Page 48 of One for the Money
It takes Matteo a moment, but eventually he comes up with something. “I dare you to show us what your routine would be if you were in the circus.”
If her face could go paler, I think it would. “I don’t have any talents like that!” she insists. “Literally, I have nothing to make a routine out of.”
Quinton waggles his finger at her. “Nope, no way, you gotta do something.”
She looks around the big top, as if inspiration will jump out at her, before she sighs exaggeratedly. “Fine, but I’ll need a deck of cards.”
We don’t have a lot to do around here on off hours, so it’s easy for Jude to find one for her. When he hands it over, she stands up, shuffling it.
“Okay, so when I was in high school, there was this guy named who was a magician that I had a crush on. I wanted to be his assistant so bad, but I thought I wasn’t cute enough to get away with just wearing the pretty outfit. So I learned a few tricks to impress him.”
“Yousoare cute enough. But did it work?” Dario asks, a broad smile on his face.
She rolls her eyes. “No, because before I could show him, he picked Frankie fucking Adams to be his assistant.”
“Fuck Frankie,” Quinton says. “We hate Frankie.”
Alex snorts a laugh and then fans her cards out. After several very basic, rudimentary card tricks and a little bit of sleight of hand, she shrugs and sits down. “That’s all I got.”
“That was pathetic,” I mumble. I don’t think she hears me, but Jude sure does, if the glare he gives me is an indication. I feel awful as soon as the words leave me, so I guess it’s not a bad thing that she didn’t hear me.
I don’t like this version of me, but it’s hard to shake how unnerved I feel in close proximity to an Omega. The last time I spent this much time around one was with my Dad, and that didn’t turn out well.
“My turn!” Dario chirps, rolling over to stretch out next to Quinton. “Someone give me a dare.”
Quinton looks over at him with a sly grin. “I dare you to try Rex’s routine.”
Rex, our contortionist, has to be the best in thebusiness. I’ve never seen someone fold their body that way. It’s like he’s one of those childhood toys that are filled with gel and you can just bend and shape them in a thousand different positions.
My brother is a cocky bastard and never one to turn down a dare. Without even a second of hesitation, he flops down on his belly and tries to throw his legs up and over his shoulders from behind, a move that Rex does with ease.
Predictably, he pulls a muscle and rolls over with a yelp.
“I see you all want to make sure I earn my salary,” Alex says with a laugh, digging into her bag before pulling her hand out clutching a tube of something. “Come here, Dario.” He crawls over to her, exaggerated whimpers escaping him as he throws himself down on his belly in front of her. She squirts the cream on her hand and begins to rub it into his bare back.
And then my brother begins moaning in a dramatic, exaggerated manner under her touch.
She swats him, accidentally hitting him on the ass, hissing, “Cut the shit, Dario,” but the accidental contact only makes him moan louder.
The mood in the tent changes, thick with tension that wasn’t there before. I can see the fatigue in the corner of Alex’s eyes. She finishes applying the cream in a cold, clinical manner, then stands up and wipes her hands on her jeans.
“It was a great show tonight, guys. I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow before we take off.”
No one says anything as she walks out the door, all of us knowing that my brother has thoroughly ruined the vibe.
The danger of an Omega in Storm wasn’t my only concern. I also knew our dynamics would change, and thisright here is proof. We’ve always been kind of crude in our humor, and now we’re having to censor ourselves for her delicate sensibilities.
“Well, Dario, you fucked that up,” Quinton drawls, taking another long drag off his joint. “Just when we were getting her to loosen up.”
My brother looks contrite as he shrinks away from Jude’s glare and Matteo’s quiet judgment.
“Sorry, everyone, I thought, with the mood, she’d find it funny…” He trails off, looking to me for support.
I shrug, reaching down to snatch the cannabis from Quinton. After coughing through a long draw on it, I turn to my brother. “An Omega fucks up all the dynamics. I’ve said from the beginning I don’t want her here.”
“It’s your prejudice,” Jude says, shocking the fuck out of me. “I know you have bad experiences with Omegas…”
“Bad experiences?” I scoff. “I watched one murder my mother. That’s not just a bad experience.”
