Page 49 of Begrudgingly Yours
I could nameabout a hundred different places I would rather be right now than Bensen U’s hockey arena, but here I am.
I don’t get to see my best friend that much anymore since she dropped out of school and moved out, so even if I have to freeze my ass off as well as see two knuckleheads that also happen to be my scent match’s new pack mates, so be it. At least Stacia is right here beside me in case I need a getaway buddy.
Ciro sits on the other side of her, taking swigs of a metal canister thatdefinitelydoesn’t have water in it. He’s offered it to me a few times, but I declined. Last time I let Ciro give me liquor, I was caught off guard by Dax and ended up puking in a bush. I definitely don’t want a repeat of that night.
I try and fail several times to keep my eyes off Dax and Everett as they’re warming up. Dax watches as Kendall andAtlas send practice shots to Everett. I think about that first time I saw them play all those months ago, when I accompanied Stacia to her first game to support her scent matches. They played off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and it was that coordination that drew my eye to them to begin with.
Just as the first period is about to start, I smell the familiar remnants of woody sweetness in the air. Jett’s amber scent fills my nose involuntarily. I turn in the direction it’s coming from to get a bigger inhale and end up accidentally breathing it directly from the source, my face improperly posed in front of Jett’s dick as he pauses beside our aisle.
Why this fuck did I pick theaisleseat?
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to give myself a moment of reprieve before I have to deal with the embarrassing thing I just did. But when they flutter open and I peer up at my scent match, he’s looking at me with the softest expression I’ve ever seen.
“Hey, twilight,” Jett says. His hair is pulled up in a man bun, his lean body hidden behind a t-shirt that’s definitely too thin for this arena, and his keys are attached to his belt loop.
Fuck,why is that so hot?
“What’s up, Jett?” Ciro calls over to him with a drunken grin.
He looks over and his eyebrows go up. “Oh! Hey, Ciro.”
“First hockey game, huh?”
Jett looks bashful but nods nonetheless. “Gotta do what I can to support my new pack mates, you know?”
He’s looking at me while he says this, and it’s not until after that I realize it’s the first timehe’stold me about his pack mates. I can feel the panic try to appear on my face but I squash it down.
I’m already doing a really shit job at being nonchalant about this.
It’s been weird in rehearsals lately, especially since we started nightly rehearsals on Tuesday as well as our usual class on Friday. I’ve been hesitant to speak about what happened between us, and Jett has been respectful and kept his distance outside of our scenes together. It’s definitely affecting the way we’re acting, and I think our other classmates are starting to notice. Nicoledefinitelyhas, because she makes a comment about it every time we’re in class.
“Yeah, you get used to it after a while. Every game starts to feel the same. Why don’t you sit with us?” Ciro gets up to move down a seat, but Stacia hits him in the arm. Her beta gives her a confused look, but I stop the interaction before it becomes awkward.
“Yeah, sit with us,” I blurt out. I gesture at Ciro to scoot down just as Stacia peers over at me with a worried question on her face. I try to give her a casual look and shrug, mentally communicating to her that it’s okay. Even if she doesn’t believe me, she still moves down a spot so Jett can sit beside me.
“Thanks,” Jett says to no one in particular as he settles in beside me. His scent becomes stronger, and I swallow down a pained noise as I look towards the rink, determined to avoid eye contact for as long as possible.
Ciro starts chatting with Stacia, and I continue looking forward. I can feel the heat radiating off of Jett’s thigh, the rough denim hovering over my skin like a forbidden promise.
His scent trails over me like smoke, bathing me in its entirety. Every accidental brush of our legs sends another strong surge of amber into the air.
I can’t believe there was ever a time when Jett hid his scent. It’s such a beautiful concoction; so warm, so unbelievablyhim. I feel sad that he felt like he had to hide it, that it reminds him of someone that he’d rather forget.
My own scent reaches out to meet his, mingling like oldfriends. I wince, embarrassment flooding the cranberry aroma and singeing it. I want to be a companion to my omega, but the fact that others cansmellhow I feel always causes my face to heat up.
I look around, wondering if anyone notices, when the slightest feather-like touch pulls me back. My gaze goes forward as Jett’s fingers lightly ghosts over mine above the cupholder, letting the energies against our skin interact in a way that shoots goosebumps up my arm. I refuse to look at him, because seeing his green eyes, allowing them to see how he’s sending me into a tailspin, will cause the fantasy to slip. As long as I don’t look at him, I can allow myself this little indulgence.
His fingers finally slip through mine, and they softly close together. The energy snaps, and I feel a release flow through me… a calmness I have never known before.
We’re like our characters in the crowd at the masquerade, sneaking touches and pretending to not be as affected as we are.
“What’s happening right now?” Ciro asks, bringing me back to the present. “Rory, you’re never this quiet.”
I panic, but then realize that he can’t scent us. As a beta, he can only smell someone who is a family member or a scent match, so he’s none the wiser of the emotional turmoil that I’m in right now.
“Let’s just keep watching the game, Ci,” Stacia comments as she maneuvers his chin so he’s looking back at the rink. I breathe a sigh of relief, my skin burning as Jett squeezes my hand.
I feel like I’m going to throw up. It looks like there might actually be a reoccurrence of what happened a few weeks ago after all.
