“Sure.” I shrugged and took another mouthful. “How’d you know I was struggling to recall her name?”
He smirked. “You scrunch your nose when you’re trying to remember something.”
“I do?” The spoon paused halfway to my mouth “And . . . you noticed?”
“I notice little things,” Bastian said casually. “Also, you look adorable when you do it. Almost as cute as when I make you blush, which is hilariously easy by the way.”
I opened my mouth to tell him off but clicked it closed when two people took a seat on either side of him.
The woman was a stunning redhead with freckles across her nose and cheeks. She wore a cloak, but I got a glimpse of some impressive curves before she sat. Her companion was equally gorgeous. He had the vertically slit pupils of a feline shifter set in deep blue eyes and had warm brown skin. Perfectly sculpted cheekbones were framed by dark curly hair.
They were both incredibly hot, which meant they were Bastian’s type.
Relief flowed through me. Bastian could occupy himself with them for the evening and leave me the fuck alone.
“Róise.” Bastian grinned at the woman in a way that almost had me blushing. Then he somehow made it even more indecent when he looked at the man. “Asad.”
I felt heat rise to my cheeks at the amount of sensuality Bastian sank into that one word.
“Get a room already,” I muttered before taking another bite of stew.
“Your new packmate is lovely. Will she be joining us?” the woman, Róise, asked. Her voice matched her appearance, breathy with a lyrical quality to it.
“No.” I glanced up from my food to meet her light green eyes. “She will not. She would, however, appreciate it if you could keep him occupied all night.”
The feline shifter, Asad, laughed. “We will do our best, pretty little wolf.” He turned his attention back to Bastian. “We have a room upstairs and were just about to make use of the large communal washroom.”
“That sounds promising.” Bastian reached out and toyed with Asad’s long dark hair before releasing it. “I believe I owe you from last time.”
Asad’s eyes sparkled. “You owe both of us.” He rose and held out a hand for Róise, who kissed Bastian’s cheek before taking it and rising to her feet.
“Feel free to join if you change your mind.” Róise winked at me, and the two of them headed up the stairs. They were both really beautiful, and if Bastian weren’t here, I would have taken them up on the offer. Then again, if Bastian weren’t here, they wouldn’t have made the offer to begin with.
I scraped the bottom of my bowl. Maybe I could ask Elizabeth for a second serving, take it up to my room, and snag a book on the way.
“You really don’t care, do you?” Bastian’s curious tone drew my attention back to him. His gaze was completely fixed on me, and in that moment, he looked so much like a cat that had encountered something it didn’t understand that I almost laughed.
“That you’re going to go upstairs and fuck those two?” I pointed up with my spoon.
He nodded.
“I care in the sense that it makes me happy because it means I won’t have to look at you all night.”
I’d meant it to come out as a joke, but I knew I’d failed based on Bastian’s slight flinch. Damn it. Samara always said I needed to work on adjusting my tone when I was trying to be funny.
Cade would have gotten the joke. He tried to hide it, but I’d caught him covering a laugh more than once as we’d worked together.
“Look, Bastian,” I tried again. “You don’t owe me anything and I don’t owe you anything. I truly don’t care who you sleep with.”
I meant it too. As gorgeous as he was, Bastian wasn’t the type to fall in love. He just wanted to have a good time, and while that could be uncomplicated with other people, there was no way it wouldn’t be complicated between us. We were dysfunctional packmates at best. Well, pretend dysfunctional packmates, as they’d made it very clear I wasn’t really part of their pack.
And then there was Ryker. An even more complicated fuck buddy who I needed to stay away from, because clearly, I lacked willpower to deny myself around him.
I’d need to refrain from sex for the next few months while I enacted my plan, which meant I’d need to maintain distance between us. Then I’d be able to fuck whoever I wanted and maybe even find someone—or someones—who looked at me the way Samara’s mates looked at her.
Because I wanted that. I fucking deserved that.
Bastian narrowed his eyes. “Are you planning on taking someone to bed with you tonight?”
