Page 17 of Patiently Yours
“I’m pretty sure lifetime happiness isn’t a requirement for good writing.”
She laughs before pointing casually down the hallway. “Want to walk me to class?”
I must look silly because I nod immediately. We head out towards her classroom and, as I’m trying to muster up the confidence to carry out the plan, the negative affirmations come roaring back. Maybe she can’t smell me the way I can smell her. Maybe it’s some kind of biological fluke, and I’m just another beta that she can’t scent. Or maybe it was a side-effect of us both being under the influence during our first meeting, the drugs causing hormonal abnormalities.
Maybe Kendall was right… maybe I shouldn’t be doing this.
But just as I imagine waving the white flag of surrender, something happens. So discreetly that I almost miss it, her head leans over toward me as we walk just before her nostrils flare the slightest amount. Her eyelashes flutter closed as what just happened hits me like a brick.
Holy shit! She’s trying to smell me. She can smell me!
What follows is a bloom of gloriousness that causes my head to feel both light and heavy at the same time. Her fragrance hits the doubt I was feeling a moment ago like a bat and dissipates it, leaving it behind as forgotten dust.
As soon as I start talking, she speaks as well.
“Hey, would you ever want?—”
“Look, I’m sorry about?—”
We both stop and look at the other before bursting out in laughter.
“You can go first,” I say.
She smiles gently. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for everything that happened with Derek a few weeks ago. You and your pack didn’t deserve to have your night ruined over our bullshit.”
I realize then that Stacia is genuinely a good person. How she got caught up with Derek is a mystery to me.
I shake my head. “You never have to apologize for someone else’s fucked up behavior.Hewas an asshole, not you. I quite enjoyed our first meeting. I don’t regret it at all.” A nervous cough gets caught in my throat. “Also, my pack mate has been looking for a reason to hit him for a long time, so really, we should all be thanking you.”
She gives a sincere laugh at that, which makes me smile. She starts to slow down and I realize our walk is coming to a close.
We stop and I rub my neck in a nervous tick. “Hey, I recognize that this might be too soon to ask… my pack mates are on the hockey team and I normally go alone, but I was wondering… if you’d like to accompany me to their next home game?”
She winces, her face contorting in repulsion.
I chuckle. “You look disgusted.”
That makes her smile again. “I’m sorry. Derek used to make me go, but I hated it. I’m not a fan of how cold it is.”
A snort escapes me. “You’re right, it’s a literal icebox.” I throw the plan out the window and go with the next best option. I know the guys won’t care about the change of plans. They just want her to be comfortable at the end of the day. “What if we hung out and watched it back at our place? They’d be playing, so it would be just us?”
She tilts her head before biting her lip in thought. It brings my attention to it, making me swallow hard. I don’t have an alpha inside me to drive my thoughts, but this particular omega makes me question my sanity.
“I’d like that, actually,” she says, and I internally fist pump. She pulls her phone back out and the next thing I know, a chime echoes from my pocket. “Sorry I never got around to texting you. It’s been a crazy few weeks, but now you have my number, too. Text me the time and day?” She gives me a sweet smile that I reciprocate.
“Most definitely.” I nod. “I’ll see you very soon.”
“Later, Ciro.”
She makes her way into her class, looking back at me once to give another nervous smile. I sigh a huge breath of relief before walking away.
I immediately start to think about how to make it the best date ever. Even thinking of it as adategives me butterflies.
Just as I’m getting to my classroom, it hits me. She knew my name, she remembered my contact. Maybe I wasn’t the only one affected by our meeting after all.
TEN
Playing: Making the Bed by Olivia Rodrigo
