“Talk tomorrow?”
I nodded, then closed the car door but heard the window power down. “By the way, why the hell did that girl have a wooden cross?”
I smirked. “Because she knew what I was apparently.”
“Apparently? Where’d she get her info from? Twilight?”
I chuckled. “I guess.” But then, as Sarah backed out of Liam’s driveway, I stopped laughing. Whatever supernatural she thought I was, she deemed me dangerous. I now had my answer to how the world would react if word got out.
“Ness?”I whirled around.
Matt was standing by the front door. “What are you doing here?”
Even though the door was only open a crack, a heady beat was pouring out through it.
I circled around the cars. “I need to speak with Liam.”
“Um.” He palmed his buzzed blond hair. “Yeah. Um.” His skin was getting increasingly red. “Why don’t you wait out here? I’ll go get him.”
“You’re seriously going to make me wait outside?” I asked, a little peeved.
Okay, very peeved.
“I’m chilly. And not in the mood to wait outside.” I pressed past him. Or at least, I tried to.
Matt barred my way with his forearm.
“What the hell, Hulk? I don’t fucking care if you’re having an orgy right now. I need to speak with Liam. This is a pack matter.”
I pressed on his big arm. Matt sighed and finally let me through.
They weren’t having an orgy. Just a small get-together that seemed very PG.
“Ness!” Amanda squeaked from her spot on the couch next to Sienna. “Hey.”
“Hi, Ness.” Sienna offered me a wispy smile that flickered off her pale face almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Lucas was here too, as well as two other guys from the pack. One was definitely named Dexter-it was the sort of name that had stuck with me-but I wasn’t sure what the other one’s name was. Michael, maybe? They were sitting around a table in the corner of the living room, playing a card game. I guessed poker from the stacks of chips.
“Nice dress,” Dexter said, leering a little.
I wasn’t sure if he was making fun of me or paying me a compliment. I didn’t really care, though. “Where’s Liam?”
Lucas tipped his chin into his neck and started distributing cards.
No one spoke for so long that I asked, “Did no one hear me?”
Lucas placed the deck on the table, evening it out until no card stuck out. “Matt, why don’t you grab Ness a beer from the kitchen? I’ll go get Liam.”
“I don’t want beer. I just want-”
Liam walked out of his bedroom then, buttoning up his shirt, hair tousled as though he’d just taken a nap. When his gaze landed on mine, he froze.
And so did everything and everyone in the room. Even the air seemed to congeal into one thick, unbreathable mass.
Liam shot Matt a look, and something passed between them-probably an order spoken through the mind link. Matt all but leaped toward his Alpha, skirting around him and into the bedroom. He shut the door so fast I guessed Liam had someone in there he didn’t want me to see.
I pressed my lips together and swallowed. I had no right to be jealous, and yet… and yet I was. Or maybe I was just disappointed by how quickly I’d been replaced, especially after he’d told me he would wait for me.
That I was worth waiting for.
Apparently not.
I swallowed again, but the lump grew larger and more jagged. Crap. I closed my eyes and breathed in through my nose. Crap. Why did it have to hurt?
I didn’t want back in his arms. I didn’t want back in his bed.
So why did it have to hurt so damn much?
His voice crashed into my mind: It didn’t mean anything to me.
But, to me, it did.
It meant that for all my insistence to the contrary, I’d still been hung up on Liam.
I felt a hand cup my shoulder and then I smelled him-mint and musk-but I also smelled her.
Whoever her was.
I hoped Matt would keep her inside, because I didn’t want to see the girl’s face.
“Ness?” This time Liam spoke out loud.
His voice was like wind. It gusted over my skin, making goose bumps rise, making my heart shudder. I stepped back and opened my eyes. I was afraid to speak. Afraid of what my voice would sound like. But I did it anyway.
“I need to-” I was right to be afraid. I sounded like I’d just spent the evening shouting at the top of my lungs. I swallowed again. “I need to talk to you about”-I glanced at the girls sitting on the couch, both of them jiggling their folded legs-“about something I found out tonight.”
Liam followed my line of sight. “Hey, Amanda, can you and Sienna go into the kitchen a minute?”
Amanda’s lips opened as though she were about to protest, but she must’ve sensed it wasn’t a suggestion. She got up and, towing Sienna, vanished into Liam’s kitchen.
“What is it?” he asked, tracing the shape of my face with his dark eyes.
“I ran into Everest’s ex-girlfriend.” I glanced at Lucas. “That Megan girl.”
Lucas’s blue eyes flashed in interest.
“She’s not a UCB student, and she’s not an escort, but Everest apparently tried to recruit her.” I crossed my arms over my chest and hugged my torso tight so I would stop trembling. “She claimed he ran the agency. Apparently he was using the girls to spy. I think-” I gulped, and my saliva went down like a dulled knife blade. “I think he must’ve spied on a Creek.”