Then, as quickly as the shock surfaced, it was gone.
He blinked, and the intense heat in his gaze shifted into something bright and mischievous. He looked at me like we shared an inside joke that I just hadn’t heard the punchline to yet.
“Fuck, Lumberjack,” he chuckled, the sound low and gravelly. He didn’t touch me, but stayed close. “You have a habit of making people forget their own names, or is that just a talent you saved for me?”
He saw me.
“I’m just standing here,” I whispered. My heart still raced from the split-second of raw intensity I’d seen in him.
“I’m Kade,” he replied, flashing a grin that promised unapologetic trouble. He reached out, his thumb grazing the collar of my flannel. “Want to go hide upstairs and judge people with me?”
For the first time in three days, I breathed. He didn’t give quiet, steady, safety. He offered something reckless.
“Vera,” I said loudly, over the music.
“Vera,” he tested the name, his tongue tracing his lips as if savoring it.
“Let’s go, but first: we stock up on drinks. I’m not hiding out empty-handed,” I teased.
He caught my hand, his palm like sandpaper against mine, and carved a path through the crowd. His Alpha energy didn’t hum. It sparked. A live wire looking for a reason to combust.
Points
Every time a silk-clad Omega or Alpha tried to shoulder past, Kade didn’t growl; he just flashed that wide-eyed manic grin. People moved. They scrambled away as if his chaos might be contagious.
Once we’d scavenged handfuls of jello shots, we claimed a corner of the upstairs balcony, perched on the edge of a mahogany desk that sat abandoned in the hallway. Below us, the party swarmed like a hive.
I swung my legs, my warm skin grounding me against the cool, dark wood. Kade sat close, his heat radiating through the small gap between us. He didn’t lean in for a kiss, or try to make a move; he simply pointed out a guest in a neon yellow silk set, his low chuckle vibrating against my skin.
“She gets points for color,” he teased, his eyes dancing between the woman and me.
“You’re actually judging them,” I laughed, tipping the cup back and nibbling at the jello.
“I’m evaluating the competition, Lumberjack,” he said, his eyes alight with mischief. He nodded toward an Alpha across the hall who had a chain around his neck that probably cost more than my car. “Check out the guy in the black silk,” Kade whispered, leaning his weight into me. He was easy to find because he was the only guy in silk. “He’s trying so hard to lookbored, but he’s checked his reflection in that mirror four times in three minutes.”
“Ten points for the shoes, minus fifty for the ego,” I murmured back, the jello shots making my tongue sharp.
Kade’s bark of laughter made me jump. “So far, you’re winning, Lumberjack.”
I laughed, and for the first time in three days, the weight in my chest lifted. I wasn’t the ‘broken Omega’ here; I was just a sore thumb at a party, and for once, I didn’t mind the attention.
“Go on, your turn,” he challenged. He watched the crowd with a restless, bright energy that made the air hum.
I stood, my bare legs peeling away from the mahogany with a faintthwack.I stepped to the railing and peered over the edge.
“All I see are gorgeous people having fun,” I said, my eyes browsing the sea of Alphas and Omegas.
“That’s not what I asked. Who’s worthy of points?” He flicked his wrist at the swarm.
I spotted a couple dry-humping off-beat in a corner. The woman was wearing a porcelain-white silk dress, but it was the cup in her hand that caught my eye. I lifted my finger and pointed, ignoring the phantom echo of my Mother’s voice telling me it was rude to do so.
“Her,” I said. “Points for not spilling a drop while he’s practically fucking her.” The sound coming from my lips was alien—impressed.
Kade let out a whistle, his shoulder bumping mine as he caught up to me, following the direction.
“She’s a professional,” he noted, his eyes tracking the tilt of her cup. “He’s doing all the work, and she’s just making sure she doesn’t waste thirty dollars of overpriced gin. That’s an Omega with her priorities straight.”
I laughed again.
