There’s something about Lucas that reminds me a little of Kyle. They look nothing alike. Kyle was dark in most every sense of the word. Dark skin. Dark hair. Dark eyes. But Lucas is playful. Like Kyle was. Before all the emotional trauma toward the end.
“I’m not trying to win,” I say, more serious now. “Not like that.”
I don’t compete over partners. Not anymore.
His face softens a little, and we fall quiet again. The heavy breaths of someone struggling on the nearby treadmill fill the space. Lucas elbows me lightly. “You think there is room in her life for more than one winner?”
“You talking about a team event now?” I arch a brow, but my insides are heavy remembering past hopes, things I said I’d never let myself want again.
He smirks. “You afraid of a little cooperation?”
The light mood sours in my gut, but I keep things going, volleying a retort back to him. “Only if it involves synchronized routines and glitter.”
Lucas chuckles and shakes his head. “Guess we will see what she wants.”
“Yeah,” I say, voice low. “That’s the only part that matters.”
I won’t fight for the affection of someone who doesn’t want me. Not again.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been taking things slow with Emily. I want to be sure she wants this before things progress any farther. Even if my heart’s already all in.
“Want to race on the rower?” Lucas asks, already moving toward it.
“Only if you’re okay losing.”
He grins over his shoulder. “Bring it,velho.”
I shake my head and follow, the sound of our sneakers echoing off the polished floor. My muscles are warmed up, and so is something else—low in my gut, slow and unfamiliar, too long dormant. Cardio isn’t the only thing getting my blood pumping.
There’s an ease to Lucas I envy, and a sunny confidence that draws me in more than my cloudy past wants to admit. We’re circling something. Maybe competition. Maybe curiosity. Maybe her.Them. Or maybe it’s just the way his shirt clings to his back when he walks away.
I follow, shaking my head, breath steady but pulse ticking higher when he looks back at me like he knows I’m checking him out. Maybe he does. Maybe that’s half the fun.
26
KNOX
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Emily asks Lucas. All of us but Declan are gathered in the living room, ready to go hit the shops.
Lucas is still dripping sweat from the gym, strengthening his scent. Normally, betas’ scents are subtle, but right now he’s so sweaty, he practically reeks of peaches and bubbly booze. There’s something else too, something musky and masculine. My gaze roams over him appreciatively, noting the bulge between his legs. Those athletic shorts show off everything. And he doesn’t do anything to hide his arousal. Wonder if something enticing caught his eye at the gym or if it’s just the post-workout testosterone that has him so eager.
“If you’re not coming, Lucas, you better already have something nice to wear, because we’re going to this dinner.” Ava pops her hip, and I’m amazed she isn't falling over in those heels.
When she learned that Emily and I had never been on a cruise before, she insisted that we all go to the formal Captain’s Dinner two nights from now.
“Do not worry, beautiful Ava.” Lucas lets his gaze wander the shape of her curves in her breezy sundress. “No one will care what I am wearing when you are in the room.”
Rather than the typical omega response of preening at the praise, Ava glares at him with a haughty, unimpressed expression. She’s a firecracker, that one. But there’s also something dark in her that calls to me just as much as Emily’s brightness, and it makes me wonder who hurt her.
I haven’t been able to get her scent out of my nose ever since our kiss. I can still feel her lips against mine. So insistent and demanding. Hot as hell. The second she perfumed, I knew she was my scent match.My scent match!And she knows it too. But neither of us has said a word about it. She avoided me the rest of the night, and the only attention she’s given me today was the group conversation about the Captain’s Dinner.
“Do not roll your eyes,benzinho,” Lucas says with a flirty tone. “You are the brightest star in any room.”
“Not this time.” Ava gives Emily a soft look that makes my girl’s cheeks flame. “I’m gonna get Em a dress that will make all of you eat your hearts out.”
“You really don’t have to.” Emily fiddles with her purse. “I can get my own dress, and it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. I want something I can wear again.”
Always so practical. That’s my Ly. But it doesn’t sit right with me. She should be spoiled rotten and not picking dresses because of how much use she can get out of them. Yeah, it’s better for the environment to have a capsule wardrobe and blah blah blah, but I want this woman in something silky and wildly impractical that she willneverwear again.
