Page 30 of Overeager
“Yep.” Noah pulled back with some sort of herculean strength of will. Too much longer drowning in Eli’s scent and he was going to embarrass himself by sporting a hard-on for the rest of his shift. “I looked over your syllabus again. You have TAs who do your grading, and lead discussions, and proctor exams. There’s no part of my work or grade you’ll be directly overseeing.”
“I—”
“So there’s no conflict of interest.” Noah wasn’t usually in the habit of talking over omegas he was trying to woo—not that he’d ever tried to woo an omega before—but he wasn’t going to let Eli talk himself out of this before Noah had his say.
Eli’s brow furrowed as he stared at him. “It’s still not allowed.”
“It’s not a written rule.”
“It’s common sense!” Eli protested. “And I’m up for tenure this year. If we were found out …”
A small pang of guilt had Noah almost hesitating, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to sway him. He wanted this too fucking badly. “We can be discreet,” he argued.
For as long as we need to bewas the unspoken end of that. One day Noah wanted to be public. Very public. Eli bitten and claimed as his mate kind of public.
But he could be patient. Probably.
He leaned in close, every word deliberate. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, Eli.”
Eli shook his head. “You haven’t lived very long. You haven’tknownme more than a day.”
This again? Noah cocked his head. “Okay, Mr. Thirteen Years My Senior. Can you honestly say you feel any different?”
Eli’s answer was a hard swallow.
Yeah, that was what Noah had thought.
“Come sit at my bar,” he coaxed, bumping Eli’s leg with his again. “Keep me company. I’m off at one thirty.”
“One thirty in themorning?”
Noah laughed. “Hey, that’s early. We’re lucky I’m not the closer. Come on.” He grabbed Eli’s hand, tangling their fingers. “Give me something nice to look at. Protect me from the drunk barflies trying to slip me their numbers.”
Eli’s scent sharpened, taking on a bitter note, and wasn’t that all kinds of interesting? Noah should have played the jealousy card sooner. He would have, if he’d known it would be this effective.
Eli nibbled at his lower lip in thought, and Noah waited it out. Finally, Eli nodded slowly. “I’ll stay.” He held up a finger. “Only for a little bit.”
Fuck. Yes.
Eli stayedfor more than just a little bit.
Noah had been able to sweet-talk a regular into moving down the bar so Eli could sit across from where Noah ended up the most during his shift—the glass washing station. It meant they could chat while Noah washed dirty glasses, or when he had a little downtime between the busy rushes.
Which, frankly, wasn’t often enough—Noah would have liked to stay glued to Eli’s side the whole night, not just catch him in snatches—but it was better than nothing.
Eli started off stiff and reserved, but Noah was able to coax him into talking about his work, and it didn’t take long for Eli to get super into it, telling Noah all about his time working on his doctorate, and the research he still hoped to do.
Noah had been right, of course—Eli was smart as hell. And determined. And passionate. He was almost shy about it, modest in a way that had Noah suspecting someone had made him feel guilty about his ambition in the past. It wouldn’t have been unheard of. There were still plenty of people in the world—mostly alpha assholes—who thought omegas belonged in the home.
Still, the thought of anyone making Eli feel bad about how fucking awesome he was had Noah wanting to punch something.
His unhelpful violent inclinations aside, Noah ate it all up. He wasn’t a scholar himself—he was more practical than academic—but it was cool as hell that Eli was.
What Noah ate up evenmorewas the little flash of possessiveness Eli revealed when someone tried to slip Noah their number after all. Eli let out the cutest omega growl Noah had ever heard, death-glaring at the beta woman who’d dared try to pick Noah up.
But Eli’s growling cut off abruptly when Noah grinned and told her he’d actually just started seeing someone, his death glare replaced by a sweet, embarrassed flush.
Cute. As. Fuck.
