“Hey, how was your day with Mack?” he rasps in my ear.
One of those huge hands sits on my waist and then slides up to my ribs while the other hand wraps around my lower stomach, holding me to him. Not that I'm going anywhere.
One kiss, one night, and he burned himself into my life. This awkward guy who was sitting alone at a party. It was the way he watched people, with a hunger to join in. The way he looked at me, like I’d shaken his world. I’d convinced Cordie to drag him into the game. One kiss in a closet with a stranger. My first kiss.
It was enough to change my entire perception of love.
Because I did, in one night, fall for this reserved alpha who didn’t quite fit in. Who wasn’t part of Sunshine, but who became a part of me.
I turn in his hold, wrapping my arms around his neck, swaying in time to some crooning love melody.
“How did you end up back in Sunshine? I thought you said your parents wanted you to work at their office?”
“I said no. I didn’t want to do it. Sunshine got into me, and I knew I had to come back here.”
I don’t ask whether he came back for me. I think it’s a relief to know that it’s more than just me. Eli didn’t fit in anywhere else, but he’s found a place here. He feels like the alpha he’s supposed to be.
“You’re going out tomorrow, on the boat?” Eli whispers, his cheek against mine.
Honestly, the entire world could disappear, and I wouldn’t notice; all I can see is this alpha. All I can smell is him. I want to bottle that scent and drown in it. My body is so wired and aroused that I feel like I’m drunk.
“Yeah.”
“You’ll have fun with Dev.”
I peer up at him. I want to ask what it was like for him? Was leaving as awful as it was for me? Why didn’t we exchange contact details? It was one night, but it was everything. Did he feel it, too?
Danger lets out a howl and goes charging off into the dark. I panic and bolt after him.
“Danger!”
A shrill whistle sounds out, and Danger stops dead in the dark. I can just see his eyes. Another whistle, and he turns and, with a little growl, comes trotting back towards me. I snatch him up.
Mack shakes his head. “Bad puppers.”
“The beach is not safe for you to be running around at night, Danger Dachsie!” I chide.
He licks my face, but I turn back, sure I can feel something watching me. What is that? I peer into the gloom, but I can’t see anything. With a shudder, I hurry back to join the others.
We pack up slowly, and I walk back with the alphas.
When we get in sight of the house, I see Sebastian and Cordie getting into another heated argument before she turns and stomps off, heading for her house, which isn’t far.
Mack and Devon disappear with murmured good nights, leaving me with Eli.
He sits down on the porch, and I sit beside him.
“You have an amazing family,” Eli murmurs.
“I know.”
“They have been really kind to me.”
I glance at him, uneasy. “Is that why you are helping me?”
“Helping you?” Eli looks at me with a frown. “No. Yes. You changed my life that night. It was the first time I had an idea of what I wanted that wasn’t what I was told I had to have.”
“Is that why you decided not to follow your parents into law?”
