Page 64 of Awakened
Typical.
Brian handed me a tumbler of what appeared to be whiskey and sat beside me.
He lifted his glass with a sigh. “To it getting better.”
We clinked glasses and took a sip.
For the rest of the afternoon, Brian and I drank and chatted, never getting too deep. I found out he took ballet classes when he was eight, was terrified of the ocean, and had neverbought a shirt for himself. All the tension eased, and we ended up having a pretty good time.
By dinner, we were both wasted, and Brandon found us lying on the floor in the basement.
“This is cozy.” Brandon stood over us with his hands on his hips.
“Brand! Hey! Where’ve you been? We’re playing Mario Kart. Get down here.” I patted the blanket next to me.
“I’m good. I thought I’d see if you guys were up for dinner.”
I turned to my drunk partner in crime. “Brian. Serious question.”
He nodded and completely focused on my now somber expression.
“Do you have refried beans, cream cheese, taco seasoning, and Mexican blend cheese? Oh! And tortilla chips?”
Without missing a beat, he smiled widely and nodded.
“Dear brother, please put together a pan of taco dip.”
Brandon sighed and walked upstairs, mumbling something that sounded a lot like, “You’re lucky you’re my sister.”
“Man, Les, that was great. You would make an awesome luna.” His eyes shone with admiration and drunkenness.
“You should really raise your expectations if bossing my little brother around is impressive.” He laughed, and I bumped his shoulder with mine. “Although I did train to be pack first lady for a couple of years.” I stuck my nose in the air and gave my best princess wave.
“Oh shit. Right.” He tilted his head and studied my face. “How could Aiden let you go? You’re pretty fucking cool.”
I awkwardly laughed, alarm bells quietly sounding in my head. “Thank you, thank you. But you know what they say about mates.”
“What do they say?” he asked, a lazy smile on his face.
“Oh, you know . . . Actually, I don’t think there is a cliché for it.”
We rolled into each other, laughing chest to chest on thesoftest throw rug I had ever felt. One hand was wedged beneath me while the other rested on Brian’s bicep.
Alert, bitch! Alert! Make room for the Moon Goddess!
“I think you’re right. Maybe it should be, ‘Don’t date, they got a mate.’”
I barked out a laugh right in his face. “My old alpha would love that.”
“You know, my partner knew her mate when we met. She promised over and over she would never be with him, but then she went to visit her parents and never came back. I got the ring back in the mail.”
I patted his arm. “That’s the fucking worst Bri?—”
Suddenly, his rough, chapped lips were on mine. My eyes stayed wide open as I tried to figure out what to do. I’d gotten too comfortable and too close, and now an awesome afternoon making a new friend had turned into one of the worst kisses of my life. Frozen, I panicked, counting the seconds until Brian noticed I wasn’t kissing back.
“Get your drunk asses up here. The dip is ready. I also threw together some sandwiches.”
At the sound of Brandon’s voice, we jumped apart. Brian rubbed his neck and gave me a sheepish smile.
