Page 27 of Begrudgingly Yours
“Ev,” Sam starts, getting the alpha’s attention. “This is Jett. He needs help with Statistics.”
He looks up and acknowledges his friend with a nod. “Cool. Thanks.” Sam walks away while this guy stands up, reaching out his hand. “I’m Everett.”
I return his gesture and fight the urge to scrunch my brows together. He doesn’t give off the vibes that I was expecting and that confuses me. “Hi, man. I really appreciate you helping me. I get the basics, but there’s some equations that throw me for a loop.”
That earns me another nod. “Alright, let’s get started then.” He points at my textbook. “Show me what chapter you’re on.”
Time flies by quickly.
Not only am I finally understanding some of the more advanced formulas, but I haven’t felt bored since sitting down. I don’t know if it’s Everett’s pheromones causing me to relax more than usual or if I’ve just been this severely stressed over my Statistics grade, but I feel better than I did when I walked into the library.
“Looks like our time is over for today,” Everett comments, pointing to the rest of the room. During our session, we both failed to notice our classmates getting up one-by-one to leave the room. Besides us, only a few other pairs are still here and they seem to be packing up as well.
“At least we got a lot done,” I reply, looking down at my notes. There’s little tricks and notes sprinkled all over the page, in every possible margin. “Thank you so much, man. This is the last common core class I have and I really don’t feel like wasting a credit to retake it next year.”
Everett chuckles. “I’m guessing your major doesn’t involve heavy math?”
I shake my head. “Definitely not. Cinematography with a concentration in acting. I think it’s crazy that I even have to figure out mathanymore.”
“You and I both. I’m glad I got all my math credits done early.”
“Wait.” I give him an incredulous smile. “You’re not in a math-centric major?”
He laughs when he sees the teasing look on my face. “I thought I wanted to go into sports medicine, but social work fell into my lap. I’ve just always been good at math. It’s hilarious, too, because my best friend is studying kinesiology and needs all the help he can get with math.”
“I have no idea what that word even means.”
He grins. “Studying the function of the body. He wants to be a physical therapist.”
Social workandphysical therapy? Damn, for a couple of frat dudes, they definitely have some high ambitions.
I huff jokingly. “Well, damn. Those are some admirable jobs. I just want to pretend to be somebody else for the rest of my life.”
He waves off my self-deprecating joke. “Hey, that’s very needed, too. It’s an art. One that I certainly couldn’t do even if you held a gun to my head, so kudos to you.”
There’s a calmness as we sit there talking. Small talk normally feels like pulling teeth, but this doesn’t feel like that. I don’t mind what we’re talking about. We could go back to looking at math equations and I’d be perfectly content. It leaves a strange feeling in my gut.
“Yeah, uh…” I start to pile my books into my bag. “Thanks again. I really needed this.”
“No problem. I’m here every time Sam asks us to be, so feel free to come back if you continue to struggle. It was good to meet you.”
A genuine smile appears on my face as I stand up. “You too, man. I’ll see you soon.”
As I walk away, his rain aroma falls away and the anxietythat had dissipated somehow cascades back into my body. I feel a shiver at the sensation, looking back for just a moment to see Everett packing up his own stuff. He catches my eye and waves, sincerely jolly in his mannerism. I return it, but as I leave the library and walk into the sunshine of the quad, the heat burns a bit too much on my skin.
FIFTEEN
Playing: Peer Pressure by James Bay & Julia Michaels
“O,wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”
The gleam in Jett’s eye as he channels Romeo’s sultry playfulness always pulls my omega in. We’ve rehearsed this scene a few times since we’ve started practicing on our own, but it feels heavy today. Full of hidden undertones. So I put some sincere curiosity into my next line.
“What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?”
“The exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine.”
Jett reads his line, still cocky but with a little bit of vulnerability. It causes me to fall silent, because the words from my professor yesterday are still ringing in my head.‘Be more gentle with this line’and‘you’re an omega, you have to act like that’and‘more love, less lust.’They were vitriol, borderline disrespectful, but no one else in the class is an omega, so no one said anything.
