Page 35 of Fur-Ever Home

"It's Benjamin," I said automatically.

"Oh." He sank onto the bed, crestfallen.

My face burned. I'd called Connor "baby" several times last night, and he hadn't minded. "But I'm beginning to like it when you call me Ben," I admitted. "Just not Benji. Never Benji."

He frowned at me. "Benji's a dog's name. I would never call you that."

"Thank you." I cleared my throat. "What about you? I know you liked being called 'baby,' but do you have a nickname or anything?"

He grinned. "I'd appreciate it if you don't shorten my name to Con. It makes me feel like a criminal."

I could understand that.

"When I played with my pack's pups as a wolf," he continued, "they called me Connie. I kinda liked it."

"Connie," I said, trying it out on my tongue. "But only as a wolf, right? Seems weird to call you that now."

"Yeah." He stood and stretched, showing off every line of his muscular form. His gait hitched when he stepped toward the bathroom, and he grinned back at me. "I'm going to feel you all day."

"That's the hottest thing anyone's ever said to me."

I followed him to the bathroom and into the shower, where we repeated what I hoped would become our morning routine if everything continued to go well. Connor and I didn't know much about each other yet, but damn. He gave the best blowjobs.

Our lackluster room service breakfast arrived fifteen minutes later than they said it would. We sat at the two-seater bistro table in the corner with a spread of undercooked bacon, lukewarm eggs, and soggy toast.

Connor more than made up for it with his easy conversation. He'd been all over the world selling cryptocurrency, of all things. My family talked about blockchain like it was one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but Connor saw it as just another form of money.

"It's not real, though," I said during a lull in conversation.

"Unless it's backed with gold, no money is real." Connor shrugged.

I started to argue about the FDIC and insurance, but Connor held up his hand and bit his bottom lip. "It doesn't matter,anyway. My crypto wallet days are over. It was fun while it lasted."

I felt like an ass for making him sad, so I changed the subject. "Is there anywhere you want to go in Vegas before our bus leaves at six?" It was the city that never slept, after all.

He gave me a soft smile and scooped both of my hands from the tabletop, holding them with his. "Wherever you are."

My heart melted. I couldn't believe I was already falling for this sweet-talking alpha. Me. The guy who hated alphas on principle.

Connor didn't feel like an alpha to me. He felt like … mine.

On the bus,I couldn't believe how easily we fell into the same rhythm of conversation. I turned my body as far as the seatbelt would allow to watch Connor speak, and he regaled me with tales of Europe, the Middle East, and one bad night in Russia.

My dad texted in the middle of the Russia tale, probably responding to my text with my bus's arrival time and offering to catch a ride share to the party so he didn't have to pick us up.

Instead of continuing with his story, Connor gestured to my phone. "Something important?"

"If it is, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm on a bus for the next seven hours."

"True." He laughed and continued telling me about two streetwalkers, a pimp, and what he thought was a hostel but was a brothel.

Once we finished laughing at what must have been a terrifying experience, Connor nudged me again. "What did your dad say?"

I read the text and chuffed a laugh. "He's begging to pick us up, so he doesn't have to suffer through the party without us."

"Why? What's wrong with the party?"

"It's a kid's birthday party," I said. "My niblings are bad enough, but there will be other kids, too. If they're friends with Jeffrey, they're probably brats."

---