The guys glance at each other, and it seems I’m not the only one feeling a little awkward. None of us have been through this before; it’s new to each of us. In a way, it helps me relax, knowing they’re in the same boat as me.
Monroe’s blue eyes are totally fixated on me when he says, “We can show you your room, if you want?” He wears dark blue jeans that hug his tall, muscular legs nicely. A black shirt rests on his torso, matching the color of his short hair and making the color of his eyes pop even more. The über alpha radiates dominance without even trying—or maybe that’s just because the darn guy is practically six and a half feet tall, the tallest out of all of us.
I nod. “Okay.”
He straightens himself out, then turns around and walks to the hall. Lev is all warm smiles and twinkling eyes as he looks at me, waiting for me to follow Monroe before he trails after us. Redd is the last to follow.
I can smell the others, too, though Redd’s lemongrass scent threatens to overpower theirs. Monroe carries with him a cool pine scent, while Lev smells of dark cherries and bergamot. Mixall three of them together and you get a wonderful concoction of scents that immediately make my thoughts hinge toward the gutter.
They’re all deliciously hot. That should go without saying. Monroe has that tall, dark and handsome thing going for him, while Redd has that quiet, pitch-black stare that makes me feel like he can see inside my soul. Lev has a sprinkle of freckles on his face, but those dimples of his are enough to drive me mad, let alone the way his hazel eyes beam when he looks at me.
We come upon a room on the left side of the hall, and Monroe steps inside and flicks on the light. It’s plain, has no decorations on the walls or colors anywhere other than white and gray, but it’s huge. I mean, the room is way bigger than the one I had at N.O.A., to the point where I feel out of place with so much space around me.
Monroe and Lev set my bags down near the dresser, and the former says, “If you don’t like the room, one of us could switch with you—”
“No,” I say quickly. “It’s good.” I meander to the bed and sit on it, and the mattress feels… like heaven, honestly. It makes me wonder how old the beds are at N.O.A.
“Do you need help unpacking?” Lev asks.
“No,” I say again. “I don’t have much. Thank you, though.”
Monroe and Lev share a look. Something unspoken passes between them, and then they inch toward the door. “We need to run to the store,” the pack leader says. “Pick up some groceries. We’re going to cook you dinner tonight. No promises, but we’re going to try.”
Lev nods. “Yeah, I mean, we’re not star chefs, but we’re a step above pizza rolls.”
“Redd,” Monroe says, “why don’t you stay here with Dulcie and help her get settled in? Lev and I will handle dinner.” They don’t give him a choice. Right after he says that, he and Lev slipout of the room, and if I have to guess, out of the apartment shortly after.
My fingers fiddle with the card Delilah gave me, along with the key that’s now mine. Suddenly—or, more realistically, not so suddenly—I don’t know what to do. I sit there on the edge of my new bed and stare at the lone alpha in the room, at my scent match.
At the one who is proving again I’m not the only awkward one here.
Redd’s brown eyes are on me, so intensely focused on me it’s as if the rest of the room faded away while neither of us were paying attention. “So…” He starts.
“So,” I mimic him.
And then what do we do? We stare at each other, waiting for the other person to say more.
Chapter Eight – Redd
The others didn’t tell me they were going to make excuses to leave the apartment and thereby leave me alone with Dulcie practically the moment she arrived. We have all the food we need to cook her dinner tonight, plus cook her three full meals tomorrow. We’d planned, since we’d moved in here a few days early.
I know why they did it, of course. I’m not stupid. This omega is my scent match, and yet I’m still… out of it. Awkward. Uneasy. I’m eager and happy to have her here, don’t get me wrong, but the gravity of it all makes me feel like every little thing I say, everything I do, has the power to change the world.
Or at least slingshot our relationship to the stars.
That’s not the kind of pressure I’m used to dealing with, let me just say. It makes me want to crawl out of my skin and find someplace quiet to relax and focus on my breathing.
All I manage to say is, “So…”
And Dulcie is my echo when she says, “So.”
We stare at each other after that, neither one of us saying anything more. There’s so much I’d like to say, so much I’d like to do—rush over to her, pull her onto my lap, and bury my nose in the crook of her neck and breathe her in. Memorize that sweet fruity scent and get lost in it.
But I’ve never done anything like that before. I’ve done things with Lev when feeling extra horny, but that’s different. That’s not this.
“I, um…” Man, I cannot formulate full sentences at this rate. Would I ever be able to function when close to her? It’s like she pulls at my sanity, makes me feel like I’m losing my mind, although some might argue I never had my full mind to begin with.
She sets down the two things she’s holding, Delilah’s card and a key to the apartment, then stands. A few seconds later, she’s standing directly in front of me, her head tilted back, her dark eyes gazing up at me.
