Page 5 of The Rust in Her Hair

"Are you heading back in?" he asks, nodding toward the ballroom.

I glance back at the ballroom. The muffled sound of the party floats toward us, laughter and clinking glasses and somewhere in there Crispin Maleth, drunk and handsy as ever.

"In a minute," I say. "I need to powder my nose first."

"I'll walk you back in when you're ready." He leans against the wall beside the bathroom door, settling in like he has nowhere else to be. "No more handsy alphas will be pawing at you tonight. Not on my watch."

I push through the bathroom door before he can see me smile.

Poker Night

Nico

"Call." I slide my chips into the pot and lean back in my chair.

Mack immediately folds, then leans back and rubs his bare chest. "Too rich for me."

Adrian is staring at his cards like he's trying to set them on fire with his mind. The two guys from the worksite, Tony and Pete, are still in. Tony because he’s on a winning streak and Pete because he doesn't know what he's doing.

My sister, Renata, sits across from me, feet on the empty chair beside her. Her sketchbook is open on the table next to her half-finished beer. She hasn't drawn anything in twenty minutes. She's been watching us play. She said she'd rather watch us lose money to each other than win it all herself, which means she’s broke.

"Are you going to keep staring at me, Manita?" I ask Renata.

Her dark eyes playfully narrow. "I'm just waiting for you to play that shit hand you were dealt."

I can’t help but laugh. She can always tell when I’m bluffing.

"I don't mind you hanging out and eating all my food," I say. "But it's a little weird that you keep watching me like I'm a zoo animal."

"You are a zoo animal," she says, popping the last chip in her mouth.

Adrian snorts from the seat beside me. "She's not wrong."

The alpha gives me a smirk when I glare at him, then he sets down his cards before grabbing the empty bottles around him. He's been on his feet half the night, bringing everyone drinks, refilling the snacks, and sliding chips back across the table when someone knocks them over.

I watch as he walks toward the kitchen, checking out his firm ass. His short, brown hair is pushed back under the baseball cap he basically lives in, a few curls sticking to the back of his neck where the sweat from a long day has dried into them.

"Hey Adrian, grab me another beer while you're up?" Mack calls after him.

"You got it."

Adrian rounds the corner of the table on his way back, setting a cold one in front of Mack. But before Adrian can escape, Mack reaches out, catching him by the wrist. He pulls Adrian down for a quick kiss on the side of his head.

"Thank you, baby," Mack rumbles, pushing his dark blond hair out of his face. It’s grown out and pushed back off his face, the ends brushing his collar.

The alpha needs a haircut.

"Knock it off, you menace." Adrian smiles at Mack and keeps moving.

"Yes, please knock it off," Tony says as he frowns at his cards. "No mushy shit while we're playing." He pretends to glare at the two, making Mack laugh.

Tony and Pete are aware that they’re a couple. All the guys at work think Adrian and Mack live in the apartment over the garage, the one we actually use as a gym. As far as everyone knows, I'm married to Owen and Mack and Adrian are a couple who rent the apartment from us.

Two normal, separate relationships under one roof.

They have no idea we're a pack.

We don't tell people. Not the guys at work, not the neighbors, not anyone who doesn't need to know.