Carlos’ face got a dreamy look. “Yeah. She’s something special.”
“Oh, she is. You lucky asshole.” I hadn’t been very serious about dating; I mostly just fucked around. My work and classes kept me busy. Also, for the longest time the parents hadn’t allowed me to date, and I just didn’t have the patience to date secretly.
“She’s so amazing that sometimes I wonder why she’s even with me. That’s why I haven’t introduced her to people yet. I don’t want them to get attached to her and then she comes to her senses and leaves me.” Carlos’ chocolate scent went salty with sadness as he looked out the window.
“Um, Carlos? You’re a professional hockey player and an actor. You’re good with kids and can cook. I’m not sure how that makes you not worthy?” My eyebrows rose as I drove off.
“Her family is super fucking rich. While I haven’t met her dads, I did some research and Finn Gallagher is a business mogul and a little scary. Also, she’s smart, beautiful, and amazing.” His shoulders slumped. “And an omega.”
Damn, he had itbad.
“Carlos, you’re a catch.” And hot. Hockey players were ripped.
He was also just a genuinely nice, loyal person. The kind that would do anything for his friends and family.
We’d only met about a year ago. But I felt like I’d known him forever.
He didn’t remember us getting totally fucked up and making out at one of Dimitri’s parties. But I did.
If we got fucked up and made out again, I wouldn’t mind. And if she wanted to join us?
I’d be okay with that, too.
Yes, she was my friend’s omega. But I wanted to hold onto those thick thighs of hers and fuck her… preferably while Carlos joined in.
“Am I? Sometimes I feel like a hot mess who barely has it together.” Carlos checked his phone as we pulled into the garage of the fancy building, where my sister’s pack had a giant-asspenthouse.
“We’re in our twenties. Are we supposed to have it together? I mean, Verity does, but she’s an overachiever.” I laughed as I parked in Verity’s spot next to her mate’s sports car.
“Well, yeah. Everyone has that sister.” Carlos snorted.
“You won’t fuck it up,” I promised.
If Carlos was a hot mess, I was a national disaster.
We got out of the car, and I checked it over to make sure we hadn’t left anything in it, then sprayed it with de-scenter. There. My sister would never know I’d taken it.
Now I had lots of money to party with.
I grabbed my suitcase and snowboard, which I’d stored in their SUV. We left the building and I followed Carlos.
“Are we getting a car? We’re going right to the airport?” I shivered in the night air. It was a lot colder here than in Research Circle.
“My place. We have time to have a beer, and I need to grab my shit. We’re taking the subway. It’s faster, especially with the Merry-thon road closures,” he told me, getting my suitcase.
“Sounds good.” I hadn’t been to his place yet. But the two homes of hockey players I’d been to had been amazing. He probably had a tricked-out place to suit his carefree image.
“Dusty caught your race online and thought it looked really fun,” Carlos said as he looked up from his phone.
I followed Carlos as we took the subway, then walked down the street in an area I’d never been to. Shiny high-rises had been replaced with lots of brick buildings with cozy shops on the bottom and apartments on top. It had a very different feel from where Verity was–and the university town in the South where I’d lived most of my life.
Finally, we stopped in front of a building that had a print shop and a little store at the bottom, and went to a door right between them. Carlos keyed in a code and we went inside.
“This is your place? It’s kinda far from practice and the arena.” I frowned. It was neat and well kept, but not where I’d expect a hockey player to live.
“Yeah. But this is where my family lives. That print shop? It’s run by my sister Beatriz’ husband. They live on the third floor. Anita? She and her pack live on the second. Mamá and Dulce live on the fourth,” he said as we went up the stairs. “I live on the sixth. Other people live here, too.”
I took that in. “Oh. Wow. I sorta like that. You’re close if you need something, but you can go home to your own place.”
