Page 38 of Heat Hesitation

Just as Enzo pulls onto my street I stab the screen, answering the call.

"Stop calling, Sully," my voice cracks.

"Baby, it's not what you think. I wasn't inviting her somewhere private to fuck. I wanted to talk to her."

I hang up the phone.

Enzo turns off the car and presumably texts Sully, judging by the way his phone goes from blowing up with notifications to silence. He pockets it and climbs out of the car, and before I can step down, he's right there holding the door open for me, my hand in his.

We walk up the steps to my apartment, dodging moms and kids playing games and a couple of old guys drinking 40s on the stoop. I expect Enzo to leave me at the entrance, but he follows. The same happens when we reach my apartment. My steps are slow, but with every opportunity I give him to turn and leave and say goodnight, no matter how early in the evening it is, he doesn't relent his unhurried pursuit.

When we step inside, I'm relieved I cleaned so thoroughly. My apartment will never be five stars, but I'm proud of my space. Even more, of the four of them, Enzo's always been the least judgemental.

That doesn't mean he doesn't notice the broken knobs on drawers or torn fabric on the couch, but he merely observes, like it's just a thing that exists not to offend him but as a result of a long, well-lived life.

It occurs to me that this is the first time I've been alone with Enzo when his bright, electrifying scent envelopes me. For some reason, he's always with one of his brothers when he's been up here or followed me to or from work. He watches me alone, but we've never been alone together.

I wonder if that's by design.

"Are you going to say anything?" I ask, kicking off Mel's nicest pair of low heels, feeling better when my feet hit the solid ground.

"What would you like me to say?"

"You can say whatever you want, Enzo. I guess I just expected you to defend your brothers' behavior," I wave my hand in the air defensively.

"What did they do?" He asks.

"He… they…" I guess he wasn't there to witness it. But he must have known what they were up to, right? They were all at that stupid luncheon for a reason. "Theo was flirting with some woman named Bridgette. Then Sully… I expected more from him, you know? He asked this girl Imogen to go somewhere private."

He lifts his head in understanding, which makes it all feel worse. "That's what he meant." My questioning eyebrows encourage him to continue, "When he said he wanted to talk with her."

He doesn't elaborate, and my patience is running thin. He can taste my mood in the air, and I watch as his nostrils flare and his eyes narrow questioningly.

This is our first time alone together, but it's also my first time in his presence without a hint of scent-blocker.

He blessedly continues, "Imogen is the daughter of the Bradford Pack. Business associates. They've been trying to set us up for months. We've said no repeatedly. Sully mentioned he would try speaking with her privately to inform her about you since we didn't want to out you publicly. Imogen is a nice girl, we thought she'd keep it to herself. She doesn't seem to be as…" He presses his lips together, searching for the right word. "...Avaricious."

"And Theo?"

Enzo shrugs. "I don't know what Theo was doing. But he hasn't been with anyone else in a while; I highly doubt he'd choose today to sleep with some random omega. He's naturally flirtatious."

Huh. Just like that. So easy an explanation.

Naturally flirtatious? With that viper? The least he could do is have good taste.

But it's like Enzo's untied the balloon. My hurt and anger seep out slowly. "Was Asher…?"

"He was there, I don't know where. Statistically speaking, considering how many unbonded were there, he was likely speaking to another omega. Or he was waiting in the kitchens for the whole thing to finish because he, like myself, did not want to be there."

"So why go?"

Enzo doesn't answer. Instead, he walks around my apartment, a slow perusal, taking in and cataloging everything. I think he does this when he's nervous. You'd never guess, outwardly, that he feels uncomfortable. But his bright mint scent flutters between us like he's anxious.

I step forward, grabbing his wrist to stop his perusal. He looks up, surprised.

We're quiet, but our scents mingle, and neither of us could deny the arousal and attraction between us. It's different from what I feel for the others. I'm still getting to know all of them, but Enzo… There's something about him. Like he's mine, he's always been mine.

Not because he's a virgin or because he's been following me around for weeks and was the only one not looking at or talking to another omega tonight. But on some bone-deep level, I feel like we're in this uncertainty together.

---