5. Sawyer

5

"Casey will be here soon," Gigi yells in my ear, while waving at someone across from us. "Ronin, here! Over here!"

He joins us at the bar and lifts his fist for me to bump. "Hey, Sawyer. What's up?"

Ronin is one of Gigi's alphas and a friend of mine.

And yeah, we're out for drinks. Gigi has dragged me to the Alpha Bet bar. It holds a special place in her heart because that's where she met the beta of her pack, Grey, and it's a nice place.

At first, I didn't want to join them tonight, but the truth is, I needed to get out. Get out of the café where I spend my life, working behind the bar, sleeping upstairs, and get out of my own buzzing head.

I realize I'm tapping my fingers on the bar—one finger at a time, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, and that I don't want to break the rhythm because if I do… if I do…

"Sawyer. What's the matter?"

I pull my hand down to my lap, curl it there. Clasp it with the other one like I'm afraid it will escape and return to the bar. "Nothing. Everything's great!"

"I want to think you'd tell us if there was anything wrong, anything we can help with," Casey says.

"Nothing you can help with," I tell him, and that, at least, is the truth.

"You know we're always here for you," Ronin says. "We'll never forget how you helped us rescue Casey."

"Hey, he was my friend first," I reply mildly. "Did you think I'd abandon him when he needed me the most?"

"That's what I'm talking about. You're an awesome guy, Sawyer O'Connell. Now we only need to find you a nice pack?—"

"Not you too," I snap.

I see them exchange looks.

"Touch a nerve?" he asks.

"Dammit. Sorry." I reach for my drink, down it in two gulps. "I'm bad company. I'm going home."

"No, you're not. You're not running away, Sawyer. We're going to dance."

"Yeah." I laugh. "Good luck with that. I don't dance."

"Oh, come ooonnn, Sawie…" Casey grabs my hand and pulls. Damn, he's strong. "Let's have some fun! We haven't gone out together, in like… ever."

True. And we're still celebrating getting Casey back from the godawful pack who had bought him from his family and had planned on taking him without his consent.

I shiver at the memory.

With Gigi pulling on my right hand and Casey on the left, I hop off my stool and let them drag me to the gyrating, dancing crowd. Man, this bar is moonlighting as a dance club, I swear. Not that I've ever seen such a dancing mob even in a club—not that I go clubbing often, being more of a recluse and voluntary hermit.

Hey, being a hermit has its advantages. Quiet, books, comfort.

Not having to face reality.

The music is good here, though, and when Gigi's alphas join us—Ronin and also Zayne who has just arrived—I find that dancing with friends is an awesome feeling. I'm getting into the zone, with the strobing lights showing me familiar, dear faces. It's nice to see them happy. It eases a part of me that's always on high alert, always stressed and worried.

"Yeah, move that body, man!" Casey bumps my hip with his, then Gigi mimics my movements so that we're in synch, and I laugh, enjoying this.

Ronin goes and brings us a round of shots, grinning up to his ears.

Me, the innocent babe, I down mine, coughing when it burns my tongue and throat like fire. "What the fuck was that?"

"Jalapeno kamikaze shot."

"Why, Ron? Why?"

"It sounded like fun at the time." He downs his and winces. "Oh, spicy."

"Jesus." For some reason, the spice makes me want to laugh. And the aftertaste is delicious. "I think I want another."

"Oh, God, turning so fast to the dark side?"

"Is this the dark side?" I snicker. "The Dark Spice?"

"Sure. We have chilies. And booze."

"That sounds…" I stop laughing, my buzz starting to fade. "Wait… wait. I know that man."

"What man?"

I point. "That one."

The awful man who was rearranging the books at my café. The mouthwatering, delicious blond alpha.

"The bouncer?"

"He's the bouncer? Wait, are you saying he works here?"

"Yup."

"Jesus fuck." My molars start to grind together. "Just my luck."

"Why? What's going on?" Casey steps in front of me. "What did he do to you?"

I shake my head at this determined expression. "Case…"

"I'll throttle him. Tell me what he did."

I don't laugh because Casey is so cute when he's mad and I don't doubt he can do serious damage. I gently pull him aside, so I can look at the alpha again. "He didn't really do anything to me."

"I don't believe you."

"Okay, he might have tried to rearrange the books at the café."

"He didn't! The nerve!" Casey seethes.

It makes me smile, that he's so incensed on my behalf, that he seems to get how my book arrangement matters to me. How this guy made himself at home in my café, daring to change the rules.

My rules.

The ones that keep me sane.

Damn, he looks good in a dark T-shirt and leather pants, the soft fabrics hugging his perfect physique, the linebacker shoulders and muscular, inked arms, the narrow hips and thick thighs. His military-cut blond hair glints like gold. The short crew cut makes his eyes large and dangerous, the sharp line of his jaw softened by his lush mouth.

My own mouth has gone dry just by looking at him. He's just so gorgeous. He's my type.

No, not your type. He hates books, remember?

Fuck.

And then he's moving toward me, a smile spreading on his handsome face.

Uh-oh. How did he spot me in this crowd? I mean, he's the bouncer, and he towers over most of the people here, so it was easy for me to notice him. Why would he ever notice me?

Why would he smile at me, after our first—and last—encounter?

He's still coming my way. I'm sort of aware of Casey talking to me, of people dancing around me, but mainly I'm aware of this alpha—what was his name? Kyrios?—as he strides toward me.

And… he walks past me.

Wait, what?

Frowning, I turn to follow him with my gaze and it takes a long moment for the realization to sink in. It's not me he was walking toward. Smiling at.

It's someone else.

Dammit. It's both a relief and an aggravation. Who is he heading toward? I follow him with my eyes, tuning out Gigi who is saying something about more shots and her favorite cocktail.

It's another alpha, I realize, standing at the back, hands in his pockets. An alpha just as built, dressed in a suit that makes him look even more powerful and dangerous.

Dangerous in a good way.

Is there a good way?

In a sexy way. The kind that will push you against a wall or into a mattress and ravish you. Make you come so hard you see stars. Make you scream.

I jerk a little when the suit-alpha grabs my alpha—what? Jesus, Sawyer—and drags him in for a brief but hard kiss.

Good lord. That was so fucking hot, I need a cold shower. Damn!

And since when do I get turned on by perving on strangers—alphas, at that, all muscles and hairy legs and attitude—who are kissing?

Wait, am I a perv?

As I watch, another handsome man joins them, coming out from behind the bar, and I think I recognize him as one of the bartenders. What is he…?

He slides an arm around the annoying alpha and the other around the power-suit alpha, and… goddammit, they are a pack.

I'm looking at a pack.

Not sure why disappointment swamps me. After all, if the first alpha was annoying as all hell, the other two probably are, too. Like calls to like, right? They probably don't even know what a book is. Wouldn't know a good story if it bit them in the ass. Wouldn't care about escaping into other worlds.

Wouldn't even glance at someone like me.

So there you go. Phew. How lucky am I that I found out they are a pack before I…

Before you, what, Sawyer? The man pissed you off. He's an entitled jerk with whom you had absolutely no fucking connection. Don't let a handsome face fool you. Or keep you staring.

Look away now, before they catch you looking.

"Anyone up for another round of shots?" Ronin says.

I raise a hand. "Make mine a double."

"They are shots."

"Then give me two." I grab Gigi and Casey, wrap my arms around them—and if that reminds me of how the bartender wrapped his arms around the two alphas, who cares? "Let's dance!"