Ryder’s voice stayed mild, but his dark gaze only grew in intensity. “No therapy speak. No laughter. No common sense. Whatwouldyou like from me, bright eyes?”
Ash wished he could still smell pheromones clearly enough to pick up on what Ryder’s were doing at that exact moment. Ash could faintly smell cedar, but was it growing richer? Thicker? Was the room filling up like it had when Ash had been in heat?
Ash clenched his fists under his thighs. What he wanted in this exact moment was too embarrassing for words, so he didn’t use them. He stood up from his chair in one stilted movement, then walked over to Ryder’s and plopped down in his lap.
And because Ryder was the best human around, he wordlessly wrapped his arms around Ash as tight as he could, dropping his chin to Ash’s hair.
Ash let out a breath. That felt pretty good, actually, so he tried another. In and out. Breathing in both Ryder’s pheromones and the subtle, musky scent that was justhim. His skin and body wash and sweat.
Something horrible and tight finally loosened in Ash’s chest a little.
“Anytime you want, bright eyes,” Ryder murmured, even though Ash hadn’t said anything.
Ash didn’t even flinch when Dr. Turner came back with her pamphlets to find him curled up on Ryder’s lap like some kind of … docile omega.
She wanted Ash to soak up alpha pheromones, right? Then she had to pay the PDA price of it.
It turnedout Ryder had gotten them deli sandwiches and shoved them in his bag, so Ash made it to his financial engineering lecture early.
Which sucked, actually, because arriving early meant sitting still and waiting.
More waiting. Always fucking waiting. No wonder he felt antsy and wired and pissed off at the whole world.
Ash’s phone was close to dead—he really needed to get better about charging that damn thing—so he left it on his lap and busied himself with scoping out his classmates. Ash didn’t usually pay much attention, so it was a novel experience. Because really, if they weren’t his friends or Noah, what did he give a shit for?
But now that he was looking, Ash realized his class was almost all alphas and betas. He could clock only two omegas by sight, like the one sitting a few seats down from him, a cherubic-looking guy with light-blond hair and the biggest blue eyes Ash had ever seen. Nowthatwas what people pictured when they thoughtomega. He should be on a campus poster somewhere, frozen in time as he frolicked on the quad, all short and slender and round-cheeked.
The seats between them were empty, and the guy caught Ash looking. He gave Ash a sweet smile and a little nod. See? Classic omega behavior.
If Ash had caught a random classmate staring at him, he would have given him a scowl and the finger.
Ash nodded back in what he hoped was a nonthreatening way. He knew he reeked of alpha, thanks to Ryder, and he didn’t want this guy to think he’d been, like, objectifying him or whatever.
The guy’s gaze dropped down to where Ash’s bag rested on the floor. His big blue eyes grew even bigger, and then he jerked his gaze back to his own laptop.
Ash glanced down, his heart stopping in his chest at what he saw. His stupid fucking pamphlets were poking out, their titles in huge, legible font.Late Presentation and You. Omegas: More than Meets the Eye. Maximizing Your Heats.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Ash hurriedly leaned forward and stuffed them back into his bag, glaring around the room. It didn’t look like anyone else had seen. All the other early arrivers were either studying their notes or scrolling through their phones. Bullet dodged or whatever.
But then the nosy omega Ash had been staring at gathered his laptop and bag and rose from his seat, shuffling over and dropping into the empty chair next to Ash.
Ash stiffened. The guy gave him a full, megawatt omega smile. “Hi. I’m Everett.”
“Ash.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
Everett gave a graceful shrug. “Just from around. You’re always with that hot alpha.”
“Ryder,” Ash said, not sure how he felt about Ryder being known as “that hot alpha.” Was it hilarious or terrible? Maybe both.
“Oh yeah, that one too. But also Spencer Phillips.”
Ash hadn’t realized other people had noticed that. There was no reason that should flood him with a hot flush of satisfaction.Yeah, bitches. He’s ours.
