My Female Alpha

TEN

emery

Leaning my chin into the palm of my hand, I stare out over the diner and blow a bubble with my gum.

The bubble swells before bursting and I suck it back into my mouth. My tongue expertly twirls the rubbery chew and pushes the gum between my lips. As the gun expands into another bubble, a tan finger juts out in front of my face and penetrates my bubble.

My head snaps back in surprise as the sticky substance attacks my cheeks. I shoot Calla an unimpressed look.

Calla laughs. "That's what you get," she says.

"Why?" I whine. "I'm just sitting here, minding my own business."

"You're blowing bubbles with your gum. Like, ew."

I stick my tongue out at her.

"Careful," she warns. "I just might bite that tongue."

My face flashes with heat.

We still haven't talked about the fact that we haven't talked about our kiss. After my steamy encounter with the scary woman, I have been avoiding contact with Calla as much as possible.

It's hard when we work together, though. I see her every day.

"Okay." Calla sighs, tucking a strand of curly dark hair behind her ear. "I know you've been dodging me. No one in the world can come up with as many legitimate excuses as you have. I just want to know why."

Swallowing hard, I look over at her. Those creamy dark eyes are framed with hurt. I rub my head and close my eyes.

"I just . . . don't want to start anything . . . non-platonic with you. I don't know what I want yet and I don't want to lead you on," I say. Then I open my eyes again to gauge her reaction.

Her brows are knitted together, lips pursed. "I never said you had to have your shit figured out. You're denying yourself, Em. I just want to help you see who you are. I repressed my sexuality for a long time, too. My family is very religious and I thought they'd hate me if I told them. Then I realized I needed to just do what was best for me."

"That must have been terrifying," I say. "You're so brave."

Her gaze softens. "I don't know about all that . . . But for real. Just come hang out, okay? We don't have to do anything," she insists. "Deja is coming over tonight with Parker. You can meet him and we can all have fun."

I avoided the party Deja hosted last weekend, mostly because of the mystery woman's warning. She hasn't made an appearance since the bathroom incident two weeks ago, though. I'm starting to believe I hallucinated it all.

Wouldn't it be insane if that actually happened?

Besides, I shouldn't wait around on this stranger. I have no obligation to her. She could be a crazy person for all I know. While I was afraid of how she treated Brian, I wasn't scared enough to overrule my independent nature and stubbornness.

I wanted to live freely to make my decisions without worrying about her opinion or consequence.

"Alright, I'll come," I decide.

She grins and it lights up her bronze skin and melting eyes. "Awesome! Deja will be psyched. She's still pissed you didn't come last time."

"I'll make it up to her?" I suggest with a nervous smile.

Calla shrugs. "Don't tell her that. She's crushin' on you, babes."

"Not everyone has a crush on me," I say with a chuckle.