The alpha's bride

Episode 7

I melted on the spot. Who could withstand him? More importantly, who would want to?

“You’re Tessa McCaide, right? Staying at the yellow house?”

I stared down at my feet, unable to keep eye contact for one more second. And crap. Why did my beat-up-to-hell Nine Inch Nails t-shirt have to be the one on top? The one with the silver dollar sized hole just to the left of my belly button.

Perfect. On the day I looked like a homeless weirdo the hottest guy ever wanted to talk to me. The one guy who made me feel things I couldn’t even begin to describe. It was more than attraction, though that was there in spades. I was drawn to him.

“I’m Dastien Laurent.” An accent peeked through as he spoke and held out a hand.

I couldn’t turn it down.

“Do you always wear gloves?”

“Usually.” My face burned. “I’m not supposed to be talking to St. Ailbe’s kids.”

He laughed, golden eyes glittering. “I’m not exactly a St. Ailbe’s kid anymore. I graduated already.” He leaned in closer to me, and his warm breath tickled my cheek. “I’m okay. Promise,” he said with a low voice. He hadn’t let go of my hand, and I didn’t want him to.

“Nine Inch Nails, huh?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You look too sweet to like Trent.”

I dropped mouth open. No one had ever accused me of being sweet.

He narrowed his eyes. “What’s your favorite song?”

Now that was a serious question. Did I go old school or new? I loved most everything. Song titles quickly ran through my mind. ‘Survivalism.’ No. ‘God Given.’ No. Maybe I should say ‘Ringfinger.’ Yes. That was it. “I’m going with ‘Closer.’”

My face was intently hot as he laughed. Holy Freudian slip, Batman. Leave it to me to tell the hottest guy ever that one of my favorite song’s chorus was a guy yelling about how he wants to fu—“do” them like an animal.

I covered my face with my hands. “I meant ‘Terrible Lie.’ I swear. Seriously. Forget the other song I mentioned.”

He was still laughing. “Don’t think that’s going to happen, but I won’t mention it. Both choices were solid. Pretty Hate Machine is a classic album, so your second choice was pretty good.” He leaned in again. “But I liked your first choice better.”

Oh. My. God. Was he flirting with me over my favorite band ever?

This was it. We had the same musical taste. He was clearly meant for me. I wouldn’t fight destiny when it brought something like this to me.

He stepped into my personal space, and I didn’t step away. “You know—”

Another guy appeared in the aisle saying something in a language I couldn’t understand. His chartreuse eyes stood out against his fair skin.

I took a step away from Dastien, but he shook his head at me. Why, I had no idea. I couldn’t begin to imagine what was going through his head when I couldn’t form a coherent thought.

Dastien and his friend spoke rapidly in what might have been French. They were wearing identical outfits—black jeans and black t-shirts. It was weird, but neutral enough that it could’ve been a coincidence.

Dastien’s friend nodded at me and then walked away.

I didn’t have time to wonder what their exchange was all about. Dastien kissed the back of my hand, and my brain turned to mush.

Wait. He was going to leave?

My pulse echoed in my ears.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said as he let my hand go.

“Sure,” I said but his back was already to me as he walked away. He looked over his shoulder at me and winked.

That should be illegal. Seriously.

I leaned back hard against the bookshelf. It rattled, but thankfully didn’t tip over. I fanned myself for a second. That guy made me sweat.

“I’ll see you soon?” I whispered his words to myself. I glanced around the bookshelf to see if he was gone. What did that mean? When would he see me?

The bookstore suddenly lost its appeal. There was only one thing for a girl to do when she had a close encounter with a guy that hot.

Ice cream. I needed lots and lots of ice cream. Even if it was my breakfast. It had milk and maybe eggs. That totally counted.

I peeked at my watch. I still had twenty minutes before I was supposed to meet up with Axel. I meandered through the mall until I found the food court, grabbed a sugar cone with a scoop of chocolate chip, my favorite, and went outside to wait.

