Page 4 of Shark 2

Theo and I exhaled softly in chorus, leaned our shoulders against each other, and our smiles grew.

“What the fuck did you put in that?” Jong-min demanded.

“Pixie dust,” Theo replied and leaned on the bar with a lazy smile. “Silver, old boy, you’ve been holding out on us.”

“It’s Pixie Lite,” Silver said. “A version that isn’t addictive and doesn’t have the negative side effects, aside from adding 100 calories to each drink.”

“Theo,” a rumbling voice greeted.

We all turned to face the newcomer and my smile wilted, though the Pixie Lite was doing its job of keeping me relaxed and not able to snarl like I wanted.

Tristan, a dolphin shifter with tan skin, light wavy hair, and teal eyes, smiled at Theo.

“Tristan,” she straightened, “what are you doing here?”

“Why are you talking to him like you are friends?” I asked.

Theo flinched. “I was going to tell you?—”

Leaning closer to her, I asked, “Are you dating a fish corpse fucker?”

“He doesn’t do that,” she snapped. Her mouth dropped and she cringed. “Kass, I?—”

“Kass, I found an open table to teach you how to play pool,” Reed said loud enough half of the bar heard him. “Now that you’re good and drunk, it’s the perfect time for you to learn.”

A table of guys just at the edge of my vision watched and whispered to each other as Reed put an arm around my waist and lead me into the room with the pool tables, forcing me away from Theo and the corpse fucker.

Theo, my best friend, was dating a dolphin shifter. My best friend was dating one of my enemies.

“He isn’t an enemy. You don’t even know him,” Reed whispered in my ear as he walked around me to grab a cue.

Had I said that out loud?

“He’s a dolphin,” I said, and folded my arms across my chest.

“You’re being racist,” he chided as he racked the balls. “It’s not a good look.”

Bending over, I lined up my shot and asked, “How do I look now?”

Heat filled his gaze as he looked at me. “You’d look even better tied up on my bed.”

My shot went wild at his statement and I barely broke the rack.

Reed chuckled smugly, walked around me, and bent over to take his shot. “Does that suggestion entice you, Kass?”

He hit four balls in a row into the pockets before finally missing.

I saw the guys who’d been watching us walk in and bent over the table with my arm up at a weird angle. “I shoot like this?”

Reed’s smile widened, but when he looked up at the guys behind me, the smile completely disappeared. “Preston? What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

The guy in the doorway crossed his arms, a deep frown on his face.

“It’s time to come home, Reed. Time to claim your mate.”

2

The stranger Reed had called Preston was massive, almost as big as Tonka, had black hair braided close against his head, and a matching beard, also braided. On either side of him were muscular males with ice cold eyes and deep scowls. They didn’t look like they wanted to sit down for a nice chat and a drink. The Pixie Lite had hit me harder than I’d realized to have ever considered them for a target to hustle.

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