I make the mistake of looking at him again. He's standing too, and he's closer than I expected, close enough that his scent is almost overwhelming.
"This isn't over," he says.
I don't know if it's a threat or a promise.
"No," I hear myself say. "It isn't."
A production assistant appears at my elbow, guiding me away from the studio. I let myself be led, not trusting my legs to carry me without help.
The green room is empty when I collect my things. The food is still sitting there, untouched. I grab my bag and head for the exit, desperate for fresh air.
Outside, the car the show sent is waiting. I climb into the backseat and close my eyes.
The car pulls away from the studio, and I try to make sense of what just happened.
My phone is already buzzing. I don’t want to look but I can’t resist. I set the damn phone to alert me to trending posts. I pull it out and find out that social media is exploding.
Ok but they literally couldn't stop staring at each other
Did anyone else see what I just saw on Point of Contention??? Thought they were going to fuck live on air. Lol.
The TENSION between Crane and that journalist holy shit
bro that's not tension that's PHEROMONES
#CraneAndDean forever. I am HERE for it
Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks they just witnessed a prime match on live television
I scroll numbly through the reactions. The clip is already being shared, dissected, set to music. People are making memes. Someone's done a side-by-side comparison of my face before Carter walked out and after. The difference is... obvious.
prime match confirmed,someone writes,look at his pupils dilate
Carter Crane is engaged to Georgia Mitchell but okay…. Who wants to take a bet on how long that engagement lasts? Ten bucks on it not lasting til morning.
Engaged. Right. Carter Crane just got engaged to Georgia Mitchell, the media heiress. I knew that.
And I just had some kind of pheromonal crisis on live television in front of his fiancée and the entire country.
The phone buzzes again. This time it’s Akari.
JAMIE. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.
I don't know how to answer. I type back:I don't know.
You looked like you were going to pass out when he walked in. Are you okay?
No.
Do you think that was a prime match? It looked like it.
I don’t know,I type back.
I’ve never had a prime match before. I know what they are, of course. They’re matches where the chemistry is so damned strong that the government pretty much forces you to get married. It’s one of the many reasons I’ve never registered at the Bureau. Why would any omega? Not when the risk is being forcibly married to a total stranger whether you want to or not?
Prime matches might be rare but I think I might have just had one anyway. That was the single most insane moment of my life.
The phone buzzes again with a text from Akari.There are press outside the apartment. You might need to do that thing where you put a jacket over your head when you get out of the car.
