Page 61 of Brandy Snap: Part Two
It shouldn’t be so hard to ask them for help again after everything we’d been through together, but it felt like another chip in my already worn-down pride to call them.
I tipped my head to the left, my gaze panning over the mountain of gifts they had sent me already. Pain pierced straight through my heart at the sight of their love crowding my living room like they could buy me presents and make every hurt they’d caused go away.
But I’d let them if it meant I had someone to hold me.
I could tell them Zania threatened me, that she might be watching me. I could tell them I thought she was somehow behind the landlord’s offer, while hoping they’d never find out about the cheque.
And staying with them would be the perfect way to get to Zania and her mates after everything.
I worried my lip with my teeth as I found Kai’s number. His bite still tingled around my nipple, and I pulled Caspian’s blanket tighter, pressing my nose against it to take a deep hit of caramel before I drew in a shuddering breath, hit dial, and waited.
Caspian
Itook the stairs two at a time, leaving Sin to race after me. Each of us had a thick stack of flat-pack boxes under one arm.
Kai had a Selection catwalk he’d been preparing for months that he couldn’t miss. It was better he didn’t come to Mel’s flat. We all knew for a fucking fact that no matter what he said, as soon as he saw her, he was going to try to fuck her. Then we’d get nothing done.
The paint on the thin metal railings came off in my hands, and the cement steps were so old they had dips in the centres. The dingy lights flickered, and there were stains on the walls that I was pretty sure didn’t just come from the water leaking from the ceiling.
I nodded to the corridor, telling Sin to go ahead. He still wore a full black suit, even in the middle of summer, but I had a feeling she was going to like that more than my deep red shirt and khaki shorts.
I hated how tense I was. It was fucking dumb.
I wanted Sin to go first, not just because he was our pack lead, but because I didn’t want to have to deal with seeing her without him. I could chuck Sin at her and then get on with whatever fucking business she needed us to do.
The entire thing was a joke, but Sin and Kai wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone until I agreed.
I wished I could just stay in the gym, and punch away the cloud of pain which suffocated me now that Camille really was leaving.
I didn’t know what to do, and Kai’s solution was to irritate the fuck out of me until I said Mel could stay with us.Temporarily.
She was only allowed to come to our pack house if she stayed in the room at the farthest end of the house and didn’t come within one hundred fucking feet of me.
We had two events left, then the deal was over. Dinner with our parents next week, then the Selection Ceremony, then she wasout.
Sin said we were going to her nest, and I hated that my alpha instincts were getting all amped up. Because if she invited me in there, it was basically like she was saying she trusted me.
Which was the dumbest fucking thing she’d done since she walked into our heat suite.
The moment we reached the third door down, brandy enveloped me. Ten metres away, calling me like a beacon in the misty ocean. Dark spices, rich taste, her gorgeous scent asking me to drink her in and lick the last of the dregs from her skin. If she perfumed for me, that was it.
Who was I kidding? One fresh whiff straight from the source and I’d be gone.
We both saw the big box sitting outside her front door, and Sin almost smirked as I twisted my lips.
Kai had made us both sit in the bean bag chair for hours yesterday before he told us what it was for. He tricked me just like he had with that blanket days earlier.
I should have got the fuck back instead of hovering behind Sin like a devil on his shoulder as he knocked.
My mate eyed my shirt. He knew what I was planning when I wore red, and he normally disapproved. But this time, he had a determined look, and I knew we meant business.
The soft footsteps echoed inside, and a small crash had all my muscles tensing. Before her scent grew closer, stronger, so powerful I was already buckling.
I shouldn’t have even fucking come. I was bouncing from foot to foot as nerves danced from my stomach to my throat. That was a sign enough that I had to stay away from her.
There was a pause before the lock clicked and the door opened. It was only a crack, stopped by a golden chain, but it was enough for me to take a deep breath and growl.
Mel flinched, her gorgeous brown eyes lifting to Sin’s. He threw a glare at me before returning to her.