A lone cement bench sat outside the front of the entrance closest to where I’d parked. I settled down to eat my cone as I watched three guys try to hit on a girl. They were laughing and punching each other as they vied for her attention. The boys were hot and so ripped their T-shirts could be mere seconds away from tearing at the seams. There had to be something in the water here. I didn’t recognize the guys from school, but I knew the girl was in my Pre-calc class. I searched my memory for her name and drew a blank.

I angled away from them, hoping she wouldn’t see me, but I couldn’t stop myself from watching. One of the guys, a blond one with a bit too much muscle for my tastes, seemed to be in the lead. She flirted with him, brushing his shoulder as she talked. He sat down on an oversized planter that held a half-dead shrub, and drew her in closer to him. The other two guys started to make fun of the blond one.

A group of guys I definitely knew from school came out of the mall entrance. Four of them. Including Carlos.

Shit. I pulled my hair out of the bun and let it block my face. I didn’t have it in me to play off any visions, especially the kind that came from Carlos. Just dealing with the party was going to be enough for one day.

I shouldn’t have worried. They went straight for the girl.

“Stay away from Jess!” Carlos said. His hands were balled at his sides.

Holy crapola. Where was Axel? He was going to die when he found out he missed a fight. I quickly texted him.

“Carlos. I was just—” She stepped away from the golden boy.

Carlos shoved the guy with blond hair. “What do you think you’re doing talking to our kind?”

Blondie budged only enough to move off the planter, rising slowly.

I took another bite of my ice cream as the girl tried to stop the fight. Ice cream and a fight? Best mall trip ever.

Carlos’ face reddened, and then he looked at the ground, backing down.

Lame. After all the visions he’d given me, seeing his ass get handed to him would’ve been nice.

One of the boys glanced toward the entrance. “We’re busted,” he said.

Dastien strode from the mall with two other guys dressed just like him—black T-shirt and black jeans.

“Retour sur le collége. Maintenant,” Dastien said.

I wondered what that meant. It sounded sexy.

Blondie’s fists clenched at his sides, but instead of saying anything, he started walking toward the parking lot.

Axel ran out the mall exit. “Did I miss it?”

My face heated as everyone turned to me. “Shut up.” I tried my best to ignore them, instead focusing on my brother. “No fight.”

Axel looked around at the crowd now dispersing into the parking lot. “Bummer.” He took my ice cream cone before I could stop him and took a big bite.

“What the hell? That was my breakfast.”

Axel snorted. “No. This was dessert.” He ripped off the paper covering the cone, and licked the length of it. “And now it’s mine.”

Licking a food item was the ultimate in claiming. “You’re a dick.”

He took another big bite. “Mom and Dad are waiting to have lunch with us.” He threw his arm over my shoulder. “We’ve got to do something about your eating habits before I go.”

I rolled my eyes. I ate plenty. Sometimes got distracted and forgot about it, but I wasn’t anorexic or anything. My curves were still visible as ever.

“Where’s your book?” He asked as we started toward the parking lot.

My face burned once again. Dastien was a few feet away by the mall entrance. I snuck a peek at him. Yup. He was waiting for me to answer, arms crossed and a slanted grin on his face.

He totally knew what he was doing to me. What a jerk.

The easiest thing to do would be to lie, but Axel knew the face I made when I lied. It wouldn’t work. I took a deep breath. “I got distracted.”

He looked back at Dastien and took a big bite of my cone. He chomped for a second, and I thought he’d dropped the subject.

“By what?” He asked as he turned to look at Dastien again in a totally obvious way. He took another bite, and I wanted to hit him.

I pulled my keys out of my purse. “None of your business.” I heard a chuckle and looked back again.

God. This was so embarrassing.

Axel snatched my keys out of my hand while I wasn’t looking. “That’s what you get when you hold the good stuff back.”

“Who said I was holding anything back?”

He made a show of shoving the last of my cone in his mouth.

“Gross.”

He put his arm around me again and started half-dragging me towards the car. “Little sis, let’s talk about crushes,” he said way too loudly.

I shoved him away. Dastien’s laughter echoed through the parking lot.

Why, God? Why me! Why did you have to give me this jerk of a brother who was hell bent on humiliating me any chance he got?

I ignored Axel’s ramblings and looked one last time at Dastien. He was still standing by the entrance. One of his friends was saying something to him, but Dastien was watching me. I faced forward and waved as I stepped into the rows of parked cars.

