Page 85 of Now Their Starlet

“Crazy? Starlight, I think you could paint yourself blue, start crawling around on the floor and call yourself a Smurf and your dad would just think ‘oh, look at how silly and cute my daughter is being,’” Beck says.

The absurdity of the image he’s painting would normally snap me out of it, but it doesn’t get rid of that insidious, gnawing anxiety that I’m as ugly on the outside as I feel on the inside.

“Listen to me, Andi,” Leo says, turning me to face him by gently cupping my cheek.

The rest of the car has gone silent. I can feel an additional three sets of alpha eyes on me.

“You do look like you’ve been crying, but none of us care about that.”

For some reason, the honesty in the first part of his statement makes me believe the second half. I swallow hard past the lump in my throat and offer a tiny, shaky nod.

“Crying is healthy, and you’ve been through a ridiculously challenging ordeal. No one needs to earn the right to cry, but if that were the standard, you would have earned it a million times over, okay?”

“Okay,” I breathe out, leaning into his warm hand against my cheek.

And then I lean forward.

I really only meant for it to be a soft peck, but the kiss between Leo and I quickly heats up. My chamomile scent explodes from me, thick with the sweetness of honey that always telegraphs exactly how turned-on I am. I’m basically halfway on Leo’s lap, with my hands fisted in his suit jacket when Beck lets out a soft groan from behind me. I hear the click of his seatbelt before I feel him pressed against my back. His soft lips trail kisses up the column of my neck as he drapes himself around me and Leo.

Hello, delicious man sandwich, we meet again.

Beck’s hands grip the pinch of my waist, as Leo and I continue making out like teenagers. They drift down, squeezing my hips and running along the outsides of my thighs.

Who knew the outside of my thigh could be so sensitive?

I let out a soft whine, my hips shifting as I try to find some sort of relief for the throbbing ache building in my core.

I’ve been so stressed over the past month, I don’t even think I got myself off a single time. Now that I’m finally starting to feel safe, the omega part of my brain is gnawing at the bars of her cage in my mind, telling me to rip off all my clothes and jump on Beck and Leo.

“We should—we should pause here,” Leo pants out when we finally break from our kiss.

I let out a desperate, embarrassing whine when he pulls away before my brain registers his words.

“O—oh,” I pant. “Okay.”

“You deserve better than our first time with you being in the backseat of a car, Lucky Duck,” Leo says, brushing some of my hair behind my ear. “And before you get any silly thoughts in that pretty head of yours...”

He gently takes hold of my wrist and guides my hand down from his chest to his slacks, pressing my palm against the hardness there.

I can feel him throbbing through his pants. Actually throbbing. For me.

“Oh!” I squeak out, my cheeks feeling hotter than asphalt during a heatwave.

“I’m not stopping this because I don’t want this, or don’t want you, or anything like that, okay?”

“Got—got it,” I nod eagerly, almost like I’m a bobblehead.

“Let’s go inside then, yeah?” Beck says, clearing his throat and running a hand through his hair.

His caramel perfume is sweet too, mixing with mine and making my blood rush through my veins.

Eli’s eyes are dark as he holds the car door open for me and I climb out.

Everett pulls me into his arms the moment I step onto the pavement, his chest vibrating with a purr.

“Humor me,” he growls, brushing some of my hair over my shoulder and burying his face against the crook of my neck. He’s been careful not to push any further than touches like this, probably because he doesn’t want to cross any lines, especially considering that we never had a chance to establish a physical relationship before Gina took me away.

Sure, I’m sure everyone else can tell we’re attracted to each other, but acting on that attraction is still a big deal to me.