Page 65 of Altius
I rested the neck of my beer against her glass. “May we put them to good use—together.”
“Cheers!” Alijah clinked his whiskey sour against our drinks and happily gulped down a few mouthfuls, trying to hide his flushed cheeks.
“Seriously though,” I said, pointing to a line on the drink menu. “I bet you’d like the jalapeño margarita or the chili peach martini.”
Alijah nodded. “I’ll order one with you. That way we can both be virgins.”
Morgan snorted into her water, and I wasn’t much better off.
“Fine, fine,” she said, dabbing at her now-wet chin. “I give up. Order whatever you want, you purveyors of fun.”
When the server returned with our assortment of burgers and fries, Alijah ordered two virgin jalapeño margaritas and a fresh beer for me.
We hadn’t managed to take more than a few bites when a wave of watery sweetness, like honeydew melon, invaded the table.
A woman with a platinum blonde pixie cut rushed up to Morgan with a beaming smile. I recognized her as Morgan’s companion from the udon restaurant the other week and whispered as much to Alijah.
“I thought it was you!” She plopped down beside Morgan on the bench for a brief hug. “I was going to call you later, but this is even better. Guess what? I got matched!”
“Of course you did, Christine,” Morgan said, beaming with pride. “And they’re lucky to have you. Where?”
“Michigan, but it’s an amazing program. The second-choice fellowship placement blessing lives on!”
Stale cedar and flannel, like a moth-filled attic, and a suffocating cloud of patchouli threatened to ruin my appetite.
Two alphas pressed closer to the booth, eyes shifting between us and Christine, but lingering the longest on Morgan. She ignored them, only interested in asking Christine for details about her fellowship placement.
The stench intensified.
Christine’s nose wrinkled, and she shot a warning look over her shoulder before turning back to Morgan with a smile. “You remember Lambert and Romero, don’t you?”
“Oh.” Morgan aimed for her characteristic neutral, but her eyes were blank.
She had no idea who these two stinky assholes were.
“Nice to see you again.” Her attention returned to Christine. “Are you guys out celebrating?”
Christine nodded, “Yeah, we—”
“Want to join us?” one of the alphas asked.
“No, thanks,” Morgan said without skipping a beat. “Wouldn’t be fair to my friends here.” She placed a hand on Christine’s shoulder. “But let’s grab dinner soon. I want to hear all about your fellowship, okay?”
“Deal.” Christine hugged her and then got up, motioning for the alphas to start walking. Once they were out of earshot, she leaned over the table and winked at me. “Nice to see you again,neighbor.”
Morgan rolled her eyes and took a bite of her burger.
Alijah asked about the fellowship matching process, which Morgan patiently explained until the server returned with our drinks.
She picked up her glass and took a sip, but Alijah stalled out, brows furrowed in uncertainty.
“Smells a lot stronger than I expected.” He took a hesitant sniff, then offered it to me. “Does that have alcohol in it?”
I took a drink and shook my head. “No. Just spicy.”
“Oh.” Alijah’s scent turned bitter. Someone was happier with his whiskey sour and didn’t want to admit it.
“I’ll drink it if you want,” Morgan said, seemingly in response to his body language rather than his scent.
