Page 45 of Perfect Alpha

“What are you looking for, Victory?” His tone is so soft, and the candlelight makes him glow like a bronzed god.

“I’m notlooking, exactly,” I reply, stumbling over my words like a face plant into the curb. “I just… I’m open to whatever happens with the right guy.”

He nods slowly. “I can appreciate that. For what it’s worth, I’m enjoying myself tonight. All cards on the table… I want to go out with you again. And I’m not just saying that because you can kick my ass.”

I can’t understand why tears burn the back of my eyes but decide not to examine it any further. “I’d really like that, Vince.”

Liar!

I wouldn’t like it at all.

A polite escape is impossible, so we linger over coffee and dessert while I debate the merits of sleeping with him just to get it over with, or waiting for the three dates that Fiona insists are standard practice.

However, besides being madly in love with Cade, I’m also terrified that I forget what to do. I’m not looking forward to getting naked with anyone new, but maybe it’s like ripping off a Band-Aid.

We get into more personal topics, like how old we were when we had our first kiss. He’s shocked to learn I was eighteen, and I’m not surprised to learn he was ten. We both lost our virginity at nineteen, so while he started early, it clearly didn’t help.

The last time he dated seriously was back in LA, so no crazy ex-girlfriends are lurking around, and he’s not hung up on anyone.

Unlike me.

We decide to walk back to my place, and he makes the “will we or won’t we” decision by calling it out.

“I would love nothing more than to ask you to share a bottle of wine tonight, but I really like you. I’m not in the market to one-night stand you.”

I’m half-disappointed and half-relieved, but I do set my purse and Aidan’s costume on the ground so I can kiss Vince goodnight.

His lips are soft but firm with enough insistence that I know he really does wish we were heading upstairs. My hands run through his hair when he slides his tongue into my mouth, and I realize this is averygood first kiss.

And yet I couldn’t care any less.

Chapter 17

Cade

Mydadhadcountlesssetbacks throughout the summer: falling and breaking his arm, significant memory loss, and terrifying bursts of rage, to name a few.

It reinforces that we made the right call getting him onto a waiting list for full-time care, but it doesn’t make it any easier to live with the decision.

Hannah hasn’t been able to stomach his medical issues, so I’ve been taking on the brunt of helping him, not wanting to give her any added stress, especially while pregnant.

The doctor’s solution is medicating Dad into oblivion, which is the only thing making it possible for him to be around other people without someone getting hurt.

I’ve been so busy just getting through day-to-day life. I haven’t had the mental energy to fully process everything my family is losing. Gut-wrenching devastation comes when I’m lying in bed unguarded, sleep failing me despite the exhaustion and heartache.

I hate constantly burdening Julia and Kevin, so I convinced Gavin to take my role this weekend while Hannah works. We have a hot tub, and he’s invited girls over for after Aidan and Dad go to sleep. Everything worked out, but depending on anyone doesn’t come easy.

Trepidation fills me because I don’t have nearly as much confidence that my conversation with Victory is going to work out quite as well as the logistics did.

An overnight bag is slung across my shoulders. Surely she won’t send me away, even if I end up crashing on the couch.

New York City is exactly how I left it the handful of times I’ve been here, mostly to watch Bobby play: noisy, dirty, and snobby.

Everyone talks about Central Park, as though one park in the middle of hell makes up for the fact that you’re in hell. Maybe I can convince Victory to let me buy her breakfast while she shows me what the big deal is tomorrow morning.

Well, if she hasn’t killed me by then.

A smile tugs at my lips because even angry Victory makes my dick hard.

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