Page 16 of Finding the Forward: Part One
Mine was lackluster.
“What’s wrong?” AJ’s vetiver scent soured with worry.
As we drove, I filled him in on what the Royces had told me. Dean added what he’d overhead the other day.
AJ shot me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. I’ll see what I can do, but we can’t get around the residency requirement. Call your agent?”
“He’s the one who told me all this.” I leaned into him. We’d been through a lot together.
“Should I see if I can find Airplane Girl?” Jonas added from the driver’s seat.
“Airplane Girl? What does your finals hookup have to do with this?” AJ scowled.
“I won that game for us.” I never wanted them to think that some random girl motivated me more than they had.
Dean reached over and squeezed my hand. “I know. It’s just us superstitious hockey players. Got to keep that luck going anyway we can.”
“What will you do if you find her?” Jonas asked as we drove through the dark, busy streets. Many people in the city took public transportation, but we preferred to drive. Though AJ often took the metro.
“I don’t know.”Fuck her long and hard.Memories of me fisting her on the plane assaulted me. She’d been a responsive little treat.
“Get my sweatshirt back,” Dean joked.
Always with the sweatshirt.
“We’re finding her? I don’t know if I like that idea. She didn’t reach out for a reason.” AJ’s forehead furrowed.
“What if I can’t find her because she’s dead? They were so angry with her. Shesnuck out the windowto get on that plane.” Panic rose inside me.
“Hey, hey, easy,” Jonas soothed as he drove. “We’ll find her if that’s what you want. Right, AJ?”
AJ’s eyebrows rose. I understood his wariness. We were athletes. She could be anyone.
“I’d like to find her. She smelled amazing, and it affected me very differently than Dean,” I admitted, remembering what I told her about taking her back to the hotel and fucking her. Would she want me to? Even after all this time, if she asked me, Iwould.
Oh, I would. After the plane ride, her scent teased me for days.
She haunted my dreams for months.
Still, things were different now. While I’d been away, Dean had no problem with metaking care of business. Not that I ever really did. Now we were married.
Though, AJ and I were hardly exclusive. Also, he’d put the brakes on our relationship until we got the pack contract.
“You can be attracted to more than one person. I don’t see why you couldn’t find her and go from there.” Dean squeezed my hand again. “Honestly, I want to meet the person who brings out such a reaction in you that youfisted her on a plane under a blanket.”
“You actually felt something for her?” Hurt dripped from AJ’s voice. “We have to be so careful. Not only about fame seekers and gold diggers.”
“I know.” I sighed.
AJ had been there the night I took so many blockers I’d poisoned myself and nearly died. I’d been terrified of being outed as an omega after it had happened to Dean. Also, I sort of hoped to get rid of my omega. I’d never wanted it anyway.
I still continued to take heavy-duty blockers and suppressants. Mostly illegal shit that wouldn’t show up on team drug tests.
Sure, Dean took suppressants so he wouldn’t go into heat during the season. Also, scent-blockers when he played so he wouldn’t distract the other team. But mine were different. Harsher. They locked my omega down so I could continue to pretend I was a beta.
One reason no one ever suspected I was an omega was that once I presented, I’d hid it.
“She’s a beta?” Jonas glanced at me in the rearview mirror.
