Think, Kelsey, think. What could resolve some of this tension? What can I say to put everyone at the table at ease?
“I received an inquiry for a very interesting commission today.”
Shyla smiles at me, her hand on her chin as the waitress comes to our table. For some reason she goes straight to Shyla, who orders multiple bottles of wine from the menu without consulting anyone. It’s hard not to notice Dom’s distaste for the move.
“I’ll have a Sam Adams, what would you like, baby?” Dom cuts in, directing his last question to Cameron as Shyla is finishing the order. She looks over at him. I can tell she’s irritated.
“I’m sure the wine is fine,” Cameron says, smiling at Shyla and I watch as Dom tenses. I downcast my eyes, and I’m struggling with how rude they are being to each other. Even if not with words, it’s still rude. We’re all supposed to be getting to know each other. What if they don’t care as much about making this work?
“The commission?” Shyla says.
I clear my throat. “I don’t know if I’m going to take it or not. I don’t usually do gore. But they want a vampire going down on a mermaid while sucking her blood.”
“Where’s the mermaid’s pussy?” Emmett asks and I can’t help but laugh.
“That would be the hard part to figure out for sure. Like is it a slit? Is he biting her tail? Part of me wants to accept the challenge alone.”
Emmett grins and nods.
“I’m creating a website for a sex toy company right now,” Cameron says quietly.
“Can we see?” I ask, intrigued by his design work and also what I might need to add to my own cart.
Cameron looks shy but Dom nudges them. “Show them baby, it’s amazing.”
“You’re just saying that,” Cameron says.
“I’d never lie aboutmyOmega’s talents.” The way Dom claims him at the table makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s like he’s pissing a circle around him and it makes me feel like he doesn’t care to share and isn’t as open to this date as he said he was.
“Yours, implying that you're bonded?” Shyla asks, she knows damn well they aren’t bonded. What’s going on here?
“Not yet,” Dom replies.
Shyla and Dom glare at each other across the table. This is not going well at all.
Cameron clears his throat. “Shyla, what is it that you do?” She smiles at Cameron. I knew she would be attracted to him, who wouldn’t? He’s gorgeous. I already know that Cameron had been with a female Alpha already, so I assumed he would like Shyla. Again, who wouldn’t? She’s amazing.
“I’m a criminal defense attorney,” she says.
Dom scoffs. “See, I do the opposite. I run a security company to avoid crimes from being committed.”
“So, what? You think people don’t deserve a trial? That the underserved don’t deserve a voice?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It certainly sounded like you were criticizing my career choice. Do you not agree that everyone deserves a fair trial and is innocent until proven guilty?”
“I just don’t understand how someone can sleep at night knowing that they are defending a murderer or someone’s crimes who are so heinous that they deserve to be locked away for the rest of their life,” Dom replies. Cameron, Emmett, and I all watch as if it’s a tennis match, none of us knowing when to step in and stop the sparring.
Shyla clicks her tongue and takes a sip of her wine. “My goal is to not exonerate known and guilty criminals, Mr. Bosch.” Oh shit, she’s using his last name. “My job is to make sure that my client is heard and gets a fair and honest trial. I’m not some billboard lawyer, and I don’t need you or anyone else discrediting what I do.”
“I’m not discrediting what you do. It just seems like a job that wouldn’t leave you enough time to have a pack. How much time would you really have to dedicate to Kelsey?”
Shyla puts her glass on the crisp white table and runs her tongue over her teeth. “You want to question how I take care ofmyOmega?” she says, enunciating the ‘my’ just like Dom did earlier, her eyes glancing between Dom and Cameron. Emmett winces. I feel like both of them are fighting over me, but in a hurtful way. It doesn’t make me feel valued, I just feel defeated. Emmett must know what’s going to come out of her mouth next, so he finally intervenes.
“Cameron, show us the website, yeah?” he asks with a smile on his face. Cameron exhales.
“Sure, just let me pull it up.” Cameron is bringing up the website on his phone. I watch as Shyla and Dom continue to glare at each other.