“No, but you know them a lot better than you do me. I’m asking for the chance to do that, Riley. To get to know you better.”
That was smart, playing the logical angle, and I nodded in response.
“Sooo…any details you want to share with me?”
I nibbled on my toast, all the guys snickering at that.
“You’ll find out,” Fen replied mildly, turning back to his paper. “Just wear something comfortable.”
Chapter 26
So here I was, dressed in a pair of pants and sneakers that were hopefully casual enough for any context, but also wearing a nice shirt that was passable in a more formal context. My main issue was my bra though. I’d put on the green lacy one, thinking hey, if this wasn’t a date bra day, what was, but after being a solid B cup since I became a teenager, apparently, I had grown. Ryan caught me manhandling my breasts, trying to wedge them into cups that were now too small, his eyebrows jerking up as I exited Colt’s room.
“Somehow, my tits have gotten bigger,” I told him in a huff. “Like, they’ve stayed the same all this time, but…”
My voice fell away as he pulled my hands back, and then I realised he wasn’t just some friend I was discussing this with, he was…a potential lover. That thought had me stepping backwards, but he came with me, reaching in under the neckline of my shirt and running his fingers along the line of my cleavage.
“You look perfect, trust me. Fen’s gonna shit when he sees you.”
His voice, deep and even, settled me enough that I could leave my damn breasts alone.
“Fen’s gonna shit over what?” The man himself emerged from his room, blinked, then stalked down the hall to us, those jade green eyes seeming to take everything in. “Jesus, Riley, you look beautiful.” I went to snort at that, but he shook his head slowly. “You do. Maybe we shouldn’t go anywhere. I could rent us some movies. We could sit in my room and munch popcorn—”
“You could take her lingerie shopping,” Ryan suggested. “She’s saying her bra feels too tight.”
“Ah, no, that won’t be…”
I went to protest, but the two of them shared a look then, a dark one and full of meaning.
“We’ll make a pit stop at a department store before we get to where I’m taking you,” Fen said with a slow smile. “I want to make sure you’re comfortable.”
“You want to go bra shopping with me?” I asked with a blink.
“If I get to help choose some of what you try on, I’ll find the process very stimulating,” he replied, then held out a hand to me. “C’mon, let’s go.”
I reached out and slid my hand in his, feeling a shiver of something that wasn’t there with the others. I might feel need, or ache for them, like I was finally able to do something I’d always longed for, but this was different. Fen had dictated all the ways we’d interacted before, pulling me close, deciding to sit with me, indicating I had to eat. Now, the choice was mine.
So off we went, driving into town in the ute Ryan had taken me out in the other day, Fen just smiling when I tried to pepper him with questions.
“Let’s get you comfortable first,” he said, his eyes sliding to my bustline. “I can feel how much that bra is irritating you.”
And with that, we arrived at one of the big shopping centres.
“Can I help you?”
The shop assistant zeroed in on Fen, and why the hell not? He towered over everyone here, his jeans and T-shirt doing nothing to mask the overt masculinity of his frame. Our actors, male models, even our politicians tried to emulate the way alphas looked. It was our blueprint for masculine perfection, and she was just taking a closer look at something she wouldn’t often get an opportunity to. I admit, I did wrap my fingers around his arm possessively, and he just smiled at that.
“I’m looking for some lingerie for my mate,” he replied.
Her reaction was just a precursor for the way everyone would respond and I needed to get used to that, but her look of surprise as she then checked me out, looking for what the hell was going on with my poor beta arse that let me catch a guy like him, had me smiling tightly in response.
“So what’re we thinking? Just the usual bra and underwear sets, or something a little more exciting?”
Her voice was a purr and pitched at him, not me, something that made his lips thin down. She didn’t seem to see the way his eyes flashed in warning, maybe she just figured it was for a whole other reason, but this wasn’t going well for her. He turned to me, and I felt that little moment of shock I always felt when I had his attention. The shop assistant was young, gorgeous, and looked much more put together than I did, but his focus was entirely on me.
“What do you think, love?”
Power sharing, that was what was going on here. Alphas deferred to people as a strategic thing, to consciously make them aware that they were now in the driver’s seat, when they could so easily take control of things. He did it now because it forced the shop assistant to do the same. She made herself smile as her focus shifted to me.