“Please don’t say ‘scissoring’,” Jenna interjected.
Jaeyong’s small smile widened. “What day is Aureli? I might splurge on an almond milk mocha with that weird chickpea whipped cream.”
Aureli groaned. “I was so close to winning! I had one at twelve pounds, eight ounces.”
Tara tapped his leg with her foot as she returned to the group. “There’s always next week.”
Grayson remained silent, plunging his hand into the bowl Tara pushed to the center of the ring.
Jenna watched him from the corner of her eye. “You good, Gray?”
Grayson knew his face was already going red. “Fine.”
“Didn’t you have that date yesterday?” she pressed. “How was it?”
He shoved a handful of pretzels into his mouth and grunted. Unfortunately, that was not enough to deter her.
“Not great, huh?” Jenna patted his knee. “Want to talk about it? Venting might help.”
The other three were doing a very poor job of concealing their intrigue.
“You went out with an Alpha, right?” Aureli asked. “Was he mean or something?”
“Or ugly?” Tara chimed in.
Grayson drew his knees to his chest and buried his face in them with a groan. “He was insanely attractive, I just fucked it all up.”
Jaeyong scooted closer and rested a hand on Grayson’s back. “What happened?”
“I freaked out!” Grayson threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. Tara had replaced her LED lights with a tulipchandelier. “I was all shaky and stuttering and god, it was so embarrassing.”
“I’m sure you weren’tthatbad,” Jenna argued. “What’d the Alpha do?”
“He was polite at first. Tried to make conversation, offered to share his food and drink, but…” Grayson let himself fall backward, back hitting the floor. “At the end, he said I was terrified of Alphas and shouldn’t date them.”
Someone gasped, but Grayson didn’t bother sitting up. “He was right, though. I’m scared of them. I shouldn’t have gone.”
“Come on, sit up,” Jenna coaxed. She hauled Grayson back upright. “It’s not your fault. We have to see Alphas at their worst every day with our job. Of course you’re nervous around them.”
“He said I was shaking like a cornered rat.”
“What the fuck?” Aureli’s voice was tinged with outrage. “That’s not okay, no matter how bad the date went.”
“Iwas, though.” Grayson set his drink down and tangled his fingers in his hair. “I couldn’t relax.”
“Still!” Aureli shook his head. “He didn’t need to say it like that.”
“Guys, Miami is so small,” Grayson moaned. “What if I run into him again?”
“Give him a swift middle finger?” Tara suggested helpfully.
Grayson chuckled and lifted his head. “Whatever. It’s over now. Don’t let me go on any more dates for a while.”
“Yes sir.” Jenna raised two fingers to her forehead in a salute. “Speaking of dating, is anyone else on the market? Seen any cute Alphas? Or Omegas. Or… whatever you’re into.”
Aureli rolled his eyes. “It’s been less than two weeks.Andwe work somewhere that basically only caters to mated pairs.”
“So?” Jenna argued. “We have days off. Do you know how many singles events there are on this island?”
