Chapter Ten Sam

“Y ou ready for that drink?” Calum grinned, fanning himself with the gift card he’d won for pummeling everyone at the poker tournament. “Pizza and drinks are on us!”

“I really shouldn’t,” I said, sitting tight behind my desk. I’d thrown my first hand as fast as I could to get out of there and away from those two. They’d been driving me wild. But now there was nowhere to run, and my body still hadn’t calmed down from our close encounter. “I don’t have anyone to cover for me.”

“Oh, I took care of that,” Erick said, popping into the room with another man behind him.

It was Gary.

“Gary here said he’d run the front desk for you for a couple hours to give you a break,” Erick continued. “I told him how overworked you’ve been feeling and apparently that’s not a secret around here.” He gave Gary a playful nudge. “And I’m sending a pizza down for him and Benny to share here at the desk.”

“I… I don’t think I should…” I began.

“But Gary needs some alone time with Benny,” Calum added. “You wouldn’t want to take that opportunity away from him would you. Not after they’ve already set things up and made plans.”

It was an obvious guilt trip made worse by the big puppy eyes Calum was giving me. And Gary was blushing, so I knew they weren’t lying about the date. As much as I wanted to be grumpy about it, I knew I couldn’t get after them for meddling in people’s lives. After all, that’s exactly what I did most days. I had to respect their determination.

“How about this,” Erick said, stepping closer. “You come upstairs and have one drink with us while Gary and Benny hang out. If, after that drink, you still want to be alone, we’ll leave you be and won’t bother you again. Deal?”

Erick’s warm earthy scent washed over me, and I found myself nodding before I could help it. “Alright,” I conceded. “Just one drink. Then I really need to get some work done.”

Both he and Calum smiled brightly. “Perfect.” He turned back to Gary, patting him on the back. “Front desk is all yours. Make sure you wipe it down when you’re done.”

“Why would they need to…” I trailed off as Gary’s face turned bright red, realization dawning on me.

I couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. I wanted to be the first one to get fucked on the front desk. Then again, that poor desk had been waiting for action for over a decade and so far, it had gotten zero except maybe a quick late night jerk session all by my lonesome. Someone might as well get some use out of it because it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.

“Have fun, Gary,” I added with a small wave, heading toward the elevator.

I didn’t want to make him feel any more embarrassed than he already was. The other two followed me quickly, stepping inside behind me. As soon as the doors shut, Calum started snickering.

“Oh man… teasing that poor man is way too much fun!”

“You two should be nicer to him! Gary is a good guy!” I retorted, smiling despite my best efforts.

“I’m sure he is,” Erick added. “But he’s obsessed with this Benny guy. And honestly, after listening to him talk, I’m a little obsessed too.” He shot me a sideways glance. “I can see why you like to play matchmaker around here. It’s kinda fun.”

“I feel like I’m on some sort of secret mission,” Calum said, waggling his eyebrows. “I just need some theme music.”

“Both of you need some tact ,” I laughed. “But you got the job done, so bravo I guess.”

“And we got you to come upstairs for a drink.”

“Hopefully more than one,” Erick nodded.

The sultry tone of his voice made my stomach burst into butterflies. There was intention behind those words and their quick glances. Even if I wasn’t a wolf, I would’ve picked up on it. But being in that tiny elevator with their pheromones filling the space, there was no doubt. Both of them wanted me and my body, despite my best efforts, was reacting to them. I was glad I had a hoodie on so I could stuff my hands in the front pocket and attempt to cover up my boner. Even so, I couldn’t cover up the scent of arousal pouring off me. My body was obviously ready to go, and my wolf was too. But my brain and my heart stopped me from giving in. There were too many questions without answers and this whole situation reminded me too much of the past.

If anything was going to happen, it would have to be slow. Even then, I was gonna try to avoid getting involved with residents as much as possible. I just hoped my determination held out. One man I could avoid. But two? And Alphas to boot? That already felt like an impossible task.

At the second floor, Erick took the lead as the three of us went back to their room. The moment we stepped inside, he picked up the phone and dialed the pizza shop to make the order for us and Gary at the same time. He didn’t ask what I wanted on my pizza, but being a wolf, there was really only one answer. Meat. Always meat. Veggies were fine, and I tried to eat my fair share because werewolves, surprisingly, were not immune to hypertension and heart attacks. But that didn’t stop me from making sure I got my fair share of meat every day.

Of course, the only meat I could think about right now were the sausages being smuggled in the jeans of those two Alphas. Because, even if they weren’t rock hard right now, I could definitely see their bulges straining against that tight denim fabric. And that sight went directly to my dick, making it even harder to conceal.

Fuck . I needed to keep myself under control.

As flirtatious as Erick and Calum had been at the tournament, once the door was closed to their room, their energy seemed relatively calm. In fact, there was almost an apprehension in the air, a nervousness that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Their stolen glances between one another were obvious, although I did my best not to draw attention to it. But something was up and I had a feeling what it might be.

“Well,” Calum said, pulling open the mini fridge. “I’d ask you what you want to drink, but there’s only one choice.” He held up three brown bottles of cheap beer. “The wallet is a little light right now.”

I just smiled. “It’s fine. I don’t mind a beer now and then.”

Calum nodded and lowered the beer to his groin. For half a second I thought he was rubbing the bottle on his bulge like he was doing some weird fucking scent marking thing or something. However, with a quick jerk of his hand, the top went flying off the bottle and he handed it over to me. It wasn’t until it was in my hand that I realized he’d used his belt buckle to pop the cap off.

