99 Times for Alpha’s Bestie novel Chapter 152

“I-I didn’t mean it like that.” I tried to defend myself, but the words tangled into incoherence.

“I wasn’t the one thinking too much about you and me romantically, you were.” Lucien lowered his gaze, his expression unreadable.

“Then why were you storming off like that, making it look like you were”-I blurted, desperate to salvage my pride. My face flamed hotter.

“Like what?” Lucien suddenly closed the space between us, tilting my chin up. “Like I was upset at being rejected?”

He sighed, then let out a wry laugh as he lifted his phone.

“See this? The sentinel mode says someone’s messing with my car.”

I leaned closer. Sure enough, that was precisely it. So that was why he’d rushed off-because he was worried about his car being vandalized.

“Fine, I misunderstood. I thought you were-” My words trailed off, drained of all strength. I gave up and turned my gaze back towards the lake instead.

“If we don’t hurry, someone really might smash my car.” Lucien lifted his phone again, showing me the constant alerts.

I blinked back to focus, and we both quickly headed toward the parking lot.

But when we reached the car, both were stunned. All four tires had been deliberately deflated, sagging flat against the ground.

“Goddammit! Which bastard did this? If we were in Edmonton, I’d drag the bastard to my hunting grounds tonight!”

Lucien’s temper flared. He kicked the tire hard, his anger clear. The implication was obvious-this was Calgary, and not affiliated with the Crown of Thornes pack territory.

“Could it be my cousins again?” My hair stood on end. I glanced warily around the dark surroundings.

“If it were your cousins, it wouldn’t stop at deflating tires. My guess? Some fishermen around here. Maybe they saw the luxury car and thought they could squeeze some money out of us.”

Lucien lit a cigarette. The ember traced an arc in the dark, illuminating the hard lines of his calm, restrained face.

True enough-if it had been those rogues chasing us earlier, we would be currently fighting for our lives right now, not just staring at flat tires.

The car was stuck on this lakefront parking lot, which was at least thirty-one miles from the city center-a deserted stretch with no other vehicles or passersby in sight.

At this hour, how were we supposed to get back to my house?

“Lucien, what do we do? How are we getting back to the city?”

He shot me a sidelong glance.

“Even if we call for help, it won’t come till morning. I’ll sleep in the car tonight. If you’re worried, you can stand outside. Or sleep under it.”

Lucien smirked as he pulled open the driver’s side door, slid inside, then turned on the engine, the air conditioning, and the music. He reclined his seat and lay back.

I was speechless. ‘Seriously? It’s freezing out here, no inns for miles, and he wants me outside? Or under the car? No way!’

I lasted only a minute before I caved, yanking open the passenger door and sliding in. Without a word, I reclined my own seat and lay down. I exhaled hard, forcing myself to relax.

We were both quiet, both lost in our own thoughts. The lakefront was even more silent. Only the music Lucien had playing drifted through the night.

But it wasn’t Beethoven or Mozart, like Liam always played. Lucien’s playlist was full of street hits, songs that went viral on t****k challenges.

The lyrics weren’t profound, but in this setting, paired with the husky rasp of the male singer’s voice, they carried a raw kind of power.

For the first time, I thought Liam’s piano pieces sounded dull by comparison. Because of Liam’s music preference, I had gotten used to choosing no music, so I had no idea what was popular or trending at the moment. These pop songs, plain and unpretentious, spoke straight from the heart. I found myself smiling at the catchy lyrics.

“What is it now?” Lucien’s voice floated lazily through the dark. “Imagining some scene in your head again?

This is just software shuffling songs-it doesn’t mean a thing.”

My mind crashed to a halt, yanking me violently out of my thoughts.

My face flamed once more. Thank the Goddess that this car was dim; he couldn’t see my expression. Otherwise, I would have died of secondhand embarrassment right there.

“No, I’m just tired. I want to sleep…” I forced a yawn for effect.

But then Lucien pressed a button overhead. The sunroof slid open. And in that instant, the entire night sky spilled before my eyes-stars glittering, a crescent moon rising.

I stared, mesmerized.

Then I heard him murmur under his breath, “They say there is a meteor shower tonight… right around this time.”

A meteor shower? Almost reflexively, I turned my head-just as Lucien shifted, lying on his side to face

My heart, which had finally steadied, was instantly thrown into turmoil again.

Was all of this just a coincidence? Or had he planned it all along? If it were a mere coincidence, then why did everything line up so perfectly?

We had just driven to the nearest lake, which offered a perfect spot for watching a meteor shower.

The tires had just happened to be deflated, forcing us to stay here for the night.

And tonight, of all nights, was precisely when the meteor shower appeared-at just the right hour.

My eyes misted.