Page 34 of Heat Island
“It’s her sister’s wedding, you are aware of that, yes?” I ask.
Kyren rolls his eyes. “I think I’ve got it, chief.”
Once the plane starts taxiing, I pull out my tablet and clear my throat. “Now that you decided to grace us with your presence, Kyren, let me brief you all on what I have.”
Kyren sprawls across two seats, guitar case propped against the window. “Hit us with it, Calculator. But keep the math to a minimum.”
“You’ll call me by name or we can drop you off somewhere over the Atlantic, Kyren.”
“Whatever you say, Cassius.”
“This isn’t a joke. We’re pretending to be Trinity’s committed pack for an entire week.”
“Relax. How hard can it be to pretend to be in love with a hot omega?” He downs his champagne before reaching for the guitar at his side. “Just follow my lead.”
“Some of us have plans for more than just the next week.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, fighting off a sudden headache. Kyren always does this to me, no matter how much I try to keep him from getting under my skin. “I’ve compiled a comprehensive profile of Trinity based on her OurLog activity and other social media presence.”
Kyren chokes on a laugh. “You hacked her accounts? Isn’t that illegal? I thought you were the one who was always so insistent on following the rules.”
“I didn’t hack anything. I have legitimate access to user data for security purposes.” My voice borders on strident, and I can’t seem to stop it. “And if you’re referring to that incident senior year, you didn’t leave me much choice when my thesis was flagged as 100% plagiarized.”
“Sure, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Kyren strums a chord on his guitar. “And I didn’t steal your thesis, we just happened to use all the same sources.”
Lucas leans forward to rub my shoulder while I resist the urge to throw my laptop at Kyren’s damn head. “Honey, relax. Just tell us what you found out.”
I swipe through my notes. “She works sixty-plus hours weekly at her event planning business. Hasn’t taken a vacation in three years. Listens to true crime podcasts and reads romance novels with explicit content. She’s allergic to peanuts and prefers red wine to white.”
“Stalker much?” Kyren interjects.
“It’s called preparation. Something you wouldn’t understand.” I continue, “The wedding color scheme islavender and champagne. We need to coordinate our attire accordingly.”
Kyren rolls his eyes. “I’m not wearing lavender or whatever the hell the color of champagne is supposed to be. Isn’t that just a light shade of brown?”
I sigh. “Really, Kyren? Wardrobe is where you draw the line?”
“Everything I own is black, can’t do anything about that.”
“You will if you want to look like you belong with Trinity.”
“Purple isn’t my color, Calculator. Clashes with my aura.”
“Your aura?” I scoff. “This isn’t a joke. Trinity’s counting on us to pull this off convincingly.”
Kyren strums another chord. “I’ll wear the black. Black goes with everything.”
“The point is to match Trinity’s bridesmaid dress, which is lavender.”
“Why am I even here if you’re going to micromanage everything?” Kyren throws his hands up.
“That’s exactly what I’ve been wondering. Why are you here?”
Kyren grins. “Matheo’s paying off my student loans. Plus, I get a vintage Strat out of the deal.”
“So you’re just in this for the money?” I slam my laptop closed. “Trinity deserves better than that.”
“Hey, we’re all getting something out of this arrangement. You and Lucas get your shot at adoption. Matheo gets a scent-matched omega to salivate over. I finally get to be debt-free. Trinity gets her revenge on her exes. Everybody wins.”
“This isn’t just about?—”
