Internally, I bristled as I kept a polite smile on my face. I was sleep-deprived and cranky because I was terrified that someone was breaking into my apartment. That wasn't the sort of thing I could unload onto my TA.
Also, even if he was genuinely concerned, it was rude to tell a woman she looked tired. Unless someone was offering to do somethingto help relieve their tiredness, they had no business commenting on it.
I said goodbye and quickly darted out of the room. Truthfully, I wasn’t only in a rush because of my tutoring sessions. There was something about talking with alphas that gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Well, most alphas. There had been one or two recently who made me feel quite the opposite.
Chase, for instance. Part of me was tempted to go back to the club on the off chance I’d see him. Then again, would he be willing to have a repeat performance? He’d seemed pretty excited and happy about our encounter, but there was no way of knowing for sure.
If he’d really enjoyed himself, he probably would have left his phone number.
Shaking the thought out of my head, I made a beeline for the library.
My first tutoring session was with a first year, who was studying to become a teacher and, like Connor, was struggling with the required math credit. The work she was stuck on was child’s play for me, so talking her through it was easy. She was a sweet, quiet omega, and working with her was always pleasant.
Even though I’d only been tutoring for a short while, I’d found that female students were far more receptive to my support.
Male students were often more combative—especially alphas. The notion that they were wrong and I was right seemed to baffle them, even though, academically, I was miles ahead.
For instance, my second tutoring session of the day was with Ash, an alpha and a football player whose only joy in life was sports. Unfortunately, he needed to keep up with his mathclasses to stay on the football team. I’d been forced to set boundaries with him early on, as I didn’t appreciate his teasing or nicknames.
Unfortunately, that was something I had to put up with.
I had rent to pay, after all.
Between sessions, I grabbed an iced latte and a sandwich, but I only managed a few bites before my churning stomach forced me to stop. Anxiety and stress usually curbed my appetite, so I was struggling to eat.
Thankfully, I could always drink iced coffee.
The afternoon slipped by quickly, and even my male students were more subdued than usual. It wasn’t until I’d finished my final session and was walking toward my last class of the day that I realized why.
The jacket.
My steps faltered as it dawned on me. If I saw an omega wearing a jacket that large, I’d assume it belonged to their boyfriend.
It hadn’t fully sunk in while I was talking to Lyle, but after a whole afternoon of alphas being mildly pleasant to me, I was shocked.
Once I was home, I tucked the jacket back into my nest and snuggled with it, trying my best to forget about the anxiety wearing a hole in my gut.
Chapter 19
Bear
Ihad been looking forward to my turn to watch Flora for days. Spencer had been hogging her. The control freak had decided that the Garnetts were low-maintenance enough for Chase and I to handle anything to do with them, giving him significantly more time to stalk the omega.Ouromega.
I couldn’t say I blamed him. I listened to what he said as pack leader, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it. I wanted to see her more. When I wasn’t working, I spent every spare moment thinking about Flora. If I were honest with myself, even some of the time I was meant to be working, my mind drifted to her. Yup, I was totally obsessed, and the other two members of my pack were no different.
One issue that regularly occupied my brain was trying to come up with a way to get her shitty apartment condemned. Maybe then she would move into a slightly better building on campus. Actually, there was nomaybeabout it, because I was going to ensure she moved somewhere better.
Preferably somewhere with a doorman.
A doorman we could bribe to let us keep an eye on her.
It wasn’t hard to find our omega. I knew which class she had just left, so I simply hovered outside, remaining just out of sight. When she appeared, everything felt better. I couldn’t explain it. Except that she was clearly meant to be a part of our pack, and I needed to see her to know she was truly okay.
Her hair was in a loose braid, and she was wearing a white blouse and a pair of tight blue jeans that hugged her ass perfectly. While I appreciated the jeans, considering I was going to be following behind her, I was mad that anyone else could see her perfect curves if they were looking, which they fucking shouldn’t be.
I wanted that view to be just for me.
