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I glance up, trying to play it cool. “How do you mean?”

He tilts his head, squinting like he’s studying a strange specimen.

“You haven’t said one wise-ass thing about group hugs, our little friendship text chain, or how we should all get matching bracelets in the ten minutes you’ve been standing here. Seriously. What gives?”

I snort, even as I roll my eyes.

Okay, fair.

Annoying is kind of my thing.

I’ve always had this unspoken deal with the Crew—I’m the funny one.

The lightweight.

The mouth.

The guy cracking jokes in a room full of stone-faced, emotionally constipated Alpha types.

I’m the guy who lightens the mood when things get too heavy.

Who makes it all feel like maybe it’s not so serious, even when it is. But not lately.

Not since her.

Not since I smelled danger on her skin and saw red when some cat-shifter punk tried to put his hands where they didn’t belong.

Not since I realized the way she walks through my head even when I’m asleep.

And the worst part?

Everyone else?

They’ve already found it.

Their someone.

Their forever.

One by one, they’ve paired off, fallen in love, and settled into their happy little worlds with their mates.

All of them.

Except me and Zeke.

And I don’t know what stings more.

That I’m still alone.

Or that I may have found her. But I can’t have her.

Shit.

Chapter Five-Arliss

I head into my room to get ready for my shift, which makes it sound like it’s some grand affair. It’s not.

Just a pair of jeans that are starting to lose the battle against time and thigh rub, and a black t-shirt that says Bob’s Bar in peeling white letters over my chest. Real glamorous stuff.