Page 73 of Perfect Alpha

Bobby chuckles. “Am I that easy to read?”

I roll my eyes. “Give me some credit. I know you, ace. I’ve had your number since grade school.”

Bobby grins as he relents. “My boy misses you.”

I let out a groan. “Iknewthis was about Cade.”

Bobby’s expression turns serious, which is rare enough to shock the next retort out of me. “I mean it. He’s hurting. Bad. He misses you.”

“He should callBritt.”

Now it’s Bobby’s turn to roll his eyes. “You know better than that, Victory.”

I disentangle myself from his embrace. “Meet my beautiful friend, Savanna.”

Bobby stares me down for another six uncomfortable beats before turning his attention to Savanna, his annoyance shifting to awe while he soaks her in.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Bobby says smoothly, taking Savanna’s hand to his lips and kissing it while keeping his gaze on hers.

Savanna makes doe eyes at Bobby, and I can almost see her fall in love – well, lust – so I figure I’m off the hook. All I want to do is go home and watch Netflix. My brain needs some time to just melt and not think about anything.

“I’m going to head out,” I tell them, hoping to make a quick and painless escape.

“We need to talk,” Bobby insists, his eyes back on me with the same focused determination that got him into the major leagues.

“My relationship with Cade is none of your damn business.”

“At least take one of his calls,” Bobby pleads. “Baby girl, youknowI wouldn’t lie to you. It’s different this time.” His words echo Hannah’s, and I wonder if they prepared speaking notes. “I’ve never seen him so miserable except the first time around.”

“That wasalso his fault,” I point out. “Cade is the engineer of his own misery.”

Bobby runs his fingers through his hair in exasperation. When he turns to Savanna, I take a moment to admire the rose tattoo on the back of his neck, the easiest way to distinguish him from Gavin. I love tattoos, but I’m too much of a chicken to get one.

“Hey, Savanna, I wouldloveto take you out for drinks tonight, beautiful,” Bobby says. “Do you mind waiting here while I walk our friend to a cab?”

“That’s no problem,” Savanna replies sweetly.

Bobby snaps his fingers, and a server comes over immediately. “Get her whatever she wants. I’ll be back in ten.”

I hug Savanna and tell her to call me tomorrow. Her expression is completely star-struck when I pull back, and if Bobby isn’t gentle with her, I’ll kick his ass.

He throws his arm around my shoulders, and we walk out into the cool night air. “What’s the deal with you guys?”

“Me and Savanna?” I ask innocently.

He gives me a long-suffering look. “No, smartass. You and Cade.”

“You know the deal,” I snap. “You’ve known it for years. Cade and I have connected lives because of Hannah and Aidan. We have a lot of pent-up emotions from how things between us ended and never actually talking about it.”

“Why didn’t you talk about it?” he demands.

“Some conversations aren’t easy to have, so you avoid them,” I explain. Even thinking about going into detail about everything that happened between us has bile rolling in my stomach. “Besides, he was such an asshole, I never wanted to. But the thing is, we never get closure because we see each other constantly and re-open old wounds.”

“So, maybe it’s time to have the conversation no matter how hard it is.”

My voice is way too loud, but I can’t help it. “This is none of your goddamn business,” I repeat.

“Two of my best friends in the world are miserable. Itismy business,” he insists.

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