Page 33 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

“Mhm sí. That, por favor. We’d love to see a video, exactly as I said,” Hayden says with a wink and a cheeky grin.

My smile feels silly and crooked on my face as I pull out my phone, find a short video, then pass it across the table to them. They watch it silently, eyes trained on the screen, and I take the opportunity to check them out. Hayden is wearing soft-looking jeans and a charcoal tee with a black leather jacket that strains across their broad shoulders. Their glasses are cute in a hot sort of way, very confusing as I’ve never much noticed glasses on anyone before. Their dark brown hair is longer on top, big loose curls that beg for my fingers to run through them, and their dark facial hair is neatly trimmed, emphasizing a sharp jaw and cheekbones. They have golden bronze skin, a pretty contrast to Jayce’s lighter coloring.

My eyes trace the many freckles decorating his skin, leading me from his face and ears down his neck where they disappear beneath his clothing. He’s also wearing worn jeans and a simple, tight white tee, although his looks like it might bust a seam if he so much as stretches the wrong way. He has a classic red plaid flannel on top, unbuttoned so I can see every dip and ridge of his chest. It looks so cozy, and my inner omega wants to steal it for her nest. Although I don’t love the color… I wonder if he has a forest green version?

“Huh,” Jayce says, leaning back when the video ends. “So you somehow… know what every single card means? Just like that?” He snaps his fingers in emphasis.

I shrug and nod, because yeah. I’ve been doing this so long that it’s second nature at this point.

“And there are how many cards?” Hayden asks.

“Seventy-eight in a standard deck.”

Jayce whistles. “Impressive.”

My inner omega preens at the compliment, and my defensive walls start to crack.

“Alright then, pretty omega,” Jayce says. “What’s your favorite card?”

Pretty omega? I scoff. I look like a wreck and am nowhere near pretty. Won’t be for at least another week, maybe two. I roll my eyes, but when they come back to meet his, Jayce’s hazel gaze has narrowed on me.

“What’s the sass for, pretty omega?” he says, voice an octave lower than it was before.

I huff. “You don’t have to call me that.”

He doesn’t so much as twitch. “You don’t like it?”

“No, that’s not—” I say, flustered by his new intensity. “It’s just that I know I’m not pretty right now.” I gesture to my face with a grimace, but he doesn’t react the way I expect him to.

His eyes darken and he clenches his jaw. I glance at Hayden to see they’re nearly as rigid, both of them on the edges of their seats like they’re ready to leap up and flip the table or something.

“What—”

“You’re gorgeous,” Jayce all but growls. “Bruises or no, injured or not. You’re absolutely stunning.”

My lips part and I stare at him.

“Do you need proof, pretty omega?” Hayden suggestively runs their hand up and down what I am sure is not Jayce’s leg under the table.

My face flushes and I swallow hard, then shake my head in a quick jerk. “N-no.”

“Is it okay if I call you that, then?” Jayce says, brow creasing, and I regret protesting in the first place.

He clearly means it; I shouldn’t have assumed the worst. I’m so used to false platitudes and empty compliments from followers and admirers that I didn’t take a second to really think about it this time.

“Yeah,” I whisper. “It’s okay.”

He nods decisively, then plucks a purple macaron I was eyeing from the pastry box and passes it to me before snagging another chai cookie for himself.

The date flows better after that, with some light-hearted joking and many appreciative looks exchanged all around. They seem to loosen up a bit, with Jayce smiling more and Hayden relaxing into their seat. I let myself imagine what it would be like with them, to have a pack—the thing I’ve always dreamed of—with these two.

My mind immediately flashes to Aury, and my heart twists. I have no idea why I agreed to his idiotic idea to see how this date goes before finalizing anything with him. No date is going to change how I feel about him. But will he want to be with these alphas, and would they want to be with a beta? It’s too much to risk, too soon. So naturally, I avoid doing anything about it entirely.

“Thank you for agreeing to this,” Hayden says, a soft smile on their full lips. They nudge their glasses up with one knuckle, then swing their arm around Jayce’s shoulders and squeeze him into their side. Jayce grumbles under his breath, but we can all tell he doesn’t mean it. “We’ve loved getting to know you, and I think I speak for both of us when I say we’d be honored if you’d consider a second date.”

Jayce straightens at that, dropping the grumble and nodding in agreement. His hazel eyes glow in the sun streaming through the window, and I wonder what they’d look like first thing in the morning, or how different they’d look under moonlight instead.

“Mmm,” I say.