Page 4 of Overeager
But Noah laughed easily. “Just a buddy. Bummer he couldn’t make it. But it’s nice to make new friends, huh?” He lifted his beer in a little cheers.
Eli met him halfway with his plastic cup, unable to help his own grin. God, how long had it been since he’d made a new friend? He was on good terms with the other professors, sure, but it had been a while since he’d spent time with anyone outside of work or his sister.
They talked for a long time, the sun setting around them. Eli learned Noah was from Southern California originally, although he was studying in Phoenix. (The same city where Eli taught, actually. But Eli’s school didn’t have an MBA program, so he didn’t bring it up.)
Noah was from a big family, with lots of siblings, and maybe his seemingly innate confidence had something to do with that. He asked Eli fun, easy questions. What he’d done or not done around Sedona (nothing besides fear for his life in his car). How he dealt with the Arizona heat summer after summer(air-conditioning and his own pool). Whether superhero movies were classic or overrated (both, depending on the movie).
When it was dark, the light from the hot tub the only thing illuminating their faces, Noah met Eli’s eyes, smiling warmly. “So you’re celebrating, huh?”
“Yeah. The career stuff and also—” Eli cleared his throat “—my, um, divorce was just finalized, after a whole drawn-out thing.”
“Oh.” Noah blinked. He had surprisingly thick, sooty lashes, considering his fair hair. “Damn.”
“Yeah.” Eli frowned down at his empty cup. “Thirty-four and already divorced. Kind of—kind of a bummer, huh?” he asked, echoing Noah’s earlier phrasing.
“I’m sorry,” Noah told him, sounding sincere. “But hey, you’re way ahead of me.” He scooted closer, his voice turning low and conspiratorial. “Wanna hear something that’ll make you feel better?”
“Hit me,” Eli told him, matching Noah’s low tone.
Noah made a show of looking around from side to side, as if someone might have been listening in, before leaning in close. “I’ve never been with anyone at all,” he admitted. “I’m still a virgin.”
Eli couldn’t help it—he choked on his own spit. “You?” he finally asked, once he’d gotten a hold of himself.
“Yeah.” Noah grinned at him, showcasing those dimples again, apparently not at all offended by Eli’s surprise.
“You’re lying.”
Noah gasped in mock outrage. “Why on earth would you accuse me—your new, dear friend—of lying?”
“Just …” Eli waved a hand, trying to encompass all that …appealwith only a gesture. “I mean, look at you.”
Noah’s grin dropped, and he cocked his head, moving effortlessly into seriousness. “But it’s about more than just looks,right? It’s about … compatibility. I’ve got a very sensitive nose.” He tapped the bridge of it in demonstration. “Maybe I just haven’t found someone whose scent I like.”
Eli shifted in place, trying to figure out what to say. It was a little taboo, to talk about pheromones with a near stranger. Or maybe that was just his age talking. Maybe the younger generation talked about pheromones with each other casually, and he was just being some sort of fuddy-duddy.
Noah was still much closer than he’d been at the start of the night, and Eli suddenly had to fight the urge to try to catch his scent. It would have been useless anyway, unless Noah was pumping his pheromones out willy-nilly.
“Yousmell good though,” Noah said quietly.
Eli’s mouth dropped open. “You can tell? Even with the chlorine?”
“Yeah, I can tell.” Noah’s gaze had turned oddly intense at some point in their conversation, a new measure of heat in it as he asked, “You’re an omega, right?”
2
Noah
Noah kept eye contact with his new omega friend—because Eliwasan omega, Noah was sure of it—knowing he was toeing the line a little, calling it out so blatantly.
Was it the best idea to ask the secondary gender of a man he’d just met? Probably not. Maybe if they’d met at a frat party, it would have been cool, but it wasn’t exactly how polite adults behaved.
But it was true—Eli smelled good. Like, really good. If he was on birth control, it definitely wasn’t the kind that blocked pheromones. (And no, Noah wasn’t going to ask Eli what kind of birth control he was on. He wasn’t acompleteidiot). Eli’s scent wafted through the chlorine fumes every now and then, a clean, citrusy perfume with only a hint of an omega’s usual sweetness.
Noah would probably have guessed Eli was an omega anyway, even without the scent. He had the classic look: all fine-boned, with features that tended toward the delicate. Warm honey-brown eyes, a snub nose, and a slightly pointed chin, withno facial hair that Noah could see. His top lip was slightly fuller than his bottom lip, and something about that was driving Noah a little crazy.
He was cute. Really cute. Not just his looks, although Noah appreciated the way Eli’s chestnut locks were taking on a slight wave from the steam of the hot tub, and that same heat was putting a pretty pink flush on his cheeks.
Or maybe the blush was a reaction to Noah.
