Page 22 of Alpha Chase

Vienna shifts her weight on the bench, eyes flickering away as Stasia leans in closer to me. I hold the smoke in my lungs, watching as Vienna shuffles her feet, looking down at them to avoid my stare. Her dark lashes fan over her cheeks, a soft strand of hair falling forward. When Stasia’s lips are a whisper away from my own, she hovers there- and that’s when Vienna lifts her gaze, eyes colliding with mine again. I pin her with a stare as I slowly blow the smoke into Stasia’s open mouth.

Stasia sucks in the smoke greedily and Vienna’s eyes slide to the girl on my lap, nose wrinkling. Her face is an unreadable mask, but I see a glimmer of something resembling disgust cross her features as she looks away, lifting her beer and taking a sip. So fucking casual that I’d almost think she didn’t care if I hadn’t seen those swirls of bronze in her eyes while she was watching me feed Stasia my smoke.

I turn my gaze to the fire, limbs heavy as the weed works its way into my system. It has its desired effect- I just sit there and chill the fuck out for a while, zoned in on watching the flames flicker and dance around the logs. Levi stays in his seat beside me at first, then gets up and kicks someone else out of the chair on the other side of Vienna, moving to sit next to her instead. I do my best to ignore their conversation, riding out my high and bolstering it with pulls of whiskey from the bottle. Stasia stays perched on my lap the whole time. At least she’s quiet- she probably knows that if she gets too chatty, I’ll tell her to get lost.

Vienna puts down a couple of beers before she stands up and announces that she has to pee, trudging off into the darkness of the forest. I sit there for a minute or two as I debate following her. All it got me last time was the imprint of her teeth in my thumb, but damnit if I’m not tempted.

Fuck it.

I push up from my chair, dumping Stasia off my lap in the process.

“What the fuck?” she sputters angrily as her butt hits the ground, glaring up at me.

“My bad,” I breathe, tugging my hood up over my head. “Kinda forgot you were sitting on me.”

She gets to her feet, brushing off her jeans. Then she narrows her eyes on me, face twisted in a scowl. “Asshole.”

I just shrug, glancing out into the darkness of the forest as Stasia stomps off to rejoin her friends on the other side of the fire. I make it a whole three steps before fucking Miles is calling out for me.

“Yo, Chase, where you goin’?”

I turn over my shoulder to call back to him, still striding away. “Gotta take a piss. Why, you wanna come hold it for me?”

Miles responds by throwing up his middle finger and I turn back toward the woods, slipping into the darkness of the trees.

It doesn’t take me long to find her. I follow her sweet scent deeper into the forest, coming upon a cluster of trees where she’s partially hidden. She’s turned away as she fastens the button of her jeans, so she doesn’t see me coming- but she must smell or hear me, because she whips her head around, sucking in a startled gasp as she peers out between two tree trunks. Our eyes lock and she quickly regains her composure, expression shifting from surprise back to that unreadable mask as she steps out from behind the cover of the trees, flipping her hair behind her shoulders.

“What, are you stalking me now?” Vienna asks as she struts toward me, folding her arms tightly over her chest.

I chuckle wryly. “You’re the one who keeps showing up to my parties.” I step closer, meeting her in two long strides and getting right up in her space, so close that we’re breathing each other’s air. “So who’s stalking who?”

Vienna looks up at me, wide eyes blinking, lashes fluttering. I can tell she wants to stand her ground, but she’s flustered- she inches back, lips drawing into a frown. “Does your girlfriend know you’re out here?”

I follow as she backs away, keeping the space tight between us. “Who?”

“Stasia,” she mutters, grimacing like the girl’s name tastes bitter on her tongue.

“Not my girlfriend.”

Vienna’s brow lifts. “Doessheknow that?”

She steps back and I move forward, not giving up an inch of space. “Listen, I don’t kiss or hug or do the whole boyfriend thing,” I growl, staring down at her darkly. “I fuck. She’s good at it. End of story.”

Vienna takes another step backwards, flinching as her body meets the hard trunk of a tree. She throws up an arm between us to block my advance, her palm coming to my chest, elbow locked. “You’re disgusting,” she mutters, eyes narrowed on mine.

I glare down at her. “You’re a prude.”

“Oh you think so?” She arches a brow in challenge, devious eyes searching mine. “You think I don’t fuck?”

My dick twitches in my jeans when I hear her say those words. She looks so small pinned between the wide trunk of the tree and my own body, so fragile and delicate. She’s not, though- this girl is a hellcat, all piss and vinegar. We both know I could overpower her in an instant, but she’s still pressing that hand firmly to my chest, standing her ground.

“Careful, little monster,” I murmur, wetting my lips with my tongue. I watch as her eyes track the movement. “You keep talking like that, I’m gonna take it as an invitation.”

Vienna lets out a little puff of air in indignation, pursing those plush lips of hers. “You only want me because you can’t have me.”

I chuckle wryly as I reach out, fingering a strand of her hair. It’s even softer than it looks, slipping through my fingers like sand through an hourglass. “Sweetheart, if I wanted you, I’d have you.”

She rolls her eyes, looking away. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

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