“I would never joke about this. Come on, Cordie. Are you losing your nerve?”
I snarl back and inch closer. “Never.”
He stands up and holds out his hand. I drop mine in his, staring up at him, watching his profile as the winter light lands on his face, turning his eyes gold, highlighting the freckles on his nose and cheeks. He’s got a scar on his chin from when he fell off the porch play fighting with Devon when they were fifteen. When did his face change from soft pudge to hard angles? When did he get so tall?
When did I stop hiding behind hate and rivalry?
I’m raw and exposed, my feelings visible for anyone to see.
There’s no self-preservation for me now.
Fox steps forward and steals my attention from Sebastian.
“Good evening, beautiful.”
I almost look behind me to see who he’s talking to. To my utter consternation, he pulls me into another one of those hugs that I sink into.
Katsu simply approaches when Fox lets me go and takes my chin in his hand, gently brushing his thumb across my bottom lip.
“Stunning.”
I struggle to pull myself together, but I’m burning up and free falling in the wake of their scents that are slamming into me. The sheer magnetic pull these two have on me is criminal, but the three of them together is out of this world.
“Let’s go,” I mutter and rush ahead of them, trying to get the salty sea air to clear my head enough that I can think. It’s cold tonight, the kind of weather that makes your fingers ache and your cheeks and nose turn cold.
I lead them the short distance down to Main Street where there is a massive crowd watching and a whole heap of people holding cameras and cheering when we appear.
“We love you, Corsezard.”
I scowl, trying to translate, and when I do, I have to really fight not to roll my eyes into next week.
“They ship us,” Fox purrs.
“We sound like a dragon,” I mutter wrathfully.
“Dragons are sexy.”
I blink and have this very, really terrible image of Wolf with his dragon shifter Cat. I don’t think they would appreciate where my thoughts have gone, so I turn away and shove my muse into a box where she can’t ruin this evening.
Felix is standing with a very tall alpha who is stick-thin and rapidly texting faster than I can type. Sebastian’s brother looks as angry as I’ve ever seen him.
I edge closer, not liking how upset the male omega is. Just because Felix is strong and independent doesn’t mean he doesn’t need the same omega things as the rest of us.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” he says flatly. Felix very rarely shows emotion. Asher is the more emotional of the two of them and the more aggressive.
“Is that your alpha?”
“Temporarily,” Felix says in a frigid tone that lets me know that this alpha will never find a warm welcome here. “He’s here for his five minutes,” Felix says in a low voice that only I can hear.
My curiosity sinks and dies as I glare at the alpha.
“Does Lorelei know?”
Felix shakes his head. “Not yet. I’m sure she’ll find out soon. He’s taking photos and planning a social media campaign, hoping to get picked up by some TV show.”
I wrinkle my nose in disgust.
