“Smells amazing,” she says as she begins to take off her jacket, and I help her by grabbing the back as she slides her arms out. I hang it up on the rack as Sloane glances around my home.
It’s not overly large, but it’s a great neighborhood, and I knew it would make a great investment property if I ever got traded to another team. It’s minimalistic but still warm and inviting at the same time.
“Your home is lovely,” she says, glancing around to the kitchen, and I place a hand on her back and lead her to the island to sit on a barstool.
Her scent wafts after her, and I have to keep myself in check. It’s been so long since I’ve scented her in full force. The woman drives me fucking crazy. But I’m not going to ruin this. I’m serious about this girl, and I need to prove my intentions and make sure we're on the same page.
“I figured you might be hungry already, so I thought it would be best to eat first,” I say, and she gives me a warm smile.
It’s hard not to stare at her. It’s not just that she’s beautiful with her unique red hair, freckled skin, and piercing green eyes. Sloane is like a magnet I can’t pull away from. Something about her presence soothes a part of me I didn’t know I ever needed.
She calms me in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time. It’s consuming, and I wonder if having her in my home for our first date was the best idea.
Sloane is too tempting for her own good.
“It looks amazing. Pancakes?” she asks as I slide one of the savory and sweet dishes in front of her.
“Pannenkoeken.It’s a bit in between a crepe and a pancake. You typically roll it and eat it. My mother made them all the time,” I tell her, and she smiles.
“Are you stillclose withyour mother?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“Unfortunately, she is no longer with us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says like she truly means it, and I’m grateful she doesn’t ask me more details about her. “Any other family?”
“I have a few cousins, and my father still lives in the Netherlands, but none of us are close. In fact, you probably know one of my cousins.”
“Oh yes, Kristiansen, he’s on the Canes, right?”
I nod my head, my lips thinning into a frown when I hear her say his name. But I swallow down the irritation at the mention of the other Alpha I can hardly tolerate. Instead, I just move on, not wanting to discuss the self-entitled asshole. He broke my nose when we were seven, and I haven’t forgiven him for it.
I place a fork and knife next to her plate as I stand while I eat, rolling and cutting a bite of my dish. Not half bad. Sloane does the same.
“This is delicious,” she says, taking a bite of both options.
“Thank you. What about you? You have quite a large family, yes?”
“My parents are in a pack of four, but besides that, I don’t have any siblings or a ton of other relatives.”
“What was it like growing up with your parents being in a pack?” I ask her, and a wide grin takes over her face.
“Amazing. There was always someone around, you know? I always felt cared for and loved. And I grew up seeing what true love really looks like. I know a lot of people don’t get that. Plus, having Omega, Alpha, and Beta parents prepared me for what my future could possibly look like. You just had two parents?”
“My mother and father were Betas, yes. They were never married and in the end turned out to be better friends than lovers.”
She chews on her food, thinking over my words for a moment. “Are packs common where you grew up?”
“Yes and no. Back home, it is more common for an Omega to have multiple Alphas, but bonding isn’t necessarily as frequent as it is here. Especially bonding with Betas or having Betas in a pack.”
“Oh,” she says, looking down at her food with crinkled brows.
Great, I’m already fucking this up.
“But that is back home. Connecticut is where I live now,” I reply, hoping to salvage this.
“Really started this date off with a bang, didn’t we?” she says. I feel it too. All this time with platonic flirting with no expectations of it going anywhere. But now that she’s in my home, things are real, and neither of us really know how to act.
I let out a small laugh and shake my head. “I know this isn’t casual for you, Sloane. It makes no sense to pretend otherwise.”
