Page 19 of The Golden Receiver

That was it. That was what was bothering me. That had to be it. I didn’t like failing, and him not moving and getting upset about it felt like failure.

“The thing is: I’ve started to like running with him. You know I hate being alone for too long, and none of you want to run with me in the morning, so it’s been nice having the company, you know?”

“Right. The company,” Serena teased. “Not the fact that he’s hot.”

“How do you know he’s hot?”

“Human named Kieran on the football team?” Her lips curved upward into a grin. “He’s gotta be hot.”

Was he hot? He was tall, about an inch shorter than I was. He had a great body, built from years of working out and playing football. He had dark hair and dark blue eyes, one of my favorite combinations. And his jaw line? I could probably cut a steak on his jawline. I would admit that I had been fascinated by his eyebrows a few times. They were thick and bushy, but one of them had an eyebrow slit. I didn’t know if he did it on purpose or if it was just something he was born with. He almost looked dangerous when everything got put together, and the fact that he barely ever smiled helped with that impression.

But was he hot? I’d never really noticed.

Okay, that was a lie. I’d noticed. He was hot. He was very hot, but how did Serena know that?

“Plus, I have a class with him,” she chirped, ripping me right out of my mental picture of him. “He smells really good.”

My eyes widened. “Oh my god, you noticed that too?” I exclaimed, bouncing up into a sitting position and curling my legs underneath me. “I swear, I can pick up his smell anywhere on campus. Like all the time. It is so distracting! I’m so glad that’s not just me.”

Serena exchanged a glance with Nick and Charlie. The three of them started laughing. “Who wants to tell him?” Serena asked gently.

“Not it,” Nick and Charlie called out in unison.

“Tell me?” I questioned. “Tell me what? What are we telling me?”

“He doesn’t smell that good. Not the kind of smell… You know what? I think you’ll figure it out on your own,” Serena explained with the air of someone that was pulling off a very stubborn band aid and giving up halfway. I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off. “Do you want to hear about my date now?”

I nodded. I really wanted to hear about her date, a lot more than I wanted to have my friends tease me about the fact that I thought a human smelled really good. Or more than I wanted to examine the fact that I still wanted to get to know him better.

“I’m going to the Alpha Claw Omega party with some friend of Puck’s.” She didn’t sound excited about it. I didn’t blame her. Puck was one of the more annoying members of our pack, and he was a proud member of one of the largest fraternities on campus. “Puck told me to invite everyone. So, yeah, consider this your invite.”

“But really consider it an escape route in case Serena’s date sucks,” Nick teased his sister.

“Are we going?” Charlie questioned. He looked at each of us. Serena nodded. Nick nodded. I shrugged. It was decided. “Meet outside Karloff tomorrow and we can walk together?”

We made a few plans, and then we poked at Serena for every possible detail we could garner about her date.

If nothing else, it distracted me from Kieran.

Chapter Seven

Kieran

The Alpha Claw Omega party was in full swing by the time I got there.

Music was pouring through the open door, and I swear I could see the windows to the frat house vibrating. There were people spilling out onto the porch. I watched as two women stumbled down the stairs, clutching at each other desperately. One of them let out a laugh that was so high pitched I had to wonder if she was a banshee. I didn’t even know if banshees were a part of the Halloween Wave.

I did know that I was questioning what the hell I was doing there.

I’d been invited to a few parties back in high school. I’d gone to one or two, and I’d learned something about myself at them. I didn’t like parties. I didn’t like the loud music or hanging out with a bunch of people getting shitfaced. It was just another way I didn’t get on with people my own age, didn’t fit in with them. Because hanging out at the bar with adults getting drunk didn’t really bother me.

I didn’t have high hopes that this party would be much different.

Just thirty minutes, I reminded myself. That was the deal I’d made with myself when I left Karloff Hall to walk to the Alpha Claw Omega house. I had to stay for at least thirty minutes, then I could leave. I also had to talk to at least three members of the football team. I’d shown a bit of improvement on the field after training for a week with Evander, but that hadn’t shown on the depth chart when Coach Shaw posted it the day before. If bonding with the other players would give me an edge, then that was what I had to do.

These were desperate times, and going to this party counted as desperate measures.

I took another deep breath, straightened my back, and walked into the frat house. The porch had been an omen for what waited inside. The living room was packed with people, all clutching plastic red cups. Half the party was already drunk. There were people playing beer pong; I didn’t know people still fucking played beer pong. I pushed through the crowded living room and made my way toward the kitchen. The counter was piled high with booze and mixers. I grabbed a cup and poured myself some soda.