AllFreeNovel
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Three hours later the five of us were clinking glasses in a sparsely lit fancy bar. I’d borrowed a little black dress from Allie that I barely managed to squeeze into, and she’d opted for a terracotta jumpsuit that set off the warmth of her skin and contrasted with her dark curls that spilled down her back. Luna was in a pink minidress, with a sparkly headband tucked into her riotous blonde curls and blue eyes gleaming with mischief. Meg and Miranda had unknowingly both chosen a gorgeous hunter green that looked beautiful on them.
Luna kissed me hard on the cheek. “Feels like a million years since I’ve seen you.”
“Only three months.”
“That's a long-ass time, Nicky.” Luna thrust her glass in the air. “To the sexiest bunch of ladies in history.”
I laughed and clinked my glass against hers, taking a sip of my appletini. I tried not to think about how nice it would be to have Billie and Jasper here, too, for another evening of dancing. I loved my friends, and it wasn’t fair to them if I was wishing someone else was there, but the absence of the pack was an ache I couldn’t soothe. Being away felt wrong. The appletini helped a bit, and both Allie and Luna had a similar overwhelming chaos energy to Billie that swept me away. They both made me dance with them before passing me to Meg.
“Talk to me, Nicky,” Meg said, dipping low to my ear. “How can I help?”
I put my arms around her and snuggled in. “I don’t think anyone can. I’m just being a baby.”
“Healthy boundaries don’t make you a baby. You know, I still haven’t been part of a heat.”
“Really?” I lifted my head, examining her face in the strobelights. “Why not?”
Meg shrugged. “Never felt right, yet. And if it doesn’t feel right for you to take that step right now, then I’m certainly not going to judge you for it.”
“Thank you,” I said, hugging her tightly.
Miranda appeared, giggling at our side, and a moment later Allie and Luna joined us as well, the five of us dancing until I was breathless. It wasn’t the sexually charged dances I’d shared with the pack; this was distractive chaos.
Miranda fit in great, and all my worries that we weren’t close enough or that maybe she would be too much of the shy librarian stereotype to enjoy herself were for naught. She laughed along with the rest of us.
It didn’t hurt that Luna was the master of bringing in new people so they felt comfortable.
We ate and drank and swapped dating stories, the energy of the evening filling me up with a lightness I desperately needed.
“Alright down to business,” Luna declared. “Who's on the prowl tonight? Meg? Miranda?”
She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
“I’ll wingwoman,” Allie said.
“Aren’t you on the prowl, Luna?” I asked.
She waved me off. “I feel more like assisting tonight. Now, who are we getting laid?”
Miranda burst out laughing and playfully nudged me. “I like your friends. They’re fun.”
“Does that mean we’re helping you?” Luna asked.
“I haven’t done a bar hook-up since my early twenties. I’m pretty sure I’m a little too rusty for it.”
“Nonsense!” Luna said, slapping her hands on the table. “We will un-rust you with some quality hot people. What's your preference?”
Though it felt a bit like prying, I looked at Miranda curiously. She was a beta, too, and this topic had definitely never come up at work.
“I’m an equal opportunist,” she said. “My last boyfriend was an omega, but I’m open to anything.”
An idea struck me like lightning.
“Can I bother you with some questions about that?”
Luna bounced in her seat. “Nicky's got an omega boy on tap.”
“Sure,” said Miranda. “What do you wanna know?”