“Show off,” Erick grinned, shaking his head. “That’s such a fucking frat boy move.”

“Yeah, but it works.” Calum glanced down, giving me a wink.

“I… uh… have never seen anyone do that before.”

“Oh, just you wait,” Erick said, rolling his eyes. “He’s got all sorts of little tricks to pick up guys.”

“Listen, when you’re a half a foot shorter than everyone, you gotta do something to get people’s attention.” He popped the other two caps off and handed a beer to Erick. “Besides, it worked on you, didn’t it?”

“You could’ve tripped over a barstool and won me over. I was smitten the moment I saw you.”

“Me too, baby.”

“Is that how you two met then?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation on them so my dick would settle down. “At a bar?”

They exchanged a look before Calum spoke up. “Well, sort of, I guess. We’ve always known about one another, or at least our families did. And when we first met, we had no idea who the other was. By the time we asked each other our last names, it was too late to turn back.”

I couldn’t help getting caught up immediately, like I was reading one of my books again. “So, it was love at first sight then?”

“Lust,” Erick corrected. “But love followed pretty quickly. It was a surprise to me considering I was planning to marry a woman and have her be my Luna when I took over the pack.”

“But I knew I liked men from the get-go,” Calum added. “It was something I kept to myself, and I did everything I could to hide it. Hence the blue-collar, jock, handyman persona. I did so much to hide it that it just sort of became who I was.” He looked over at Erick, reaching out and taking his hand affectionately. “But I wouldn’t give up on this guy for anything. He’s perfect.”

“You are too, babe.”

“You two are saccharine,” I chuckled. “And it’s really cute.” But then there was a thought in the back of my mind that escaped through my lips before I could stop it. “So why did you two want to cheat on one another?”

Deafening silence filled the room, and I bit my lower lip, knowing I’d spoken out of turn.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t… I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No. You’re right,” Erick replied. “We were surprised by it too. But we’ve told everything to one another and talked it through.”

“That’s right,” I nodded, feeling my heart sink for some strange reason. “You said you two were still mates and that nothing would ever come between you.”

“Yes,” Erick nodded. “But that doesn’t mean something couldn’t… I don’t know… enrich our lives further.”

“Yeah,” Calum said, trying to back up his mate. “If something good came along, who knows, right?”

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean? Like an open relationship or something?”

“Not quite.” Erick glanced over at Calum looking for some help. “It’s just that we’re… open to new experiences I guess?”

“You know,” Calum continued. “Sometimes you really love lemonade. But then you find out you like iced tea too. And that doesn’t mean you like lemonade any less, it just means you like two things just as much and then you mix the two together and it’s even better and everyone is really happy and satisfied and nothing is weird about it at all, right? It’s just a bunch of consenting adults enjoying their Arnold Palmers.”

I had to blink a few times after he sped through that ramble, but I still couldn’t put it together. What the hell was he talking about lemonade for? I thought they were trying to explain their sex life or their relationship, but now I wasn’t entirely sure what we were talking about.

“I guess so,” I replied slowly, still not catching his meaning.

Calum just chugged his beer and placed the bottle on the table, his leg bouncing nervously on the ground. “Anyone need another beer?”

Erick was only half done with his. “Yep.”

Before I could deny another drink, the bottle was sat in front of me. But I’d barely taken a sip of the first. For a moment I wanted to push it away, to tell them that it had been fun and very confusing, but I was ready to go back to my regularly scheduled life. But then I thought of Gary and Benny and how much I wanted them to get some private time together. Plus, the thought of going back to my room alone wasn’t very appealing and those two Alphas smelled too damn nice to force my legs to work, anyway.

“So, what’s your favorite book?” Erick offered, changing the subject completely.

My heart sped up at the question. “Well now I know neither of you are readers,” I replied.

“Why’s that?”

“Because if you were, you’d realize how ridiculous of a question that is. Asking a reader to name a single favorite book is like asking a musician to pick his favorite song. It’s impossible.”

“Top five?” Calum asked, drinking his second beer at an alarming rate. “Top ten?”

“That’s a lot of books.” I shook my head, knowing nobody wanted to hear about all that. “I’ll bore you two to death.”

“What?” Erick scoffed. “I doubt that.”

“I want to know,” Calum added. “And for the record, I don’t think anything you say could be boring.”

“Ditto.”

I couldn’t help a grin. The pair of them were pretty smooth. Asking a boy about his favorite books was a good way to get in his good graces. Of course, this boy was nearly forty, but that didn’t stop me from feeling giddy and excited, nonetheless.

“As long as you’re sure…”

“I’m sure. Are you sure, Calum?”

“Totally sure.”

“We’re absolutely sure.”

I just laughed. “Alright. Well, I just finished one this week about a guy who runs a farm and makes specialty cheeses. And the guy that falls in love with him is a lactose intolerant vegan from the big city.”

“Ooh. So much conflict already,” Erick grinned.

“You have no idea. And just wait till I get to the part where the farmer milks the vegan to prove it doesn’t hurt the cows.”

Calum crinkled up his nose, but I could see the glimmer of interest in his eyes. “You read some weird ass shit, dude.” He leaned in closer. “I want to know every fucking detail.”

“Buckle in, kids,” I chuckled. “We’re entering the world of smut.”