“We better bring our A-game to the next one,” I remind him. “That’s the big one.”
If we win, we’ll be in the championship finals.
“Yeah, and…” Corbin’s voice trails off, patting down his afro when a pretty girl strolls past without looking in our direction.
“You should just talk to her.” I roll my eyes as he snaps his jaw closed before he starts drooling. “How long have you had a crush on Nia now?”
Nia is SVU’s Feminist Society president, and she captured Corbin’s heart the moment he first saw her in one of their shared classes. Unfortunately for him, he’s too scared to pluck up the courage to ask her out.
“You say that like talking to her is simple,” he groans, taking a swig from his cup. “I’m a hockey player, remember? She sees the orange shirt and thinks I’m just like…” He gestures at our teammates who are having a burping competition between chugging a giant beer pitcher. “Them.”
Although we’re a team, I don’t necessarily like all of my teammates’ company. Some of them have more muscles than brain cells.
“Then show her you’re not,” I tell him. Since Kyro and Shea Cockburn—two asshole football players—were expelled from campus, all SVU sports teams have been required to comply with stricter codes of ethics. “If Nia got to know you?—”
“Got to know me?” Corbin’s eyes bulge like I’ve suggested he can fly. “Dude, have you ever spoken to her? She’s, like, the smartest person on campus. Plus, when I saw her in Bouncing Bunna last week, I couldn’t even get a word out.” He gazes at her longingly, watching her black locs sway in the breeze as she sits next to a redhead on a picnic blanket, away from the crowd.
Who is that? My eyes focus on Nia’s new companion. She’s fucking gorgeous. Her tanned legs stretch out endlessly in front of her, her deep copper hair pulled up into a high ponytail that swishes around her waist when she laughs. She talks animatedly to Nia, her body language confident and sure of herself, leaning back on her palms with her back straight.
“Who is Nia with?” I can’t take my eyes off the fiery-haired woman. My inner alpha seems to snap to attention, drinking in her features. She’s covered in cute as shit freckles and has full, pouty lips that would look perfect wrapped around my… “I haven’t seen her before.”
She’s not one of the usual puck bunnies who follow us around or come to these post-game parties.
Corbin follows my gaze. “That’s Sabrina Maverick. She’s captain of the volleyball team. I’m surprised you haven’t seen her before.” He smirks. “Apparently, she can punch a hole straight through the net with her serve. Don’t you readThe Valley Voice?”
Admittedly, I don’t spend a lot of time keeping up with campus gossip. I’m too busy at the gym, training, studying, and chilling with my pack. The only time I tend to see anything fromThe Valley Voiceblog is when Luca is laughing over some bullshit they’ve written about me. Last week, they posted about how I allegedly spend hours bleaching my hair before a game for good luck, which he and Orin found particularly amusing.
Corbin keeps talking, but I don’t pay him any attention. My eyes don’t leave Sabrina. She isn’t in swimwear, but seeing how the fabric of her tight T-shirt stretches around her full breasts makes me wonder what she’s hiding underneath.
“Ace!” Corbin waves a hand in front of my face. “Earth to Ace!”
“Huh?” I’m rudely brought back to the present again, clearing my throat to compose myself. I drain what’s left in my red cup before crumpling the plastic. “Let’s go talk to them.”
“What?” Corbin tenses. He’s not typically shy, yet Nia seems to have put the fear of God in him. “We can’t!”
“Sure, we can.” I punch his shoulder. “I’ll be right with you. It’ll be fun.”
“Ace…” He looks like he wants to run in the opposite direction, face scrunched. “I don’t know if I can.”
“You’re Corbin fucking Hollis!” I deepen my voice, the same way I do before we head onto the ice. It’s not quite an alpha bark—using an alpha bark in any sport is illegal, but there’s a tone of voice that can help to inspire confidence that Orin taught me. A trick he learned from his military days. “You can talk to her.”
Corbin still doesn’t look convinced, but before he can protest further, I wrap my arm around his shoulder and steer him over to the two girls chatting on the sand. As we approach, their conversation halts, and they look up at us expectantly.
The moment Sabrina’s amber-gold gaze locks on mine, the music fades into a muffled hum, and I completely forget why I’m even standing there. I open my mouth, but no words come out, entranced by her eyes, which are the exact color of golden honey. Corbin doesn’t seem to be faring much better. The two of us look like gawping morons.
Sabrina crosses her arms and blows a strand of fiery hair off of her face before her lips tick up. “Do you want to join us?” She pats the spot next to her.
Now that we’re standing over them, I have to refrain from inhaling deeply. I can tell she’s wearing scent blockers, recognizing the familiar neutral fresh tones. However, unlike Cindy who smells like a toxic floral fume, I catch a slight hint of something fruity too. Something juicy and delicious that makes me desperate to know her true scent.
“Uh…” is all I manage to get out.
By my side, Corbin nudges me. His deer-in-the-headlights expression pleads for me to pull it together. He’s depending on me. Adler Ace never gets lost for words nor nervous around women. Not ever. Until now…
Sabrina tilts her head to the side, amusement playing on her lips as our feet stay rooted to the sand. “Or is there something else you want?”
Something else I want? Can this girl read my mind? The way her eyes seem to sparkle mischievously makes me think she can. I swallow hard, all sorts of debauched thoughts rushing through my head. Fuck, I could spend all day fantasizing about the things I’d like to do to Sabrina Maverick and exploring her perfect body. She’s the most striking omega I’ve ever seen.
I don’t want to screw everything up before introducing myself, so I manage to collect myself just in time. “We wanted to say hi.”
