Ideally because it’s torn to shreds along with her panties on my floor. I bet Ava could rip a dress with those nails of hers.
“It’s a formal dinner,” Ava scoffs, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. “We’re going to get you something appropriate for the affair.”
“Hmm.” Lucas shifts his gaze from the women to me. “You get Emily’s dress, but let me buy the bad boy a tux.”
Going off the heat in his eyes, I’d say our beta has a sugar daddy kink. I’d love to indulge that in different circumstances, when I don’t feel like such a charity case.
“I thought you weren’t coming shopping?” Ava clarifies, looking at Lucas.
“I am not. I need a shower.” Lucas cocks his head toward the bathroom door. “But you can charge it to the room.”
“No one’s buying me anything.” I cross my arms over my chest. I hate this. Sure, yeah, I’m a drug dealer, but I’m not a fucking lowlife loser. Sure, I live with my parents, but that’s only so I can help them pay off their mortgage and keep an eye on my sister. I’ve got a car and a comma in my bank account. I’m not exactly hurting for cash. But I can’t access any of my money. Officer Tightass has my wallet and credit cards locked away somewhere. Probably with those suppressants.
“You need a tux,” Ava says, as if that’s the end of the discussion.
“I don’t need a tux if I don’t go.” I don’t want anyone in our fake little pack buying me anymore clothes. They had to get me a swimsuit and sandals and stuff, so I didn’t look like a total fucking weirdo on this cruise in my jeans. But a tuxedo?! No way. That's way more than some swim trunks. I have pride, for fucks’ sake.
Despite that comma in my bank account, I’m not exactly rolling in tuxedo money. I protect my credit score and have my bills on auto pay, but most of what I make goes right to my folks. They need it a hell of a lot more than I do.
“You’re going,” Ava says. It’s so damn sexy when she’s bossy. “When was the last time you dressed up? Everyone needs to get dressed up now and then.”
Prom. The last time I wasfancyfancy was high school prom. I can still remember how the corsage felt in my hand—cool, damp, stupidly delicate. I kept twisting the ribbon between my fingers while pacing, rented dress shoes scuffing on the asphalt. Torn between staying and going. My alpha designation had fully come in two weeks earlier, and everything had felt off. Louder. Closer. Sharper. Emily’s beta scent had become a punch to the gut. Amaretto and vanilla. Dizzying and warm.
I was supposed to meet her inside. She’d bought a dress she’d described on the phone as‘maybe too much,’laughing nervously, and I’d said I couldn’t wait to see it. And I meant it. I meant all of it.
Then her brother showed up.
Emily crosses the room to stand in front of me. “I know you don’t like accepting things from other people, but I want you there. And they won’t let you in the dining hall in jeans.” She looks up at me with those big doe-eyes and a soft smile. “Please, Knox. It’ll be a memory. Something to remember when all this is…” Her breath hitches.
I’ve been trying not to think about what happens when this boat docks back in the States. Being around Emily again has been like opening a window in a room you didn’t realize was stuffy and stale. She’s always been sunshine, but now she’s like a breath of fresh air, too. So different from my life at home.
Ava moves closer, standing right in front of me. In her heels, we’re nearly the same height. “Declan’s got a work call,” she whispers in my ear. “So he’s not coming shopping, and we need your help with a plan to get the… you know.”
Those words make all my objections fall away. I think I’d do anything for this woman. My scent match. I’m still not sure whatthat means. If it should even mean anything. I’m not exactly in a position to offer an omega a life right now. I’m in custody, and I have a dangerous job to do helping take down Glenn Plansky. But this is something I can do for Ava. For Emily, too. I can wear a fancy suit. “Fine. I’ll go with you. But I’m paying for the monkey suit myself.”
“How? I’m sure Declan took your wallet, right?” Ava pops her hand on one hip.
I nearly growl as I throw my head back, looking at the ceiling. Fuck. I hate accepting money from people.
“We are close in size, yes?” Lucas steps over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. “Consider itmysuit. You are just buying it for me and borrowing it.”
His scent is so heavy it almost drowns out the memory of Ava’s blackberries and cream. Almost.
“Buy the suit,” Lucas says. “Wear it for me. And if you are a very good boy, I will help you take it off.”
The corners of my lips tweak upward, pleased he gave me this out and let me keep my dignity. “Come on, ladies, we’re going shopping.”
Ava claps once, peppy, quick, and decisive. “Heck yes, we are.”
Emily beams at me like I just handed her the moon. It makes something tight and aching twist behind my ribs. It probably isn’t easy for her either, letting Ava buy her a dress for this shindig.
Lucas flashes me a wink, already pulling his shirt off on the way to the bathroom. “Do not pick anything too sexy without me.”
“You had your chance,” Ava calls after him with an easy smile. “Now it’s our turn.”
I shake my head, but I’m smiling like I just won the lottery. Like maybe—for once—I’m not just the guy brought along formuscle or mayhem. Maybe, just maybe, I could be part of something fun. Something good.
And maybe I want to remember what that feels like.
