Page 190 of Alpha Mates

“Aiden!”

“Buzz—wahh!”I shout as I fall forward, which feels like plummeting straight into hell. I don’t break anything though, and when I peek my eyes open, I’m in Aiden’s arms. He’s staring down at me with a wrinkly forehead.

“My prince,” I praise as I look him over. He really does look like a prince, but—“frowning makes you look old,” I tell him as I push my finger into his forehead, trying to erase the wiggly lines, but my finger isn’t an eraser.

Why isn’t my finger an eraser?

Aiden shakes his head with a sigh and carries me back to the couch we started at. There are familiar faces, but I can’t really remember any of their names.

“Aiden,” one—Russ? Rust?—says as Aiden sets me down on my feet. “Julian is the funniest guy I’ve ever met!”

“Thanks,” I reply, slipping out of Aiden’s grasp. “If you could get me a bouncy castle, that’d be great.”

Rust nods his understanding before he pulls his phone out and disappears into the much larger crowd. I blink after him, wondering if he really is going to do that, but then the world spins and I’m facing Aiden.

Aiden.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asks, putting one of his hands way too close to my face.

I push it away, then squint until I can see all his spread fingers.

“Six,” I say confidently.

“A hand only has … You know what—” Aiden laughs dryly as a large smile spreads across his handsome face. “You’re good for now. We’ll try again later.”

“Okayyy. Can we play beer pong next?” I ask, bouncing on my toes as I slide my arms around his neck.

“You can’t even see straight,” he replies, eyeing me while he takes a sip from his red cup. I can see, even through his shades, that he’s looking at me all sceptically.

“Then I’ll just tilt my head, duh.” I declare, which makes his pretty black eyes widen.

“Say no more,” he says, laughing as he leads us towards the ping-pong table near the front of the house.

It’s occupied, but I don’t let that stop me from ramming through the spectators and marching right up to the front.

“I want to play!” I declare, making all sorts of faces whip towards me.

“Wait your turn,” some girl snaps. I growl, turning towards her, but Aiden covers my mouth before I can get a word out.

“What’s this?” someone else asks.

My gaze falls onto the smug-looking fool standing at one end. He’s looking our way, specifically at the supporting hand Aiden has wrapped around my waist, and there’s a nasty smirk on his face.

“Brought your toy with you this time, Calderon?” the half-wit says while I swipe one of the strangely small balls from the table.

Ha. I said balls.

“Shut the fuck up, Rasputin’s long-lost son,” I say, earning choked laughs from the people around us.

The guy isn’t laughing though. “What did you just say?”

I frown. “Are you deaf or dumb? Pick one. You can’t be both—that’s greedy.”

Aiden’s hand tightens on my waist as he leans against me. He buries his face into my neck, laughing so hard that it makes me shake too. The guy is bristling now, red-faced with all the eyes on him, but he’s the one who called me a toy. He’s lucky I’m leaving this to words.

“Say another word,” he starts, “and I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” I growl, cutting him off. “Matter of fact, I don’t want to know. I want you to refrain from speaking. I have a sensitive nose, and your breath makes me want to kill myself.” It isn’t a lie. His breath smells like stale cheese and pickle juice. “So, are we going to play or what?”