"Harper and Ben seem really happy." He takes a slow sip of his drink, his gaze drifting past me toward the dance floor. Toward Mason, Arthur, and Knox. "You and your guys really made it happen, huh."
"So did Luna and Maren and Harper and Ben," I reply. "But yeah. We did."
Grant nods. Swirls his beer.
"Listen, I only mention it because I care," he says, holding my gaze. "But people have been talking. About your new… pack."
I shift my weight. "Have they."
"It's a small town, Beth. People have opinions." He waves his beer hand vaguely toward the dance floor. "Some people think it all happened kind of fast. That maybe it was, you know…"
He trails off like he's waiting for me to fill in the blank.
"Desperate," he finishes. "And look, I really hope that isn't the case, because even though I've moved on, I still care about you. I want the best for you. You know?"
My jaw tightens. I feel it in my molars first, then my temples, then in my fingers, which curl slowly at my sides.
I look at him for a long time. Long enough that his practiced concern starts to flicker.
"You know what, Grant?" I say. "Thank you for sharing."
His face brightens a fraction.
"It's really nice of you to act like such an asshole. Makes having moved on even better."
I turn and walk straight toward the dance floor, where the music is loud and the lights are gold and Arthur is already reaching for me with one hand, pulling me into the crowd.
Mason appears on my left. Knox on my right. And then Luna's there, and Harper drags Ben over, and for a while there's nothing but bass and laughter and Maren attempting a move she saw on TikTok.
Just like that, my entire world shrinks to the radius of the dance floor.
18
Beth
Arthur's crotch is at my eye level and nobody is addressing it.
"Great," I say. "We're really nailing our pack dynamic here."
"Focus," Knox says.
"I am focused," I say. "It's just that Arthur's zipper is three inches from my face."
"You're welcome," Arthur says.
It's half past midnight. Nobody wanted the night to end after the party, so Knox suggested we play "the human knot" (yes, it does sound dirty). Reach across, grab two hands that aren't next to you, untangle without letting go. We are four moves in and more tangled than when we started.
Mason shifts behind me to free his arm from Knox's. The movement presses his hips flush against mine. I feel him. All of him.
"Knox," Mason says. His voice sounds like he gargled gravel. "Step through."
Knox ducks under Arthur's arm. The motion drags his chest along my body, his jaw grazing my temple. His elbow catches my breast and he freezes.
"S — sorry, accidental."
"P—Part of the game," I say, like my pulse didn't just spike hard enough to register on seismograph equipment.
"Now, I need to twist through there." He nods toward the gap between me and Arthur.
