Page 26 of Sweet Heat

Just wait until I get my hands on you, little Puff!

“What the fuck, dude?” he asks, stepping back with a shake of his head. “You’re acting like a lunatic, almost feral.”

And maybe I am. The team crowds around me, and I snap at them, but we’re all Alphas and know the feeling of being on theedge all too well. In a world where omegas aren’t easy to come by, we ride this feeling constantly—though for those of us with an unclaimed omega wandering around, it’s infinitely worse.

Damien comes out of nowhere with two red bottles, offering them to me, and it’s exactly what I need. Grabbing one, I guzzle it down, barely tasting the damn thing. Chug after chug brings me the calm I couldn’t find, and the team disperses.

“You okay?” Damien asks, thrusting out the second bottle and I grab it like a lifeline. These guys are my very best friends, but there’s no way I can tell them what’s bothering me, so the only option is to bottle it up.

“Yeah. I’m good. Just sick of being on the road, and the heat isn’t helping.” He looks at me like he wants to say more, but Owen wanders over, and Damien swallows it down, pulling his baseball hat off and tossing some ice in it before placing it back over his dark hair.

“One more inning. We’ve got this,” Owen says, bumping my shoulder when our first player goes out to bat at the top of the ninth.

“Get them,” I holler at my teammate, and he tips his hat.

Keep it together.

The cool beer in my hands is a balm to my soul as I sit at the hotel bar. With our three-game away series complete, the drink is a reward for the hard-fought games we fortunately won. Liftingthe deep brown glass bottle to my lips the hoppy flavor flows over my tongue, and I can’t help but enjoy how the bubbles pop. It’s not the true flavor I’m looking for, but it has to be enough for now.

My gaze strays to my phone, and I reach down to tap the screen, but all that’s on it is another freaking notification about baseball scores. Nothing interesting. Nothing from Posie—even though I texted her right after the game.

“Hey hey,” Damien says, sliding onto the bar stool beside mine, and I quickly tuck my phone out of sight and pray he didn’t see it. Swiveling around, I look for Owen and Crimson, but they aren’t there.

“No shadows?” I ask with a smile. Those two can be a lot, and keeping my secrets from them has been harder than I ever imagined. Posie’s a constant presence in my mind, an ache I can’t forget about even when I sleep. And not being able to tell them about it sucks.

“They’ll be down soon.” He raises his hand and flags down the bartender, asking for the same drink as me. I grab a second before he motions for me to follow him to a more comfortable booth since it seems like we’re going to stay for a bit.

“Looking forward to the weekend?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. Damien gives me a wolfish grin.

“Hell yeah! Thanks, by the way, for making that work. We’ve been counting down to Jazzy’s heat for the last two months,” he says, reaching down to adjust himself.

“Something going on there?” I ask, curious if the elusive Pack Moore has finally been ensnared by an omega. I’ve only met Jazzy once, but she seems like a sweet girl. She’s a fairly typical omegawhose primary goal in life is to find a pack to keep her happy. Nice enough, but she’s got nothing on my Puff.

“Nah. I think Owen wants there to be, but there’s no genuine connection outside the bedroom,” he says with a shrug, disappointment sliding over his features. The guys have been dating omegas and even betas for a few years now, but none have stuck. They haven’t even brought any home to the parents. “What about you? Someone special on the horizon?”

The loaded question falls like lead, and the sensation of wearing cement shoes makes my toes curl as I muster the strength to stare him down. There’s a hint of knowledge in his eyes, devoid of anger or disapproval.

Should I fess up?

The words are on the tip of my tongue, and the urge to unburden myself is strong, but though I try to speak, it all gets caught in my throat. Concern courses through me. Can I really ask Damien to keepmysecrets fromhispack? No. It’s just too much.

“Nah,” I reply, fidgeting with the label on my beer bottle. I can’t meet his eyes, so I just pick at it until the sticky backing falls away from the bottle, leaving an irritating residue.

“Bullshit,” he coughs into his hand, giving me a tap with his foot under the table so I’ll look at him. “I don’t think Owen and Willie have picked up on it yet, but even Crimson’s noticed you can’t keep your eyes off her.”

“No idea who you’re talking about,” I croak, doing my best to maintain eye contact.

Don’t blink. Don’t blink.

“Yeah. You do, bud,” he says, his usually calm nutmeg scent growing spicy. “But if you want to play it that way, I’ll let you. I just want you to know I support it.”

Leaning back, I cross my arms, hyper-vigilant not to give anything away. He takes my silence as a reason to continue.

“That girl is sweet as sugar. She could use an Alpha like you to make sure the world doesn’t chew her up and spit her out. For what it’s worth, I think everyone will be thrilled to see her mated to someone they trust. Even Mama Rosa and Willie.” He takes a glug of beer before setting the bottle down with a loud thump.

“Owen would hate it…” I admit, looking around to make sure he doesn’t pop out of nowhere.

“Owen would get over it.”

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