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“Right?” Sloane confirms, glancing up at him sweetly. “We’ve been staying at the packhouse every night anyways…”
“Sure, Dutch,” he nods. Tucking her in closer, he presses a kiss to her temple, and my heart aches with envy. “Whatever you wanna do.”
“Well the new nanny has to actually start first, so don’t rush to move out,” Andie says.
The hunters weren’t as big of a threat when she bowed out from her role in squad leadership a few months ago. She’d planned on stepping away to nanny for her aunt for an entire year, butbecause my best friend is kind of a badass when it comes to handling a gun, we all begged for her to come back sooner.
“But seriously, that would be great,” she adds, giving Sloane a little nod of appreciation. “Thank you.”
“Another round?”
I glance up to see the cocktail waitress, Kelly, approaching our table with a smile on her face and a tray full of drinks in her hands. She’s a damn angel, always anticipating our needs and keeping the drinks flowing while we’re here. She starts passing them out- cocktails for some, beers for others, depending on personal preference- and we all express our gratitude as she sets them down in front of us.
The beer she places in front of me couldn’t have come at a better time; the sharp taste of vodka is still lingering in my throat. I raise it to my lips and take a long pull as Kelly collects the empties and shuffles away, the carbonation tickling on the way down.
“Is that who I think it is?” Avery asks as she takes the stool beside me, and with my bottle still at my lips, I peer around it to follow her line of sight toward the door.
I choke when I see Javi walking in.
“What’s he doing here?” Iver questions defensively.
“I invited him,” Madd says, a smug grin stretching his lips as he tosses up a hand to wave Javi over. “We need to learn more about him, right? And Lo hasn’t had any luck yet in IT, so I figured it was time to work this from a new angle.”
I’m still sputtering, my nose burning as I struggle through my hacking cough to catch my breath.
What the hell?! Why didn’t he tell me he was coming tonight?!
My throat’s raw from choking on my beer and my heart’s thumping so hard that it feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest. I drop my gaze to the tabletop, putting all my effort into schooling my expression before my friends catch on.
Don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look up…
But damnit, I do. And when I see those dark eyes gazing back at me, meeting mine instantly, my insides turn to mush. That damn pull tugs in my chest, stronger than it ever has before- it’s suddenly a sharp yank, like my soul’s trying to tear itself from my body and crawl into his.
“Hey, man,” Madd greets as Javi steps up to our table, sticking out his hand for a fist-bump.
“Hey.” Javi knocks his knuckles against Madd’s, sweeping his gaze around the table while flashing that disarming grin of his. By the time his eyes land on me, my body’s coursing with so much adrenaline that I feel like I could pass out on the spot.
This isn’t happening.
How am I supposed to act around him in front of my friends like this? I’m a terrible liar. There’s no way they won’t pick up on my strange behavior- especially the redhead seated on my left. She knows me too well.
Avery rises from her barstool on my right, and I whip my head toward her in a panic.
Don’t you fucking dare…
“You can have my seat,” she offers, flashing Javi a flirty smile. “I’m gonna grab another round of shots.”
“Thanks,” he drawls, and the deep tenor of his voice sends a little shiver up my spine.
‘I assure you I can back it up, Cariño…’
My cheeks heat at the memory of him uttering those words and what we’d just finished doing at the time, my fists clenching in my lap as he sits down next to me. His clean scent assaults my nose and I abruptly turn away, lifting my beer and taking a long swig from the bottle to distract myself.
“Hey,” Andie greets brightly, reaching across the table in front of me to extend a hand to Javi. “I’m Andie.”
He leans in to shake it and holy hell I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life. I’m trapped between my best friend and fated mate, each of them pressing in on either side of me while I struggle to retain my composure and pretend that I’m not freaking out right now.This is fine.
“Nice to meet you,” Javi says politely as he pulls his hand back, shifting his weight on his stool as he drops it to his lap.
