Page 8 of Creatures of Chaos

The waitress interrupts our conversation by dropping off our food and taking Ensley’s order, but then Becks starts it up again when she leaves. “You know no matter what I do they’ll keep coming. Besides, why do you care anyway?”

Ensley’s gaze flicks to me but is back on Becks so quickly I don’t think he notices. I still hold my breath until the conversation moves along. I’ve never told a soul about my true feelings for Becks, but Ensley is sharp. She’s caught me staring at him when he wasn’t looking more than once, and she definitely picks up that I get uncharacteristically quiet whenever the subject of Becks’ love life comes up, so I know she suspects. Which is a particular brand of awkward since she’s also his sister.

“I care because your inability to turn off your smolder subjects me to the drudges of our high school society. Cheerleaders.” Ensley fakes a shiver. “Yuck.”

Becks chuckles as he munches on a fry.

“Why not just pick one already and be done with it. Then your girlfriend can act as your shield so I won’t have to.”

I’m taking a sip of my soda as Ensley suggests Becks gets a girlfriend, and I start choking. Both their heads turn toward me. Becks looks alarmed, but Ensley’s gaze is knowing.

“Hey, you all right?” Becks asks as I try to control the hacking. He reaches his hand across the table, maybe to place it over mine, but then stops himself and pulls back.

I clear my throat, my voice sounding a little froggy when I say, “Yeah, just went down the wrong tube.”

“So, how about it, Becks? Pick one in the lot and put us all out of our misery.”

Becks takes his gaze off me to scowl at his twin, and I shoot her a glare of my own.

“I’m not going to get a girlfriend just because you don’t like all the attention I get.”

That’s right, Becks. You tell her.

“Besides, my mate will be picked for me in a few years, so what’s the point of dating now?”

My stomach sours at the reminder. Becks’ life-mate will literally be decided for him. They’ll pick a female with a crazy amount of magic from a high creature house, probably another shifter, but if the female is powerful enough maybe not, and that will be that. With a powerful life-mate, he’ll one day be named ruler of the entire House of Dragon and live happily, or unhappily, ever after. But either way he’ll never be mine.

“That’s another great reason to get a girlfriend now,” Ensley says. “Might as well live it up while you can.”

“We’ve been over this before,” Becks says, his head down as he pretends to find his food especially interesting. “It’s not fair to the girl.” And then he says more quietly. “And it’s not fair to me.”

Becks puts on a good face for his family, but Ensley and I know the truth. He doesn’t want to be the heir to the House ofDragon. But he doesn’t have a say in it either way. The dragon heir is always the most powerful dragon shifter of his generation. We always knew Becks was powerful, but it was still a surprise to all of us last year when he was named heir.

Ensley releases a low whistle, focusing on something over my shoulder. “Who is that?” she asks, her gaze lit with interest.

Becks lifts his head. His eyes narrow as he tracks someone behind me.

Lifting up and twisting in my seat, I look for what’s captured their attention. It takes me all of a half second to figure it out.

The guy who just entered the diner strides toward the to-go counter, his steps eating up the distance quickly. There’s more than one set of eyes on him as he leans his tanned forearms on the diner bar, waiting to place an order.

He’s wearing a gray t-shirt under his unbuttoned collared shirt that’s pushed up to his elbows. His dark hair, almost black, curls out from under the front of the knit cap seated on the crown of his head. I can’t really tell the exact color of his eyes from this distance, but I assume because of his overall coloring that they’re dark as well. Dark washed jeans and black skate shoes complete his look.

He drums his fingers against the cheap laminate and glances around the restaurant, his mouth curving into a knowing smile when he catches Vesper and her group of female vipers checking him out. He dips his chin in acknowledgment that he caught them staring and then his gaze brushes past the lot of them.

I should probably look away when his face swings toward me, but I don’t. What do I care if he catches me staring? I’m not mooning over him like the other girls are. At most my gaze is inquisitive, so I don’t have anything to hide. But besides all that, I’m expecting new guy’s gaze to skip right over me anyway. I’m invisible to most creatures.

It’s not that I think I’m ugly. Under the right circumstances I would even consider myself cute, but as a shortie with red tinted brown hair that might be considered auburn on a good day, light brown eyes, freckles, and no discernible magic, it’s not like I’m stopping traffic on the regular.

As expected, new guy’s gaze passes over me, but then unexpectedly tracks back.

Shoot. He’s looking right at me.

When our gazes connect, I tell myself to look away, but I can’t. His eyes narrow and a small crease forms between his eyebrows.

I was wrong. His eyes are blue. A light gray-blue, not dark at all.

He tilts his head like he’s confused by me, but then his upper lip peels back and I get the distinct impression that something about me angers him.

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