Axel was right. Maybe I had a crush on this guy. But he had been watching me, so he had to feel something for me, too.

As I got ready for the party, I wondered if I’d made a good decision. It was too late to second-guess myself, but I already knew that Rosalyn and her friends didn’t have that much in common with me. I didn’t like to shop or gossip. I liked to read and loved to listen to a good DJ set.

Every once in a while, I’d convince Axel to take me to a club and we’d dance all night. I wore something to cover most of my skin, and Axel kept people away from me. It was one of my favorite things. Not like they had much of that around here and Axel would be leaving next week, but still, Rosalyn and I just didn’t see eye to eye on music. Which might not seem like a big thing, but it was most likely the beginning of a fatal flaw in our relationship.

I’d bitten my nails down to the quick. When Axel saw me gnawing on my fingers, he offered to tag along with me, but I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let him do that. He was leaving soon. I had to do this on my own. But I was keeping my cell in my pocket just in case I needed backup.

By eight, Rosalyn was waiting for me outside. Her crooked smile spelled mischief as I closed the door to her little silver Honda. Her red hair hung halfway down her back in perfect curls. “You ready?” she asked.

Nope. Not at all. “Totally.”

Rosalyn’s country music filled the silence as she drove through the winding streets. I tried to tune it out, but the singer whining about losing some lame boyfriend was like needles digging in my eardrums.

“This song is great,” I said, my lame attempt at trying to start a conversation.

“I know, right? It’s one of my faves.” She turned it up.

Thankfully, only a few minutes passed before she pulled into a packed driveway and parked. “Nervous?” she said.

I wondered if the gleam in her eye meant that she was hoping I was nervous. “I’m more curious than anything.”

“It’ll be fun. Plus, it’s Texas. We’re all nice,” she lifted one shoulder, “for the most part.”

Yeah, I wasn’t buying that one. I had a feeling that if I got on Rosalyn’s bad side, she would become a huge pain in my ass.

She grabbed her purse and pulled out a glittery tube of lip-gloss. “Here. Try this one.”

Oh God. That was a terrible idea, but one I couldn’t refuse without being rude.

“Thanks.” I took the tube from her, and with a shaking hand, started to apply the gloss in the vanity mirror.

Short, staggering visions popped through my mind of the different places she used the gloss.

In a bathroom. In her car. In English class. In Carlos’ car.

And then she was at a pharmacy. She looked around as her pulse pounded. The coast was clear. She put the gloss in her pocket as she walked down the aisle, toward the exit. Her fear and excitement filled me.

And then I was back in her car. I pulled the tube from my lips. Rosalyn was texting and hadn’t noticed a thing.

I exhaled slowly and focused on my reflection. The gloss was slimy and sticky, but it made my lips look Angelina-plump. My eyes were lined in my favorite midnight shadow, making their brown look richer.

“Ready?” she said.

“Sure.” I flipped the vanity mirror shut and hopped out of the car.

We walked across the lawn to the large brick house. A lilting beat floated across the yard. I took a look down at my outfit—black skater dress, thin silver belt, flip-flops, thin silver scarf, and black over-the-elbow gloves—as my nerves started to reach an all-time high. I smoothed my skirt down and centered the knot on my scarf as my nerves rose.

If I could make it through the night without freaking out from some vision, then I had a chance at finding a place where I belonged—even if it wasn’t with Rosalyn’s crowd.

Rosalyn went straight for the door, and opened it without pausing to knock. I might have been a little bit naïve—it was my first party after all—but I wasn’t expecting everyone to be drinking. Thirty kids or so were scattered around the entryway screaming at each other over the music. They all had red plastic cups in their hands.

How in the hell did a bunch of sixteen and seventeen year olds score enough booze for everyone?

I shook my head. Some of those cups had to be filled with soda.

One girl gestured while talking, unaware that the contents of her cup were spilling all over the floor. A guy was falling all against a girl, who pushed him away.

Nope. They were drunk. Unreal.

Guess there were no parents here.

was right. Maybe I had a crush on this guy. But he had been watching me, so he had to feel something for me, too.