I’ve pulled all the flowers for the bouquet that’s today’s only big project and have prepped about half of the stems when Billie walks through the front of the shop and into the workroom.
“I stopped and grabbed you a coffee just in case. I got it iced so you don’t feel rushed to drink it,” she says, dropping her own bag and two drinks onto the work table along the back wall.
I glance up from my project. She’s dressed in wide leg dark jeans and a boat neck navy sweater. Her hair is pulled back into a sleek ponytail, something I haven’t seen since the first day we met. Her ring flashes in the overhead light. My stomach flutters, though I can’t figure out why. Nerves maybe? Except I wasn’t nervous all morning while getting ready. Why would I be nervous now?
She continues without noticing my struggle, pulling on her own apron and heading toward me. “That wholesale delivery should be here before I’m supposed to look at a couple of house options with Paxton so I’ll…”
She trails off, freezing halfway toward me, her eyes wide.
“What?” I ask, frowning. I glance down at the stems and waterfall bouquet frame I have spread out on the work table, then pat my apron. “Did I accidentally cut something?”
“Carys, that is the biggest hickey I think I’ve ever seen,” she says after a moment. “Did you have a date last night?”
My cheeks flush so fast, I know it’s a dead giveaway. I cover the bruise Rhett left behind my ear last night anyway. I’d debated covering it, but after my first failed attempt, I decided it wasn’t worthy the hassle, opting to leave my hair down in the hopes of keeping it mostly unnoticeable instead.
“Carys,” Billie gasps. She closes the distance between us, quickly settling in next to me. “Oh my god, where did you go? With who? Was it a good time?” She smirks and shakes her head. “I mean, obviously it was a good time, but was the person interesting, too? Are you going to see them again?”
My voice gets caught in my throat. Rhett and I hadn’t discussed telling Billie or his brother. I should have thought to bring it up. She props her hip on the table and touches the hickey. It causes my hair to move, and the faintest bit of Rhett’s lemongrass scent wafts between us. I hadn’t been able to wash it this morning, my entire body seizing in panic at the thought of losing his scent. It was such a visceral reaction, it honestly scared me.
Billie gasps. “Carys freaking Wilder, noway.”
“Umm…” I shrug, not entirely sure what to say. “Surprise?”
She blinks rapidly, her mouth dropped open. My cheeks flush even darker. She shakes her head as if to clear it and then turns to the table, grabbing one of the stems I haven’t managed to prep yet and the floral tape. She twists it around the base of the stem and then carefully presses the wire into the stem to strengthen the Calla Lily the way I taught her last week.
“Earth to Billie,” I say, trying to make light, pulling the base foliage to start arranging the actual bouquet. One of the leaves scratches my finger, and I hiss in a startled breath.
“Just trying to decide the order of my questions,” she says with a smile. She wires another lily. “When did he ask you out?”
“Saturday.”
She nods. “Kind of expected that. When he dropped off lunch, right?” She purses her lips. “Did you actually spill water on your shirt?”
I shake my head, blushing like I’m fifteen again and being asked about my crush. She snort-laughs.
“I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen an Omega nest before,” she admits. “It’s fascinating.”
She sets another lily down. I add one of the large blush roses to anchor the main portion of the bouquet before adding more pieces of greenery and the waterfall frame.
“Okay, okay,” she continues. “But why him? I got the impression you weren’t interested in any of the team. And doesn’t Ares make that kind of awkward?” Her hands fly through the prep work, nearly as fast as I can manage. “Not that Rhett isn’t… well, you know. He’s got more sex appeal than most teams combined. But that feels pretty risky.”
I sigh and spiral arrange for a few moments, trying to gather all my thoughts. Billie’s happy enough to wait me out, moving on to taping the greenery that will go in the waterfall portion when she’s finished with the remaining lilies.
“It started on Halloween,” I admit. “Paxton found us making out upstairs when he got your jacket.”
This time, Billie turns to me, completely shocked all over again. “Oh my God, that’s where you went! When you didn’t come back after a couple songs, I thought you might have called a rideshare and headed home.”
I shake my head. “He’d come up I think to grab his coat, maybe. I’m not really sure. I was trying to decompress from the noise and people from the dance floor. My thoughts were… scattered.” To put it mildly. “I perfumed, and then suddenly he was there. We’re scent matches.”
Her eyes are so wide, I can see the whites all the way around. “Scent matches,” she echoes. “He’s been with the Scorpions since he was drafted seven years ago. How did you not realize?—”
“I presented the summer before college,” I explain quickly, cutting off her question. “And I went on suppressors shortly after. It wasn’t until this summer I came off of them. And Ididn’t interact much with the team itself, just watched as they practiced. Well, aside from Timber.”
“Wow.” She slowly picks up a stem of greenery and strips one of the lower leaves. “Holy crap. All right. So it’s serious then, obviously. Have you guys talked about what you’re going to do with your dad? That feels like a mess waiting to happen.”
“We’re keeping it secret for right now. I’m hoping by Christmas the season has turned around enough that Dad won’t have a complete conniption when he finds out.” I add in a few more roses, then start in on the lilies. “Dad’s not evil or anything. He loves me and gave me the best childhood a kid could hope for. But he’s… overprotective. I worry he’ll take out whatever frustration he has about us on the team rather than with me.”
She nods. Then she grins, tossing her head back and laughing with her entire body.
