The three bears made their way to the bar, and here was February still staring like one of the other horny females who surrounded them. In fact, a horde of them seemed to charge forward like a damn herd of cows. When she finally forced herself to look away, it was to see Melissa’s smirk and the wary expression Candace wore. She looked between the two of them.
“What?” February grabbed her drink, sucked it back, and gestured to the waiter for another while coughing from the alcohol going down the wrong pipe.
“I think you should go over there and take one of those hunky bears home.”
“Are you insane?” Their waiter dropped off another drink in front of her, but before she could say her thanks, he was facing Candace and flirting heavily with her.
Melissa tossed her curly black hair over her shoulder and glanced at the shifters in question. “I can assure you I am totally sane.” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, and February groaned aloud. She knew that look, and it was one everyone should be afraid of.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Melissa scowled over at her, but that expression soon morphed into one of wicked intent.
“I said no.”
Melissa may have not said anything, but February knew her well enough to know she was concocting something.
“Listen. You’re here, it’s your birthday, and we were just talking about finding a kick-ass male.” She pointed over to where Ary knew the bears to be. “What better way to celebrate and send a big ol’ ‘fuck you’ to the jackass than to hook up with one of those big boys?”
February was shaking her head before Melissa even finished talking. “No.” She looked over at Candace for a little moral support, but it seemed their timid and quiet little strawberry-blonde-haired friend was getting cozy with the coyote.
“Give me one good reason why not, Ary.” Melissa threw back her shot and wheezed. Good. Serves her right.
“I can rattle off three.”
Melissa leaned back, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared at her, clearly waiting for her to name them.
“First of all, they look like they’d tear a female up in bed.”
“So? That just means they can fuck good and hard, and believe me, I’ve heard the filthy and ridiculously arousing desires of the female population where they are concerned.” Melissa wagged her eyebrows. Yeah, they all had heard the rumors, but that wasn’t the point.
“Secondly, I am so not even in the same league as them.”
A dark mask covered Melissa’s face. “You cut that shit out right now and stop being a bitch. You know damn well you’re hot as fuck.”
“It isn’t even about that, Melissa. I have fine self-confidence.” And she did, but February knew when men were out of her league. Besides, she knew damn well she couldn’t handle even one of them. They were just too big, too muscular, and looked like they would do some serious damage to her vagina, but in a seriously good way. “I don’t really need a one-night stand, and you and I know that is what it would be.” Not that she had never had one before, but that had been so long ago and was not really something she wanted to try again. She was a grown-ass woman now.
In reality, she wanted something stable and meaningful now that she was older. Looking over her shoulder and training her eyes on Charlie, the oldest Wylde brother, she felt her panties become impossibly wet. How desperate and pathetic was she that just looking at all that tanned, hard, bulging, and lickable flesh encased in a plain white tee and faded denims could have her so needy?
“Girl, you can’t lie and say you don’t want that, especially when I can smell how hot they make you.”
Ary felt her face flame with heat at Melissa’s words. She turned back around quickly and chugged the rest of her drink. Already, she was feeling the effects of the alcohol zipping through her bloodstream. It was a welcome feeling and one she didn’t want to have end just yet despite her earlier disapproval of more drinks.
“Can I get another?” She held her glass up to their waiter, who was still flirting with Candace. “Yo.” The coyote turned and offered her an apologetic smile. “Can I get something stronger, please?”
“Sure thing.” He grabbed her empty glass, asked Candace and Melissa if they wanted anything else, and went back to the bar.
“Looks like someone is getting laid tonight.” Melissa slapped Candace on the back in a congratulatory manner. If Ary wasn’t already sexually frustrated, annoyed with herself and Melissa, she would have joined in on the friendly banter. As it was, she was uncomfortably aroused and looking to get drunk, although mixing booze when she was turned-on might not have been the best idea. The coyote waiter, named Chad, came back with three shots of Crown.
“When I said something stronger, I don’t know if I meant straight-up whiskey.” Ary picked up a glass. She didn’t need to bring it to her nose to smell how potent it was.
“These are courtesy of the gentlemen at the bar.” A scowl was on Chad’s face as he set Candace’s shot in front of her. The three of them turned around to see all three Wylde brothers looking at them.
The men watched them with the same stoic expressions. Their appearances were similar, but they each had their own subtle differences. Ary, as well as pretty much every resident in Sweet Water, knew about the bears. Bram, the youngest of the Wylde brothers at thirty-three, had a faux-hawk going on with his black hair. His skin was tanned, just like the other two, from working out in the sun, and his light-blue eyes added to the striking combination.
Ford, the middle Wylde brother, was thirty-five. He had the same striking blue eyes as Bram and dark-brown hair that was shaved close to his head. The oldest brother, and the one who was staring directly at February, was Charlie. At forty, he wore his age damn well. He had the lightest coloring of hair, and the dirty-blond strands were a haphazard mess around his head. They were all built the same: at least six foot three inches of powerful muscle.
She knew bear shifters were one of the biggest around, in all aspects, but having them this close to her made her feel wholly feminine. All she could think about was why Charlie seemed interested in her, when there was a swarm of half-naked females practically in his lap and vying for his attention.
“Holy fucking shit.”
Ary snapped her attention back to Melissa. Her friend stared at the men with wide eyes before schooling her features and popping her breasts out.
“Ary, you need to get with Charlie, like yesterday. That boy is eye-fucking you like crazy. And I’ll tell you what.” She fluffed her hair out and stood. “I call dibs on Bram.”
“Melissa, don’t push her,” Candace said, but only half-assed, because her attention was surprisingly not on the Wylde brothers, but instead on Chad. Melissa scoffed and ignored Candace. She started making her way past the table, and Ary looked at Candace.
She knew she shared the same stunned expression as her friend. When Melissa walked by her, she reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping Melissa. The wolf looked down at her with one eyebrow cocked in question. “What?”
“You can’t be serious.”
Melissa cocked her other perfectly plucked eyebrow, so now both were dark arches.
“What do you plan on doing?”
“Uh, go over there and thank them for the drinks, which, I might add, is the polite thing to do.” Instantly, February felt like a huge bitch. “Then I’m going to invite Bram back to my place.” She wagged her brows, and February rolled her eyes.