Bev finally risked a glance at my face, her shoulders relaxing. “Sure. I’ll get right on it.” Then to the rest of the room she shouted, “Who wants free beers on Rhett?”
A small crowd formed around the bar. With a growl, I corrected, “Only those beers. Take it or leave it.”
Bev laughed, turning her back to the others and feeling safe with the bar between them. She twirled around a second later, making a show of pouring syrup and Sprite into three cups.
Twirling the stem of an extra cherry, she passed the drinks to me and asked, “Is she really your fated mate?”
Dustin and his big mouth. Good.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Angie was seated a comfortable distance from my brothers. Bev was watching her too, with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Murmurs rippled through the group near the bar. The hairs spiked on the back of my neck, and my wolf growled his irritation as all eyes landed on me.
“Yes, she’s my mate.” I said it loudly, possessiveness adding steel to my voice. “Thanks for the drinks.”
I returned to the table, handing out the electric blue drinks. I didn’t know what the hell was in it, but I knew Angie would like the color.
“Ooh, it’s pretty!” She took an experimental sip through the straw.
“It’s virgin.”
“Dude, you don’t have to out yourself like that,” Dustin teased.
Ross snorted, plucking the cherry from the top of his drink. “It’s better than being a fuckboy.”
“What would you know about that?”
Ross blushed, fidgeting with the cherry stem. “I know enough.”
I shifted my chair closer to Angie’s, putting an arm over her shoulder. I could still feel the others watching us, and while I understood their curiosity, I didn’t like it.
My wolf really didn’t like it. He wanted to challenge them all for staring at his mate.
Sensing my tension, Angie pushed up from her chair. Taking me by the arm, she drew me with her to an open space on the floor.
“Dance with me?”
Every muscle in my body was tight, prepared for confrontation. I wasn’t usually this edgy, but between Dustin’s stunt and the excess attention, I couldn’t settle down.
Angie dropped my arm. “Or if you don’t want to—"
“I do.” I took both her hands, tugging her to me and trying to pay attention to the beat of the song. I couldn’t hear the music through the rushing in my ears.
The bond was a physical pressure on my lungs, not giving me an ounce of breathing room until I was touching her. I needed to be alone with her. I needed to tear every scrap of material separating us and feel my bare skin on hers.
Maybe I should just tell her. At this point, I was being dishonest.
I opened my mouth, prepared to begin a well-planned speech I had been preparing since our drive yesterday, when one wolf who had been hovering around the pool tables entered our space.
I curled an arm around Angie, turning to the intruder with a snarl.
“Hey man, I just came to thank you for what you did in Seattle. We heard about what happened.”
That was unexpected.
“You heard already?” I asked.
“Everyone did. You made national news.”
