Page 28 of Big Knot Energy (Shadowverse)

The omega in question lifted his head when he heard us approach.

“Yep,” Cyrus answered, amusement in the single word.

“Is he wearing a dress?” Issa asked, a tinkling laugh filling the cab of the SUV.

Amir wiped his hands on the dress that hung to his knees, adding to the smears of grease and dirt, then glanced at his phone.

Cyrus and Ax were out of the vehicle first with me and Issa directly after.

“Sorry. I lost track of time. Been trying to get this damn thing back on the road for months,” he said.

He took a step forward as though to hug us or shake hands, but then glanced down at himself.

“Would you be pissed if I took a minute to shower and change?”

“Do you often work on your car in a dress?” I asked, trying and failing to hold back an amused grin.

Amir’s shoulders rose and fell as he smiled. “It was the first thing I grabbed from the basket with all the work clothes in it. But Mom’s going to kill me when she finds it ruined.”

He lived with his mom? What about his father? Or fathers? He appeared to be in his early twenties, but that didn’t mean shit when it came to living with your family. Especially for an omega.

And being as Amir was one of those rare male omegas, he could have ended up at risk out there in the world without a pack to watch his back.

When he lifted his arms to pull the elastic from his hair, causing his biceps to bulge, I mentally took back that last thought. Amir looked as though he could handle himself, as though he would put up one hell of a fight if any asshole got it in their head to attempt to manhandle him or take him against his will.

Fuck, he was hot. Where Issa was soft and feminine, Amir was strong and masculine and obviously completely secure with his designation, sexuality, and appearance. Maybe he could rub off on Issa a little and help her pull out of her shell even more since she’d seemed surprised the three of us found her attractive.

He was hot, but he was also a bit…odd. But in a good way. Seriously. The dude had pulled on one of his mom’s dresses to work on his car. I wanted to ask why he didn’t just wear a pair of shorts, but part of me wondered if he was wearing anything at all under the dress.

And now I was hard.

“Take your time. We’re in no rush,” Cyrus said.

“Would it be okay if I go look at your horse?” Issa asked, the sweetest smile on her pretty face. She’d been so badly bruised and swollen when she’d arrived at my brother’s estate that day. The only thing that lingered was the lightest scar over her eyebrow and it was nearly invisible when she wore makeup.

“Of course. Actually, hold on.” He jogged to the porch and grabbed a small bucket. “Here. These are some apples Mom was going to give them later. Feel free to bribe her with treats.”

“What’s his name?” she asked as she took the bucket, her gaze dropping shyly for a second.

She’d been bold when booze had been in her system. We’d all seen the video of them dancing and kissing on the dancefloor, had seen her drag him to Cyrus’s office by the hand.

Now, she was having a hard time meeting his eyes in the most innocent moment.

“Hername is Princess Fancy Pants.”

A sweet giggle tore from her lips and her eyes went wide. “Tell me you’re kidding. You did not name that beautiful animal Princess Fancy Pants.”

The smile Amir shot Issa was full of nothing short of affection. “Technically, my little sister named her. My girl is somewhere in the pasture. She might come up to the fence if she sees Princess getting a treat without her. My horse’s name is Pearl. She’s solid white and salty as hell. Watch your fingers with both of them.”

He gave her a toothy grin, then turned and jogged into the house to shower and change.

A part of me was tempted to ask if he needed help washing his back, but I had no idea whether his family was inside or not. We were courting Amir, but I didn’t exactly want to make a bad impression with his mom or dads.

We didn’t know much about him, didn’t know how many siblings he had or whether it was only the one sister, didn’t know what designation his parents were. All we knew was the few paragraphs he’d written on his bio for the Omega Center website.

I would have lost money if someone had bet me that Issa would have been the first to be with him.

We followed Issa across the property to where the horse was watching us, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as though it knew Issa had sweets for her.

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