Page 7 of Ryder

Ryder… I tested out how it sounded and decided it suited him.

Ryder and the interrupter continued on in a steadily more heated conversation, talking in low rumbles that I couldn’t hope to hear over the music.

“Fine, then,” Ryder said before turning back to me.“Gotta go do some work, baby.Enjoy your birthday party.Try not to get up to any mischief.”

And with a wink, he was striding off, following the other man to a destination unknown.

I glanced to my left, where Art, the cheerful barman, gave me a grin and a shrug as he unloaded a stack of clean glasses from the rinser.“Want another cocktail, love?”he called.

Smiling back, I lean in closer to the bar.“Who’s paying for it?Ryder said the drinks were free?”

Art chuckled.“They are.Jace said everything is on his tab, so to speak.”

“Jace?”I asked.“Is that the alpha with my sister?”

Art nodded.“Yeah, that’s Jace.Hard to miss all seven feet of him.”

“He must have a lot of money.”Some people considered me too nosy.I preferred to think of myself as forthright.

“He owns the place,” he replied, closing the door to the glass rinser, and turned to me.“With Ryder and Dane, the alpha who just came to talk to him.”

“So, Ryder?Was that the alpha I was talking to?”

Art nodded again slowly.“Trust me, they can afford your party.Want that drink now?”

My smile bloomed.“Give me your best cocktail, then.”

“Best cocktail in the house, coming up.”He grabbed a shaker from the shelf behind him, along with a couple of liquor bottles.I watched the whole process.It was quite a work of art.Done with the mixing, he selected a martini glass, poured out a cloudy liquid, dropped in a sprig of something green and a slice of apple, then slid it over the bar toward me.

“What is it?”I asked.

“Try it and see.If you don’t like it, I’ll make you another one.”

I took a cautious sip.Sweet, like toffee apples, but with a kick.“Yum!”

He grinned and moved on to serve the next person.

“Hey, Em!”A tipsy Jewels threw her arm around my neck and planted a kiss on my cheek.

“Em!”Sandra and Lexi chanted.

“Oh, what’s that?”Lexi asked, eyeing my cocktail with open envy.

“Here, try it.”I handed it over before thumbing in the direction of the bartender.“Art made it.”

Her eyes rolled back as she took a sip.“Bloody amazing.Let’s all get one!”

As Lexi batted her lashes at Art, I scanned the crowd, looking for Jude.Jewels and Jude were my besties.The rest were more acquaintances from my design class at college.Once they’d heard where we were going, friends invited friends.Before I knew it, my twenty-second birthday had turned into the perfect excuse to party in Desparion.The room was now crowded.Not only my friends, but a fine selection of hot alphas and betas we had been partying with before our relocation to the private room.

“Where did the hot alpha go?”Jewels reached up to straighten my cat ears.“When I saw you talking to him, I thought that was the last we’d see of you tonight.”

Great!Was I talking to him with wonky cat ears?No wonder he jumped at the chance to escape an awkward conversation.Likely, the reason he’d avoided looking at me was that my damn headband had slipped and he thought I was a twit.He owned a bar, for goodness’ sake…with his partners.Either way, a place like this didn’t run without a good businessman running the show.

“His partner came over and called him away for some business.He’s the owner of the place.”I didn’t bother to hide my pout.“Along with two other alphas.Sloane is with one of them now.”

Jewel’s mouth popped open on a gasp.“What the fuck?Go team Sloane!It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch.”

I laughed as she high-fived me.“Yeah, I’m totally jelly.I was a bit worried when I saw her leaving, but you know Sloane.If she was comfortable heading off with a guy, she’d have already uploaded his ID to the Play Safe app.”

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