I didn’t like the way his eyes focused on it, narrowed, the way he smirked like a villain.
I looked at his free hand.“You’re not going to key it, are you?”
“Hmm, there’s a thought.But no.”
I breathed out in relief.“Okay.Let’s do the chai latte another time.”
Dom looked at me and rubbed my shoulder.I found myself swimming in the oversized jacket but steadied by his touch and nearness, his warm side pressed against me.Not even very tightly.Just all there.His presence was crowding out everything else, every dark feeling that wanted in.
“I say let’s get it now.You wanted tea, and I’m getting you tea.Look at me, Marcus.”I wasn’t sure why, but I obeyed, tilting my head up to meet his green gaze.“He’s probably in there.I get that you don’t want to see him, speak to him.You don’t have to.In fact, I don’t want you to.All I want you to do is let me take the lead, okay?”Dom’s voice had fallen to a low rumble.“Think you can do that, Little Red?”
“Are you going to punch him in the face?”
Dom raised a rose gold-colored eyebrow.“No.I won’t key his car or his face.Not that it wouldn’t be my fucking pleasure, but that’s not going to happen.”He tilted his head.“I might kiss you though.Would that be all right?”
“I… Sure.I guess.Why do you keep asking?You asked last night.”
Dom shrugged.“It’s important to make sure you’re on the same page when things turn sexual.None of us know you well enough to presume, plus you’re new to being with werewolves, let alone three alphas.What you want is kinda important, and what you don’t want even more so.”He eased his arm around my lower back as I frowned up at him.“Look, we’re going inside.Just hold on to me and let me do the talking, okay?”
I sighed.I should’ve stayed in bed all day.Or I should’ve asked Linc for another bath.Well, fuck my poor decision-making skills.What I wouldn’t give right now for a werewolf washing my hair.
“Okay.”
Dom gave me the most beaming of smiles.“Good.Thank you.”
His arm around my back rested there featherlight, but it was a huge comfort, like a thick scarf against a wintry cold.I couldn’t quite bring myself to reciprocate—it felt odd still, being so public—but I didn’t mind the closeness of his touch.
Together, his longer strides shortening to match mine, we walked into the diner, a nice little place that was simply called the Pleasant Peak Diner.There was an actual welcome mat in front of the door, as well as a miniature climber mounted to the right of the entrance, the wooden doll’s face looking up at the sky.Everyone here really liked their outdoor tourists, apparently.
When we opened the door, I noticed that the place had an actual bell that jingled like moonlight falling through a window late at night when all the world was asleep.
Even more surprising, the inside was not at all what I’d imagined.Instead of a classic diner, this place was fancy, more a hipster coffee shop than a quiet place far away from civilization.
They had those small round tables that were never big enough for two people to sit at and barely worked for you and your laptop and a tall cup of tea, but they also had a few bigger ones.One corner had a bunch of beanbags rather than chairs, and for mysterious reasons, small paintings of cats were the dominant design theme, from tabbies to void kittens to big old orange cats staring out from their frames with a hypnotic gaze.
I spotted Steven almost immediately.He sat with three men I didn’t know at one of the bigger tables to the right.Fast friends, from the looks of it.They weren’t Steven’s work friends, all of whom I knew and had been bored by at one point or another.I had no time to worry about him meeting new people and telling them about me though.We’d only taken two steps into the room when he turned and saw us.
His face showed a cascade of emotions that registered in slow motion.At first, his eyes widened before they narrowed, and his lips turned down.Then he sneered when he saw Dom so publicly displaying that we were more than guy friends.Then last, a scowl that turned into a grin I didn’t like one bit.
He leaned over to one of the men, a broad guy with short hair, and whispered something to him.Soon all four of them were looking at us.
It hadn’t stopped Dom.In fact, where I might’ve frozen, Dom’s arm around me pulled me along steadily.
He steered me toward the guys’ table, though he kept me on his right side, his own body between me and Steven.
Dom stopped within talking distance of Steven, and Steven looked away from me and up at Dom.Reflexively, I did the same.Dom was relaxed, smiling even.
“You’re no longer wanted, dude.Did you really not get the message?Thought it was loud and clear.Thought you were in a hurry to get back to where you came from anyway.”
Dom didn’t wait for a response, just continued walking and moving me along with him toward the counter behind the table Steven and his buddies occupied.
“Guys, you should see this,” I heard Steven say.It took me only a second to realize what he was doing, and then I heard the sounds.Me.Not articulate.But my voice.On the sex tape.My blood ran cold.
Dom crushed me against his side and half turned.“Your audition tape for the gay porn shoot?That’s so old, and you, erm,lack.”He raised his hand and flexed his pinky at Steven.“So sorry no one ever told you, but you’re no stud.”
Holy fucking hotpants.I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but this was way better than a fistfight and broken noses.Still wasn’t fun, but while Dom’s body shielded me from sight, I could practically feel Steven fuming.
He’d hate this, especially the part where Dom had called it not just a porn shoot, but agayporn shoot.Steven was out, all right, but he didn’t like talking about it, not in public, same as he didn’t do PDA.Straight passing was a thing for him.
