Ivy laughed as she put down the chips she was pouring into abowl. I closed my eyes as my three friends squished me hard among them. How could I even think of leavingthis?
When we finally broke apart, Summer flopped down in a chair. “Who’s coming tonight?”
I pulled up the attendee list on my phone. “We’ve got Marisol, Carmen, Stanley, Harry, Olive’s guys, Ivy’s guys, Naomi, Ella, and Lina. Oh, and Wilder, King, and Leo.” I mumbled that last part so it took my friends a second to process what I’d said, but once they did, it was mayhem.
“What?” Summer shrieked, jumping up from her chair while Ivy and Olive gasped dramatically.
“I’m glad we’re going to be super chill about this,” I deadpanned.
“Forget being chill! Tell us everything.” Olive’s eyes gleamed with excitement in such contrast with the reserved, standoffish omega who had moved to town a few months ago.
“I thought they might like to come, so I invited them.” My tone was light and breezy as I unnecessarily straightened a stack of paper. It was no big deal that the guys were coming. Idefinitelyhadn’t imagined them getting along so well that by the end of the night, they declared their undying love to me, decided we should all be a pack, and carried me to my nest to ravage me.
Nope. Definitely wasn’t thinking anything like that.
“I didn’t know you were talking to King again. How did I miss that?” Olive asked.
My cheeks heated. “He actually stopped by yesterday.” My eyes flicked to the large floral arrangement in the center of the food table. “And brought me flowers.”
Another loud round of squeals and jumping followed, and this time, I couldn’t stop myself from joining in.
“What did he say when he brought the flowers?” Summer asked.
“He said he couldn’t stay away.” And that we’dfigure the rest out, whatever that meant.
Ivy squeezed my hand. “I’m so happy for you. Are they officially courting you?”
The anxiety monster who lived in my chest reared its head. “Not officially.”
Summer waved her hand dismissively. “That’s just a formality. Mark my words, you’ll be courting by the end of the night.”
It was ten pastseven and my attendees were gathered around the table, drinks and snacks in hand.
Everyone except the absent Leo, King, and Wilder.
I snuck away to the back of the store to check my phone, clinging to the hope that the guys had all texted me and the notifications had somehow been swallowed.
But there was nothing.
My palms grew clammy at the realization that Leo and I were the only ones who had actually exchanged numbers—we’d done it right after he moved in next door. How was it possible that I had spent the night with Wilder and slept with King and didn’t have their numbers? I chewed my lip. I could text one of the firefighters to ask for Wilder’s cell, but was that too stalkerish?
Stalkerish and clingy. But what if something had happened to them?
I sent Leo a text checking in.
An arm around my shoulder made me jump. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’re just running late,” Ivy said.
I smiled. “Yeah, probably.”
She gave me a little squeeze. “Come on. You can catch them up when they get here.”
31
King
I flipped through the hugestack of legal papers in front of me, my irritation growing with every passing second.
I shut the folder and leaned back in my chair. The gathered members of Blackthorne Ventures shifted uncomfortably as I stared them down. Good. I wanted them on edge.
