Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 148434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
The corner of my mouth almost lifts.
“Fucking SFO,” an Epsilon bodyguard snarls under his breath.
I swallow down the meat, a lump left in my throat, and after Banks throws me a water bottle, I return to Jane. Unscrewing the cap, I pass her the water.
“Merci.” She drinks, and I notice that she’s only eaten one heart.
I finish off mine in under two minutes. Wiping my fingers off with a napkin, I’m forcing myself not to touch her portion. Don’t do it.
But I want to put my girlfriend out of her fucking misery.
Her eyes water. “God. I despise this,” she mutters under her breath.
I reach for the carton. “I can eat it—”
“No, no,” she says quickly, then pauses, palm to her mouth. “I can… I can do my share.”
Jane is an alpha. I love that she’s in this with me. But she has limits like everyone, and the fact that she’s ignoring them concerns the holy hell out of me.
My brows knit. “What about delegating?” She likes to delegate tasks on strengths and weaknesses. She can’t stomach bloodied rabbit. I can.
“This is different.” She chews slowly, then swallows. “I have to do my equal part.”
She washes down the heart and then picks up another with a heavy breath. Quietly, she asks her brothers, “What happens if I vomit?”
Eliot grins. “You’ll have to eat it.”
“No,” I say at the same time as Beckett.
“You’ll lose if you puke,” Charlie says. “The game stops for you, but Thatcher will continue.”
Jane looks simultaneously determined and afraid. “I’m finishing.” Pinching her nose, she places another heart in her mouth.
She gags instantly. One more gag and she’s puking—she starts to.
I cover her mouth with my hand.
What I do for love and pussy.
Jane has to force down vomit. Her blue eyes flit to me with relief and appreciation. She swallows. Her cheeks radiate heat against my hand, and I’m more in love with this girl today than I was yesterday.
I didn’t think that was possible.
She has five hearts left to eat. I kiss her temple, and it takes ten minutes for her to eat the next two.
Three more to go.
I wipe her watering eyes while her dirtied hands hover mid-air. And then her phone rings, and I eye her breasts.
She stuffed her phone in her bra. Eating a mouthful, her eyes spark with panic and rest on me.
Her brothers are going to have to deal. I reach down into her rainbow-hued blouse. My fingers brush against the soft flesh of her breasts, and volcanic tension bubbles between me and her—our eyes latched.
Our breaths caught.
And I pull out her cellphone on the fourth ring.
“What was that about respecting our sister?” Charlie cocks his head.
I grind my teeth. Whatever I say will be another shovel of dirt and deeper grave I’m digging. Lord fucking knows I can’t find the perfect words.
Jane tries to speak with a mouthful. Mumbling.
“The ears can’t understand thy tongue,” Eliot says.
She enunciates better. “I asked him to grab… my phone.” She swallows, then nods me on to answer the phone.
Audrey Cobalt is calling. Back when I was just Jane’s bodyguard, her thirteen-year-old carrot-orange-haired sister would gawk up at me while I was on-duty. I’d wait for her to say something, and she’d just let out this wheezy sigh.
Easily smitten, I’m sure she’s had a crush on half the team, but the one that grew strong was towards Oscar Oliveira. She’d bake him cookies, up until the Hot Santa video leak.
Audrey sent the footage to a friend, who leaked the video and screwed all of Omega.
It wasn’t her fault. I was a lead. That was on me. The video should’ve never existed in the first place.
I put their sister on the line.
“Jane?” Audrey says tearfully.
Jane frowns at the phone and clears her throat of food. “Audrey, what’s wrong?”
“I heard all six of you are there and I’m not. You’ve all left me out.” Her voice cracks, nearing a sob. “Us, Cobalts—we’re a seven. Not a six. Yet you…you kept me from joining tonight, why? Is it because I’m untrustworthy? Because I leaked the bodyguard video? I promise you can trust me! I promise. Please, give me another—”
“Stop,” Charlie groans, pinching his eyes.
Jane shoots him a nasty look and then tells her sister, “I trust you with all my heart, Audrey.” It sounds more than sincere. Like if she could, she’d die with those as her last words.
I stare at Jane, my chest rising with a powerful jolt of emotion.
Audrey sniffles. “Why then?” Her voice rattles. “Why not include me now?”
“Very important question, Audrey.” Jane glares at her brothers. “Why keep out our trustworthy sister?”
“She helped with the cards,” Tom defends.
Beckett answers coolly, “She was with Winona and Kinney. We didn’t want all the little girls here—”
“I knew it!” Winona Meadows shouts.
Kinney Hale comes onto the line. “You’re all a bunch of ugly trolls! We don’t even like you—”