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“I don’t know why we even have to be here.” Rowan grumbled, nursing his drink.
He stared over at the table where Fenrys was currently on a date.
As she’d walked into the restaurant earlier that evening, even Lorcan raised his brows, “Damn, where did Fenrys find her?”
“Don’t you have a girlfriend?” Connall said. “Pretty sure Essar wouldn’t like hearing you say that.”
Lorcan huffed. “Whatever.” He took a swig of beer from his bottle and turned his attention to the TV, where an obscure band had been playing for the past hour.
“Can someone shut this shit off.” He growled loudly. Connall elbowed him.
Rowan tuned out their consequent argument, his eyes involuntarily wandering over to their table again.
There was no denying her attractiveness. Her blue and gold eyes sparked at something Fenrys said, and her golden hair tumbled over the back of the chair as she leaned back laughing. It was suddenly too hot in here.
Rowan stood up. “Restroom.” He muttered and left.
__
Aelin was on a blind date. A blind date with one of Aedion’s friends. It was going well enough, she supposed. Her date had been on time, well-mannered. Not to mention, objectively very handsome. His onyx eyes complemented his golden curls and bronzed skin. The grin he gave her when she’d stepped into the restaurant was stunning. He was even prettier than her.
She wouldn’t say she was having a bad time, per se.
She recalled her conversation with her cousin earlier.
“I know he’s not your usual brooding, straight-laced, uptight type like Chaol.” Aelin had groaned at the mention of her cheating ex-boyfriend. “But just give him a chance, you’ll have fun.”
She hated to admit it, but Aedion was right. She was having a good time.
They got along pretty well. He was funny, charming, and easy on the eyes. And quite talkative. Fenrys was currently telling her about the time he and his friends almost got arrested in college. He paused. “Actually, they’re here tonight.”
She raised her brows. “You brought your friends with you on a date?”
Fenrys huffed a laugh, “I know - I was just really nervous about tonight and forced them to come. For moral support.” He sheepishly rubbed his neck, “They’re over at the bar.”
Aelin glanced over at the bar, immediately identifying his friends as the guys blatantly staring over at their table. They both had dark hair, but where one of them was the spitting image of Fenrys, the other looked like he was about to commit homicide at any given moment.
“Wanna go say hi?”
She shrugged, “Sure, why not.”
She nervously adjusted her purse strap as Fenrys led her over to the bar.
“Guys,” Fenrys said, “this is Aelin Galathynius. My lovely date for the evening.” He pulled out a chair for her. Guess we’re hanging out then. She took a seat.
“Aelin, meet Connall and Lorcan.” Fenrys said, waving to his companions. Aelin smiled politely, and they nodded in greeting.
“Drinks on me.” Fenrys said, grinning and looking over at her.
“Just a vodka cranberry for me, please.”
“Great, be right back.” He smiled at her and left, shooting his friends a warning look.
They sat in silence for a minute. Aelin attempted to break the ice. “So… Fenrys tells me you guys work together?”
Connall, clearly the friendlier of the two, responded. “Yeah, we’re all in the marketing department over at Doranelle Holdings. Went to college together and all.”
“What do you do for a living?” Lorcan asked blankly.
“I’m a personal trainer - I just started working at RiverCity gym downtown.” She replied.
“What are your intentions with Fenrys.”
Aelin doesn’t get intimidated easily, but the surly-looking man’s gruff tone unnerved her. This felt like an interrogation.
She quirked a brow. “Sorry, didn’t realise this was the 19th century.”
Lorcan didn’t laugh, but she could’ve sworn his lips twitched in response. She considered it a win.
She looked around, attention snagging on the little TV above the bar that kept playing shitty music. She wrinkled her nose. Connall noticed where her eyes had wandered and raised a brow, “Not into the music?”
She tucked her hair behind an ear. “Well, my cousin Aedion’s into them, but I think they sound like dying rats.” She replied, pulling a face. Connall let out a surprised laugh and Lorcan smirked. “You’re alright, Galathynius.”
Finally, Fenrys returned with everyone’s drinks, and just as she was reaching for hers - “I was sitting there.” A deep voice sounded from behind her.
Aelin spun around, only to come face to face with a pair of green eyes. A pair of scowling green eyes.
She glared, a snappy retort on the tip of her tongue, but Fenrys threw an arm around her shoulders.
“I’m sure there’s no shortage of chairs here, Rowan.” He said jovially.
Rowan clenched his jaw but said nothing as he took a seat on the other side.
“This grump is my other friend, Rowan.” Fenrys smirked. “Don’t mind him, he’s just pissy because he couldn’t spend his Friday evening brooding alone at home like an old man.”
Rowan rolled his eyes, taking a long sip of his drink.
Aelin internally groaned. Thought I escaped brooding men.
“Date not going so well?” Rowan asked. She looked up, finding Rowan’s pine-green eyes on her. God, he really was handsome.
She frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“You’re sitting with us, Princess.”
She didn’t know why, but the nickname got to her. “I don’t see how you’re commenting on other people’s social lives.” Aelin quipped back.
He growled, and Aelin gave him a small smile she knew people found irritating.
Lorcan and Connall huffed a laugh, but Fenrys was glancing between them, “Have you two met before?”
“Um, no.” She said, dragging her eyes away from Rowan. “Why?”
Fenrys laughed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you guys were the ones on a date.” He said, wiggling his brows.
Aelin’s eyes widened and she blushed, bringing her drink up to her lips and setting it down, the level already much lower.
This was going to be a long night.
—
The first thing Aelin noticed when she woke up was her pounding head. The second was that this was not her bed. Hers was much more comfortable and didn’t usually have a male in it.
She inferred that the weight around her waist belonged to said male. She glanced down at the tattooed arm currently wrapped around her, and blearily frowned. Oh, didn’t know Fenrys had tattoos.
Her date must have gone better than she thought.
She smiled as she closed her eyes again and snuggled back into Fenrys, inhaling his pine scent.
Pine.
Her eyes shot open. She quickly sat up, the movement sending her world spinning.
The covers fell away, revealing a sleeping head of not golden curls, but silver hair.
Fuck.