Page 191 of Alpha Mates

The crowd around us answers with their roaring laughter that sounds a whole lot like yes to me.

“What happens to the loser?” Aiden asks, sliding off his jacket. He’s getting ready to play while others reset the table, but it feels like he’s teasing me as I watch his muscles shift beneath his tight button-up.

“The losers run home naked,” the angry, stupid guy declares with a wicked grin.

I think he believes that scares me, but it just confuses me. I face my mate with a frown.

“How is that a bad thing? It just makes the process easier when we get—”

“Let’s start!” Aiden shouts over me.

“Rude,” I mutter while he grabs the ball from my hand. He bounces it off the table and straight into the cup opposite him. I smile proudly as the stupid boy drinks angrily.

The other guy from his team lands his shot in one of our cups, but before I can reach for it, Aiden takes it. I guess it’s my turn now.

I throw the ball, but it doesn’t bounce straight. It flies high and disappears into the party. The vermin-boy laughs way too loudly as he points a finger at me. The only reason I don’t bite it off is because Aiden holds me back.

“I forgot to tilt my head,” I tell him, and Aiden nods in understanding. “I want a do-over.”

“You can’t have one, Jewels,” he says, brushing a hand over my hair. “That’s not how it works.”

“But I want one,” I grumble, and I know I’m pouting, but I know I can do better.

“It’s cool, let him have one. I’d love to watch him fail again,” the boy says, tossing a new ball my way.

With my second chance, I reposition myself, tilt my head, and bounce the ball just like Aiden had. I don’t breathe as I watch it sail high and drop straight into the cup in the middle.

“Woah!” Aiden shouts as the room erupts into cheers. He lifts me up like a trophy, and I laugh, fist-pumping the air.

“Suck on that, you piece of dog shit!” I yell at the boy.

“Not so fast. We aren’t done yet,” Aiden whispers as he puts me down. He’s trying to sound serious, but he’s clearly having the best time ever too.

“Alright,” I say with a firm nod. “Let’s fuck them up.”

He throws his head back laughing, “I fucking love Drunk Julian.”

Wide-eyed, I stare at him as another ping-pong ball sails into the air.

Did he just say he loved me?

Music pounds in my ears and the world swirls around me as I push through all the moving bodies.

Sometime in the last hour, the party had become far wilder, turning everyone into a mess, including the strangers who started pouring in halfway through. Someone told me it was because a post about it had gotten out, and everyone who was nearby decided to pop in.

Bodies suddenly part in front of me, making me stop in my tracks as I watch a man slide down the stairs in a jockstrap and land in a kiddie pool full of Jell-O. I clutch my chest as I pass him by, saluting him for his service.

Spinning in my tiny corner, I try to pick out shades, a suit, and the sexy man in them. No matter how hard I look, I can’t find my mate anywhere. I don’t even remember losing him, only that I saw a goat and chased after it to say hello, but it just turned out to be someone’s costume. By the time I turned back, Aiden was gone. I guess he didn’t want to meet the goat.

“Aiden!” I shout into the crowd, but it gets drowned out in all the noise.

Aiden!!!I scream into our link.

For fuck’s sake Julian,he replies instantly, but he doesn’t sound too happy.

Where are you?I whine, stumbling forward.

Where we’ve all been sitting this entire time,he says.Did you forget? That’s where we’re supposed to go if we lose each other.