She stares at me. I’m dense enough not to have seen an omega living right under my nose, and we both know my excuses are terrible.
“Either or. Both your and Kane’s performances have increased overall. Despite the obvious spikes in your mood, you’ve scored enough goals to convince the managers and coaches not to bench you permanently. Whether she’s your mate or not, she’s obviously doing you both good.” She pulls the photos back toward her and shuffles them into a pile while I try not to let all the excuses for why the three of us can’t be together pour out.
“Kane claims she’s his scent match. Is that true?”
I open my mouth, floundering for words. I don’t want to say Ollie is his. Not without me. And I hate how messed up this is. I should just go home and talk to her, even though I want to avoid her forever. I miss her too much, but if I see her in my house again, my alpha side will take over.
“And is she your match? She’s obviously important enough to make you reconsider your stance on omegas.”
That’s putting it fucking mildly.
I can’t hide my grimace as I shuffle in my seat. Because I’d gone from ‘I’ll never trust another omega again’ to ‘everything is empty without her’ too quickly.
“I’m asking because I think it would be useful to your future and the team’s if you explored this with Kane. I’m very happy to make room for her during away games, and we can organize—”
A growl snaps from me before I can stop it, and her gaze narrows.
“Excuse me?” she asks coldly, and I pull back.
“Sorry, but I went along with your omega plan because you said it would just be a date. You should know what a huge leap it is for me to go from casually meeting someone to suddenly being stuck to them like glue.”
It was seamless with Luke—Ollie. Even though it felt like Ollie was invading my home at first, there were days when I genuinely struggled to find reasons why she was a danger. After my paranoia faded, I looked forward to coming home. I wanted to talk to her, laugh with her, and the fact that I missed that feeling so much now she’s gone just proves it all.
And if Kane moves in, and we could form a real pack house…
“Of course, I’m sorry, as well,” she says softly. “You know how I am when I have my business hat on.”
There’s a ping from my phone, signaling the garage door has opened, and I jump. My brow scrunches because Ollie must be walking back and forth between her car and the house as she moves her stuff. And I can’t fucking stand that she’s removing herself from my life. I already know that it’s going to be cold and empty when I go back.
My body goes stiff as I reach for my pocket. Clutching at my phone like I do all the time I’m away from her.
“Is that important?” Marilyn asks, arching a brow. “Because we are definitely not done here.”
I don’t want to incur her wrath, but Ollie takes priority over everything else.
“Yeah, it is,” I say, meeting her with a hard gaze. “Can we put the omega strategy meeting on hold?” My alpha side is yelling that I need to get to Ollie and stop her. She belongs with me. And for once, I’m not fighting it.
Marilyn chuckles as she leans forward at her desk. “I know that look,” she says. “Get going, and we’ll talk later.”
I nod as I rise from my seat, and she gives me a knowing smile. We don’t need to say anything else as I leave, with only one thought on my mind: I have to find my omega.
Ollie
Nerves tremble in my throat as the garage door slides up to reveal an empty space. A pang of hurt follows it, because I’ve become used to Timber’s truck filling the garage, but I need to be strong. I’m the one who left in the end. Timber never specifically told me to get out. But, no matter how much hemoaned as he buried his face in my pussy, everything he did told me how much he wanted me gone.
The little chime goes off as I open the side door to the house, and my throat goes dry. I forgot that Timber gets a notification on his super-mega hyped-up security system to let him know the evil omega is back. It would be a lot more fun if it were for revenge, but unfortunately, it hurts too much to mess around.
He bluntly texted me to tell me when to pick up my stuff so he could avoid me. And if that doesn’t make a person feel special, I don’t know what does.
I asked him if we could at least talk, but he didn’t reply. I went silent on Kane all the time, but it felt like Timber was totally dismissing me, and I can barely stand it after everything we’ve been through.
But I have to remember that it’s my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t chosen to come here in the first place.
I shudder with need as I step inside the house and get my first breath of coffee in more than a week. Good thing I downed two suppressants before I left the apartment—because that’s always worked out so well in the past…
The deeper I go, the thicker it becomes, until I’m already groaning with every step as his scent washes over me. I don’t know how I ever got used to it when it smells so freaking good. I’m kind of amazed that I managed to work normally and not just embrace my role as a puddle of horniness, ready to do Timber’s bidding.
I’m taking deep inhales as I drop half my stack of flat packs by the bottom of the stairs for my nest, then traipse to the kitchen.
