Page 144 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

“No! Dammit!” Emerson groaned, catching her attention, as well as the red letters of defeat filling the TV screen.

A flame snicked to life at the end of Lyric’s thumb, and she tilted the lighter over the mouth of the pipe as she inhaled.

Hazy smoke filled her lungs and a comfortable cloud of ease lessened the tension in her shoulders.

Desi accepted the small pipe when Lyric passed it back a few seconds later.

“Sucks to suck,” Nohen teased Emerson with a smirk.

Lyric’s lips twitched as she watched them bicker. Emerson would never learn.

Ever since Em discovered Nohen had played games professionally, it had become his personal mission to beat him at least once. Letting Lyric win hadn’t counted.

So far, it was still a dream, and Nohen wasn’t one to let him forget. He liked to push Emerson’s buttons in the same way she liked to push Henry’s.

Though Henry had done a great job of pressing all the right buttons the night before.

Lyric’s cheeks flushed.

Pack’s coming together nicely…

Lyric pushed away the ghost of her mother’s voice, ignored the jealous approval she imagined would fill her tone.

“How much longer until we park?” Desi asked.

She laid her head on Lyric’s shoulder and passed Adra the pipe when he motioned for it.

Henry tapped his fingers against his tablet a few times before he hummed. The rumbly sound reminded her of the way he’d hummed against her neck with his head buried in her shoulder.

Her cheeks flushed and she crinkled the bag of gummy bears beside her.

“About an hour. Maybe two.”

That was too long for Lyric to sit here stirring in her own thoughts. But what could she do?

“Quit thinking so hard, you’re killing my buzz,” Desi muttered.

“Sorry,” Lyric responded.

If only it was so easy.

“Still thinking about the interview?” Adra inquired.

Lyric glanced over at him, his dark gaze all gentle and knowing, and she shrugged one shoulder, the one not occupied by Desi.

The weight on Lyric’s right shoulder lifted, and Desi shoved her off the couch. “Go cuddle with your alpha, I want the couch to myself.”

Lyric scoffed, but it was a lot easier to walk across the short space and curl up in Adra’s lap than she wanted to admit.

“So?” he prompted.

Nohen and Emerson had paused in their bickering, giving Lyric all of their attention, and her cheeks flushed. She smothered the urge to burrow her head in Adra’s chest, and instead glanced down at her fingers she twisted together anxiously.

Her head was foggy with the gentle high from the weed, and it was just enough to jumble her thoughts and loosen her tongue.

“Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about it. It pisses me off.”

“What part bothers you the most?”