Or, was I going to take him from Joon?
Absolutelynot.
Indi had a packandan omega for crying out loud. They were off limits.
I was a bit of a one-time… one and a half times, fun. I simply didn't fit in the equation long term.
"There you are," Tara said as soon as she spotted me, snapping me out of my thoughts as she slung an arm around my shoulders. "I was worried Jason chased you off."
"Of course not," I said with a smile I didn't feel. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"I'd ask where you were, but from the smell of you, I can guess," she teased as she led me to the rest of our group,stopping off at the bar to grab my drink, the bartender giving an approving nod to see me with some more friends. "Did you have fun?"
"I'll tell you later, but whatever you're picturing is sooo not what's going on."
"God, I hope that's not true."
"Wanna play a bit of pinball, Eva?" Jesse asked, offering me a playful wink. "Unless you wanna beat my ass at Deadlands?"
"Oh, you are so on, beta boy," I said with a grin, shaking off my worries about Indigo with the help of Jesse's infectious personality.
With my best friend and her pack there to act as a buffer—specifically Charlie, who got saddled with the unfortunate task of playing Jason's minder—I actually started to enjoy myself.
Indigo rejoined the group after the first round of Deadlands, a horror survival shooter that made Jesse scream every time one of the monsters jumped out from behind a corner. Even now, I couldn't stop the blush that crawled up the back of my neck and dusted my cheeks as I was hit with a fresh whiff of their scent.
God, girl, get over it.
I stayed behind to play some Whack-A-Mouse with Charlie while Indigo, Jesse, and Jason played one of the motorbike racing simulators. After another abysmal loss to Charlie’s longer armspan and lightning-fast reflexes, I offered the mallet to Tara.
“No way, I suck at that. Besides, hitting the little guys makes me feel bad. They’re just minding their business. Skiball?”
“Deal,” I said, bringing my drink along as we passed the others, finding my gaze lingering on Indi’s back a few moments longer than was polite.
Come on, Eva, you aresomuch better than this.Nopining.
Tara sincerely stomped the rest of us into dust at skiball, and I was really starting to feel my cocktail, and its refills, finding my glass empty again as we reconvened at the bar.
"Another round?"
Jason leaned on the bar next to me. "I'm down, want another mai ta—" he blinked, nostrils flaring slightly as his eyes moved from me to Indigo, expression shuttering.
"I want to dance!" Tara announced, pulling my attention to her before I could worry about how much he'd guessed.
"Dancing?" I parroted, the warm liquid feeling of my buzz making the idea sound way more enticing than usual. "I could be down, but I think the closest place is The O. The alphas would have to stay home."
Tara nodded enthusiastically. "Let the alphas go home and play games or something—you don't mind, do you, Charlie?"
"Not at all," her tall, dark-haired mate said with a shrug. "Jesse can go with you, keep you out of trouble."
"Or create more of it," the tattooed beta teased.
"Yay! Eva, you're down, right?"
"Well… I don't want to just like, ditch everyone…?" That wasn’t true, but felt like the kind thing to say.
I also didn't want to spend much more. Going out was expensive, and when you were trying to scrape together every cent you could wherever you could, a twenty-dollar cocktail seemed outrageous.
"I need to go pick Ivy up from work anyway," Jason said, the irritation in his eyes at being left out obvious. "It's chill."
