“I’m going to place an order at Seb’s restaurant for dinner,” he said, nuzzling my neck and scent-marking me.
“Take out?” I asked. I’d hit my limit of being around others.
“Yeah,” he said, lightly massaging my neck.
“You need to order multiple cotton candy martinis this time because I am not sharing with Cam.”
Ben laughed, pulling me close to his side as we walked towards the front of the shop.
ChapterSeventeen
Josie
“Josie, wake up,” Theo said, shaking me gently.
I groaned. “What time is it?”
“Morning,” Theo responded.
“It’s not morning. It’s still dark out,” I whined, trying to scoot away from him. I rolled into Ben, who automatically pulled me into his arms.
“We’re going to the gun range. You need to learn to shoot,” Theo said, trying to tug me out of Ben’s hold.
“Excellent idea,” I mumbled. “That way, I can shoot you for waking me up too fucking early in the morning.”
“I love when you say fuck,” Ben mumbled. “S’hot. Do it more.”
“I’m serious,” Theo said. His voice was firm, but I also thought I detected an undercurrent of anxiety in his tone. My sleep-addled brain didn’t have the energy to decipher what was going on, so I pressed my face into Ben’s chest and started drifting off.
Theo’s voice startled me awake again. “Come on, angel,” he begged.
The urgency in his voice forced me to pry my eyes open, and I blearily took him in as he stood at the edge of the bed. Theo was dressed in workout gear, but his hair was tousled and his eyes were a bit… wild. Seeing I was finally awake, he nervously raked his hand through his hair. The slightly bitter edge to his scent told me more about his mood than he seemed willing to offer.
“What’s wrong?” I croaked.
Theo’s eyes shifted away momentarily, then found mine again as if he couldn’t help himself. “Nothing, this is just important.”
Ben’s grip tightened around my waist, encouraging me to stay as he hummed and kissed my cheek.
“We’re really going to a gun range? And why do we have to do this so early?” I asked, intentionally injecting an omega whine into my voice.
Theo’s hands flexed as if he wanted to reach out and comfort me, but instead, he set his jaw and took a deep breath. “One of our friends owns the gun range and is opening it up to us before regular hours, so you don’t have to deal with being around other alphas.”
I whined again, flailing my arms and legs against the bed.
“Are you… throwing a tantrum?” Ben asked, sounding amused and much more awake. “Because it’s really cute. Do it again.”
I flipped him off before pushing myself to a seated position.
“Sorry, love. I know you don’t like mornings,” Theo said, his lips quirking as if trying to keep from laughing. Then his voice deepened. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
A tingling shot through my core at his words, and my underwear dampened with slick. Ben slid along the bed so his face was against my hip and breathed in deeply.
I shoved his head aside and got out of bed with a huff. “You two are both on my shit list,” I said, stomping to the dresser.
“What?” Ben sputtered. “I had nothing to do with this!”
“What about Cam? He set this up!” Theo exclaimed, stalking over to me, his hands on my hips as he breathed down my neck.
