Page 4 of Running on Empty

“Six bucks for—?” the stupid fuck said, settling his arms on the bar, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and leering at me, rather than reaching for his wallet. My wolf stiffened, a growl forming deep inside me. In what world did he think this shit would work with any woman?

“Pay the lady.” Beta boy’s eyes jerked up, his sunken chest swelling, his mates bristling, right before they registered who’d appeared at the bar. And my wolf perked the fuck up. No longer in his office shirt, Jax had on an old band t-shirt that I just knew had been washed so often it was butter soft, but his eyes were anything but. Beta boy collapsed in on himself, as fucks like him often do when they know they’re outmanned. He jerked out some bills, about to slap them down on the bar when Jax said, “And a tip.” I got a couple of gold coins for my trouble, but I smiled again when beta boy took his drink and fucked right off, then I pocketed the tip and put the rest of the money in the till.

“You can’t keep doing shit like that,” I said to Jax, moving to pour the man his drink of choice. Jack Daniels and Coke, which was where his name came from, I was sure. “Jonesy has security here.”

But despite me telling him not to act all gentlemanly, we wanted him to, so damn much. Every little protective gesture was taken as an overture by my wolf, one she wanted to respond to desperately.

“We know he has,” he replied, taking a sip of his drink the minute it was placed on the bar, then sliding a twenty dollar bill my way. “We helped set his team up. Don’t bother with the change.”

“Jax—”

“We just signed a new contract that’s pretty lucrative,” he told me, then nodded for me to take what remained. Who was I to complain if the man wanted to be separated from his money? But then he leant those thick arms of his on the bar, his muscles popping.

Damn.

“Well, congrats,” I said, pulling back to grab a cloth to wipe down the bar, anything to stop looking at him. “You guys deserve it.”

“We’re having a family BBQ tomorrow. You could come.”

“Lois is coming into town?” I asked, my tone deliberately cool. The boys’ parents had owned the house, but when the boys got old enough, they’d bought their parental units out and Lois and her pack had retired out to a block a few hours out of the city.

“Bringing her famous potato salad,” he said with a smile. “And that bloody chocolate cake you like so much.”

“Oh my god…” I groaned. The mental timer I’d allocated to the Spencer pack just got shorter. I’d check them out, to see if they were worth the trouble. If they were, I’d seal the deal tonight after a few drinks, then block and ghost them. I would usually string things out a little longer with a pack, but no alpha trumped Lois’ chocolate cake. “I’ll be there with bells on. What do you want me to bring?”

“Just your fine self,” he replied, his eyes sliding downwards.

And this was the confusing part, the bit that made my wolf whine and pace inside me. The man was sex on two legs, had the attention of every woman here and while he might look me over like I was just as tasty as his mother’s cake, it never went any further than this. When his gaze flicked upwards, I saw the same thing I always did: a tiny flash of guilt, like he got caught fapping over his cousin or something. Because that’s how he viewed me.

I was Stevie, the urchin from next door. Their shadow when we were still kids, the incongruous sight of a girl three years younger than them trailing after a pack of teenage alphas making his mates laugh, at least until I revealed as an omega. The first time I went through my heat I’d thought maybe, just maybe, something would happen, but the boys had disappeared right when I needed them, Lois letting me know later that there was a family emergency.

Yeah, right.

So after that, I’d sorted shit out myself, finding partners, anyone else but the Kelly boys each time I came into heat. And they didn’t disappear again, just watched me leave and go to my chosen partners’ houses over the years without comment, eyes bright silver.

“Well, I betta get my fine self back to work or—” I started to say.

“Whaddya doing standing around yakking for? I don’t pay you—” Jonesy, my manager and bane of my existence, came barrelling over, ready to tear me a new one, when he stopped at the sight of Jax. “Hey, Jax, didn’t see ya there. Stevie get you a drink?”

“She did.” Jax nodded, paying the beta little regard as he drained the rest of his glass, winking at me as he set the glass down on the bar.

Fucking hot, winky alphas.

“Alright, back to work,” Jonesy grumped as soon as Jax was out of earshot. “I don’t pay you—”

“You don’t pay me to do anything,” I shot back, moving to greet the next guy waiting at the bar. “The owners do.”

Jonesy might grumble some shit under his breath, but he never did much more than that. He didn’t dare. I told myself that this deal with the Kelly boys was worth it because no one, literally no one, would mess with me. Not when they were around.

Trouble was, a part of me was still that little girl, coaxed inside by their gentle voices, who felt safe when they were around. But the woman? She wanted a whole lot more from them than just protection from sleazy dickheads in the pub. But as I looked over the patrons’ heads to find them out on the pub floor, I recognised once again that I wasn’t going to get more than that. Because, as usual, the Kelly boys had gorgeous women clustered around them, hanging off their every word.

And at that, my wolf gave up for the night. It was common knowledge that alphas know who their true mates are and they’ll move heaven and earth to make that person theirs. So, whatever pull I thought I felt towards the Kelly pack, it wasn’t real. They weren’t mine and I wasn’t theirs. And one day I’d be forced to watch as they moved some lucky omega into their place next door.

I dared Jonesy’s wrath, fishing out my phone as I set the next patron’s beers on the bar. I took the man’s money as I glanced down at Howlr, then tapped into the app, looking at my messages as I took the next guy’s order. And, in between pouring beers, I read exactly what I was looking for.

We’ll pick you up outside your work at 1am sharp, little omega. Wear something hot or…I rolled my eyes mentally.Nothing at all. Tonight will be explosive.

If I couldn’t have the three men I’d been pining over for most of my life, I’d settle for multiple orgasms and a few fat knots lodging behind my pubic bone. Because it was only then, when I was in the throes of ecstasy, that I forgot all about the hot alphas next door.

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