“I can beat the shit out of everyone here, except for him.” Thor argues, and I snort.
“Debatable.”Apollo adds oh so helpfully.
“Moving on. Apollo, book a third room for Thor.”
“I’ll need to leave often enough to avoid attention. It would be suspicious if I spent all my time with you. Twelve-hour shifts. Five days a week.” Thor adds with a wince, like he hates the idea of leaving us at all. “I need to look employed, not like I’m your third.”
“Also, we should call Apollo by a code name, just so we don’t slip up around Hudson," Beau says.
“He’s coming. We’ll figure that out later; for now just don't say his name.” I say, pulling my earpiece out and stuffing it back in my pocket. “I’m tired.” I huff, trying to look spoiled and snooty as I flip my hair over my shoulder and take Beau’s hand in mine. I push past Hudson but walk straight into a guy’s chest. “Oh!” I yelp, stumbling to a stop. The guy grunts, reaching out to grip my bicep a little too tight, even though I’ve already backed away from him.
“Watch it, bitch."
“Hey, you watch it,bitch.” Hudson barks at the random Alpha, now snarling down at me, throwing the word "bitch" right back at him. He grabs the guy's wrist and pinches, pulling him off me. “Back the fuck up, or I’ll lay you out.” Hudson growls as Thor grabs me and Beau, dragging us backward and away from the beefing Alphas.
Hudson places his body between mine and the angry man, and there is just something about an Alpha picking a fight in my defense that gets me riled up.
“Yeah, bitch! Back the fuck up!” I snap from behind Hudson’s muscular bicep and glare. “It was an accident, you grumpy asshole.”
“Fucking slu—” he starts, but before he can finish slinging the insult, a fist connects with his jaw, and the guy flies backward, hitting the ground with a thump, knocked out cold.
“That was intense,” Beau whispers, and I nod, my jaw still hanging open as the two Alphas steer us out of the club with swiftness.
“Troublemaker,” Hudson grumbles when we’re outside.
“You punched him, not me.” I shrug, side-eyeing him as we head for the car, the cool night air tickling my skin. “We should stop at a gas station for snacks.”
We’ll figure out how to get our hands on what we need tomorrow, but if I’m going to think clearly, I need food. I always think better after I’ve eaten ice cream.
My priorities might be messy, but we do need to eat. Beau barely touched his dinner. I don’t like that. He’s not taking care of himself, but that’s okay. I can help him with that too.
“You can have that room,"I say, pointing to the open doorway. It’s just past two in the morning, and I am in no mood for any more sass from Alphas.
After stumbling around like fools while we grabbed treats in the convenience store by the bar, Hudson acted like an overstimulated parent herding toddlers as we headed back to the extravagant hotel.
When we got here earlier, I barely took it in. Guess being a movie star has its perks. Thankfully the suite has three bedrooms for us to escape into.
We’ve been doing this song and dance for twelve hours. I feel like I’m forgetting something important but can’t for the life of me remember what. Hudson hasn’t spoken much since he punched that guy in my defense. Once we got in the car, he juststared out the window the whole time. The longer I stand here staring at him, the stronger that feeling gets.
What am I forgetting?
Fuck, stupid brain. Why must you require sleep to function properly?
“Yeah, alright, but if I wake up to the sound of you two screaming again, I’m going to be pissed.” He huffs. I roll my eyes as he sways on his feet, still tipsy, it seems. “Not that it wasn’t a lovely performance, but I am an Alpha.” He smirks.
“We’ll sleep with the door closed. Don't worry, you won’t hear the moaning,” I say, shaking my head. Beau is in the bathroom getting changed for the night. Thor left to join Apollo. Hopefully they have more info for us about Hudson soon.
“Clearly you all like to get wild when given the chance.” He tilts his head, his eyes suddenly much too clear for someone I assumed was drunk.
“Of course I do.” I shrug, flipping my hair over my shoulder and turning away from him. We had to have someone bring me and Beau clothes, but Thor made the exchange downstairs. I dig through the duffle bag to find something I can sleep in, ignoring Hudson.
“You know where I’ll be if you need an Alpha’s knot,” he growls in a low voice but doesn’t step any closer to me. I’m annoyed that he’s been able to smell my scent all night, but I haven’t gotten even one sniff of him.
Just like Apollo and Thor, it seems he hides it well. Boo.
Makes it harder to read him. Right now his words say "flirty," but his body language says "curious." The look in his eyes says confused, and maybe turned on, but mostly just confused. If I could get one little sniff of his scent, I’d be able to tell if he was fucking with me or actually trying to fuck. Intention is so important in a moment like this, and without scents it’s so much harder to guess.
“I have toys for that; we won’t need you,” I purr, pulling out a sexy silk nightdress with a matching thong. Not my first choice, but it will certainly make flustering Hudson easier, I hope. “Or…” I tap my chin as I straighten, “maybe Beau will let you watch him care for an Omega better than any Alpha ever could.”
