The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 211: SPECIAL - : Three is the way to go

They all spent their time getting dressed up and opening themselves up to the possibility of finding someone. Even if the app’s code had suffered a stroke, the intent was still there. Maybe we could actually find love in this chaos. Or at least, find out if we even liked each other.

I took a deep breath, trying to settle the butterflies that were currently having a riot in my stomach.

"Fine," I said slowly, sinking back into my chair and smoothing out my skirt. "We’re all here for one reason anyway—to get to know someone. Even if the match-up is a disaster, we might as well see if we can find what we’re looking for right here."

Noah’s smile deepened, his dark eyes practically sparkling. "Spoken like a girl who knows how to handle a curveball."

"Let’s start simple then," I said, trying to regain some sense of control. "Since you all know my name, tell me yours properly. And what you do when you’re not crashing people’s dates."

Fenric leaned forward, his large hand resting on the table near mine. "Fenric. Professional athlete. I spend most of my time on the track or in the gym, but I’ve been looking for a reason to slow down lately."

Damar offered a polite nod. "Damar. I’m a surgeon at the university hospital. My life is usually quite... structured. This is the first time in years I’ve done something this spontaneous."

Then there was Noah. He didn’t lean in; he just watched me, his thumb tracing the rim of his own cup. "Noah. I do a bit of everything—mostly consulting for private security. I’m the guy people call when they need a problem solved quietly."

He winked, and I felt my face heat up for the tenth time in ten minutes.

"Security, a doctor, and an athlete," I murmured, looking around the table. "Well, at least I know I’ll be safe, healthy, and... well-protected."

"You have no idea," Noah whispered, his voice a low tease that made my toes curl in my shoes.

The ’one coffee’ I had planned turned into a four-hour marathon that spanned three different locations and enough tension to power the city’s electrical grid.

It started at the café, where the air became thick with a silent, competitive heat the moment the menus were opened. Fenric was the first to strike, his movements bold and physical. Every time he spoke, he leaned into my space, his broad shoulders making the small table feel even smaller. He had this way of looking at me—a raw, athletic intensity—that made me feel like the finish line of a race he was desperate to win.

"I’ll take her tab," Fenric said, flicking a black credit card onto the table before the waitress could even set the check down.

Damar didn’t even flinch. He reached into his leather messenger bag and pulled out a crisp bill, placing it precisely on top of the card.

"We’ll split it three ways, Fenric. Let’s not be primitive."

"Primitive?" Fenric bristled, his jaw tightening. "It’s called being a gentleman, Doc."

"It’s called overcompensating," Noah chimed in, his dark eyes dancing with mischief. He didn’t reach for a card. Instead, he just looked at me and winked. "I already paid via the app’s ’pre-pay’ feature while you two were busy measuring your... egos."

I choked on my latte, a laugh bubbling up that I couldn’t suppress. "You’re all ridiculous," I muttered, but my heart was doing a happy little dance.

It was thrilling to some extent. A feeling I had never felt before.

I’ve never been on a date with a hot, handsome guy before, not to talk of three. And they weren’t just fillers... They were participating in this date with so much interest that I felt I was the one letting the date down.

I have to do better.

As we left the café, the dynamic shifted into a strange, chemical reaction. I was in the center, Damar on my left, and the towering, sun-kissed strength of Fenric on my right.

Noah lingered just a step behind, watching the ’view’ of my back with a gaze that felt like a physical touch on my skin. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

We ended up at a rooftop bar as the sun began to dip, painting the city in shades of bruised purple and burning gold. It reminded me of something—a distant, hazy memory of a sky back when I was in high school—but I shook it off.

"You’re quiet, Arinya," Damar noted. He had taken off his white coat from earlier, and now his shirt sleeves were rolled up, revealing forearms that were surprisingly corded with muscle.

It wasn’t as ripped as Fenric’s but it was something.

He handed me a cocktail, his fingers lingering against mine for just a second too long and I looked at them. They were slender and his touch was cold. He felt like a corpse. A handsome walking corpse.

"Are you overwhelmed?" He asked and I shook my gaze from his hand.

"A little," I confessed, leaning against the railing and looking at the blue sparkling cocktail. "I usually have a quiet life. My job is... well, it’s just a job. I’m a simple girl, really. I wasn’t expecting a surgeon, an Olympian, and a security expert to be fighting over my attention."

The fan girl in me was thrilled, but reality made me nervous.

"It’s not a fight," Fenric said, coming up on my other side, his heat radiating through his thin t-shirt. "It’s a pursuit. There’s a difference."

"A pursuit?" I teased, looking up at him. "And what happens if you catch me?"

Fenric’s gaze dropped to my lips, his expression turning dark and hungry. "I don’t think you’d mind being caught."

I felt conscious of his stare and gulped, pursing my lips as his gaze grazed me.

Noah stepped forward then, sliding into the small gap between us. He didn’t say anything at first; he just leaned on the railing next to me, the two dot-piercings under his eye catching my attention again.

"She isn’t a trophy, Fenric. She’s the one in charge here. Look at her—she’s been running this ’disaster’ like a pro all afternoon. And she seems to be having fun."

I smiled, feeling a surge of affection for the dark-haired troublemaker. He was right.

I was having fun. I loved the way Damar explained the complexities of a heart transplant with such passion that it made my own heart skip.

I loved how Fenric told stories of his most grueling races, his eyes lighting up with the thrill of the struggle. And I loved how Noah seemed to read my every thought before I even spoke it.

I laughed, a soft and radiating chuckle, my hair fluttering behind me.

"You guys are fun to be with."