Page 183 of Alpha Mates

“Yeah, I’m only attracted to blue-eyed, long-blonde-haired smartasses,” he says, batting his lashes exaggeratedly, tugging a snort from me. “And the sort of smile that makes the world stop spinning.”

He grins at me, and I smile back as I catch his hand to tug him to me. “Cheesy.” I mumble before I kiss him softly.

By the time we reach Isabel’s place, I’m almost convinced this isn’t a terrible idea. Almost.

Like me, she moved out of her parents’ home once she became a delta, and now she lives in a small house with a few other deltas and warriors. I expect one of them to answer the door, but it’s Isabel herself—rollers pinned to her head, one eyebrow thicker than the other, and powder caked under her eyes. Well then.

“Huh,” she chuckles. “You actually got him here, Calderon. You crazy son of a bitch.”

“Can you still do Julian’s make-up too?” Aiden asks as we follow her into a bedroom, which looks like a tornado just passed through and left nothing but her make-up gizmos tossed around.

“If he’s actually coming,” she replies before her thinner brow lifts. “Are you?”

“Reluctantly.”

She grins from ear to ear and claps her hands together. “In that case, tonight shall be one for the books!” She takes a swig of something clear from a cup, gags, then focuses on Aiden. “Only problem is I didn’t prepare a separate look for him.”

“Same theme as mine,” Aiden replies, producing a crumpled paper out of his back pocket. I try to get a peek, but he pushes me back. “Aht, aht! No spoilers,” he says, handing it over to Isabel.

“Did you draw this?” Isabel asks, eyes darting over the page.

“Yeah.” He sounds casual, but in our bond, I can feel the restlessness that immediately ripples through him. I didn’t know he was drawing again.

“It’s perfect for Julian,” Isabel says as she grabs two big pots of black and white substances, “especially with how you’re going to look.”

“Can I really not see?” I ask, taking a step forward that immediately gets me shoved into the only chair in the room.

“I already told you, Jewels,” Aiden whispers as he grips both sides of the armrests and leans down with a sly smile. “No spoilers. It’s a surprise.”

I blink up at him, tempted to push. Well, if I can’t ask about that …

“So, you’re getting back into art?” I ask as gently as I can.

Aiden visibly stiffens before he kisses my temple. “One step at a time.”

I nod and smile at him when he draws back. One step at a time was good with me.

“It physically hurts me to stop this,” Isabel cuts in, “but I have to get ready too, so…” She flashes an apologetic smile at Aiden before she focuses on me. “Since you’re already sitting, I’m going to start with you, Julian.”

With weirdly pointy paintbrushes in hand, Isabel steps towards me like some sort of evil scientist and actually snickers. I glance at Aiden, but he’s no better with the way he quietly backs away.

“You’ll be fine,” he says, and I realise he’s heading for the door. “I’m going to go and try to find you a suit.”

“You guys are going to look so damn good,” Isabel declares with a deafening squeal.

When my ears stop ringing, I peek at my mate. “Suit?”

Aiden makes a zipping motion over his lips before he disappears, leaving me with the menace I chose to call a friend.

“So,” I start nervously in an effort to stall the inevitable, “are Emit and Beckett coming?”

“I’m not sure. I assume they would be ’cause Emitt is going and these days, wherever he is, Beckett seems to be,” she says nonchalantly, but I know her. When she catches me staring, she forces out a laugh. “It’s fine. They just don’t talk to me like they used to.”

“Does it help if I told you they’ve been doing the same thing to me?”

I wasn’t particularly close to Emitt, but Beckett was my best friend. He’s friendly to everyone, but he only ever stuck with me. Now, it’s me and Emitt, because when he’s not at my side, he’s with him.

“Not really,” Isabel admits with a pained expression that makes Alex whine. “You have Aiden, so it’s different. I don’t really have anyone else.”