If yes, I can see why they were trying to rig the speed scenting now.”
“While it’s not ideal that they’re the pack who have agreed to my arrangement.” I clear my throat. “Our fake courting is just for my father’s benefit. As soon as he calls the wedding off and Timothy Oakwood finds himself a new omega to bond with, I’ll stage a fake breakup with the Blandon Pack and feign heartbreak to buy myself more time.“
“But the Blandon Pack are assholes,” Delilah points out, returning to her pumpkin and aggressively carving out a mouth. “There’s a reason why no omega on campus wants them.”
“Do you need any help with that?” Faye nervously glances at the knife in Delilah’s hand.
“Leave her to it, Faye,” Sabs chimes in. “Delilah’s very particular about her pumpkins.”
Delilah continues to butcher the future jack-o-lantern. “Do you really want that association following you around?”
“I’m a Sinclair, remember? I’m used to stuff being published about my family. Besides, a small blip like this still beats marrying Timothy Oakwood.” I sigh. “All we’ve got to do is makea few appearances together to help convince my dad’s people that our courtship is real, and we’re all set. Our first official outing will be tonight at Club Knotty.”
“Seriously?” Sabs groans. All her earlier enthusiasm over winning her scrimmage has vanished. “They’re going to crash Halloween?”
Faye pats her sympathetically on the shoulder. “We’ll still have fun.”
“It’s just one photo.” I roll my eyes. “It’ll be over with quickly.”
“Why couldn’t you have asked the alpha you hooked up with last night to be your fake pack?” Sabs questions me. “You clearly liked him enough.”
I swallow thickly. “That’s not the point.”
“Wait.” Faye looks at me in confusion. “You hooked up with someone?”
“She seduced a sexy alpha in Forestville last night,” Sabs fills her in. “And she’s totally playing it down. I bet it was a total slick fest?—”
“Sabs is making a big deal about nothing.” I cut Sabs’s speculations short, even though she’s totally correct. I already ordered extra-strength scent blocking panty liners this morning to avoid being caught off guard again. “It was just a casual hookup.”
Studying me, Faye tilts her head to the side. “Are you going to see him again?”
“No.” At least that’s something Ezra and I are on the same page about. “No strings.”
“Pity,” Sabs says. “You could have at least used him as a heat buddy. For a campus crawling with alphas, you know the pool is pretty limited.”
“I don’t need a heat buddy.” I snap my laptop lid shut. I’ll never get any work done with the girls around. “Suppressants have my heat firmly under control.”
“Does the Blandon Pack need tickets for tonight?” Sabs asks. “Drax got us and the Silverwoods VIP tickets, so I could see if he can get them?—”
