by Aria Grace
Jax’s gaze locked on the door and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “I think that’s him,” Jax whispered without taking his eyes off the door behind me. “He’s wearing a staff badge, and he looks just like Christy described. Trim, tight, and oh so very sexy.”
I don’t know how I knew he was right, but my body agreed completely with what Jax had just said. It was him.
Without so much as taking a breath, I slowly turned around and watched the man who had haunted my waking and sleeping dreams for the past year step into the restaurant.
3
Ash
I was running much later than I had planned thanks to my impromptu decision to make a quick stop at Omega House to check on baby Sylvia. Of course, that quick stop turned into fifteen games of peek-a-boo followed but her deciding a bottle wasn’t good if the source was handy. Not that I minded. I treasured that time with her and wished she were closer to me at all times.
In theory, the university’s early childhood center would have a space for her as soon as the next set of infants moved up to the movers and shakers room at the start of the new month, but until then Marge gave her a spot at the facility she helped run at Omega House.
I don’t know what I would’ve done without Marge. She’d not only connected me with some amazing job opportunities, but also gave us a place to stay until we could find a good place to call our home. I had my name on the waitlist at a couple apartment complexes near the university. If things went well with my new job, then I would look into buying a place just outside the city. But for now, renting was ideal for Sylvia and me.
My stomach growled as I entered my new favorite restaurant. Normally I’d have eaten by now and been heading to my office hours, so it was a grab and eat along the way kind of day. The place was bustling with mostly college students, not that I could blame them. They probably came for the same reason I did—fast service, cheap prices, and delicious options. True, most of it was bad for you, but it was worth it.
I checked out the specials board before walking up and placing my order, a grilled cheese sandwich with fruit salad. It was my attempt to be goodish about what I ate. I took my number and moved over to the pick-up counter when I heard a throat clear behind me. I quickly stepped out of the way, assuming I was the cause of their rudeness. I barely glanced back before I found myself face to face with the man who filled my dreams, the naughty ones at least, and he was wearing a university sweatshirt.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Coop, the father of my baby, was a student. Not only a student of the university, but a student at the facility I was currently employed by. This could not be happening. Of all the shit luck.
“Coop.” My voice gave away every ounce of surprise I held.
“Ash. It’s good to see you. Professor?” he asked with a smile on his face. Did he not see the problem here?
“Something like that.” Technically, I was a visiting instructor, but that was splitting hairs and made zero difference in the dilemma before us. “Student.” It wasn’t a question.
“Second year grad student, but yeah.” He bit his lips in...what? Embarrassment?
Not that my cock got that message. It saw the way the color faded slightly where his teeth indented what I knew to be masterful lips, and it rose to the occasion. Making sure to hold my briefcase in front of the evidence of my arousal was reminiscent of my student days. Why did he have to be so sexy and smell like amber musk...and be a student? Mostly the last part. Age wasn’t a problem that couldn’t be worked through, and his scent under any other circumstances would be a boon. No, the only issue I saw was his status as a student, and damn, that was an insurmountable one.
“That’s a shame.” On so many levels, most of which he didn’t have a clue about. We needed to talk about Sylvia, but this was not even close to the setting for the by the way, you have a kid conversation.
“Does it have to be?” His eyes fell, and for the first time, I was seeing an unconfident side of Coop. My immediate impulse was to fix it, to let him see that it disappointed me too, but yet again, the setting was an issue.
“It kind of does. I can’t afford to be fired.”
I needed to talk to Marge. Word was going to get out. It wasn’t like I could or would hide Sylvia from Coop, but at the same time, I wanted to have plan B set up for our livelihood. My old post was all about saving the school’s reputation. I had no fears from them. This, however, was a public institution. They would broach the entire situation differently, and in this case, I was technically doing something wrong if I so much as held my alpha’s hand. Not my alpha. No. The alpha.
“I suppose not.” Then Coop, instead of heading back to his seat, stepped closer and spoke in a hushed tone I hoped only I could hear. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Not helping.” My voice hitched, and my body leaned into him before I could stop myself, which thankfully, I managed to do. Darn pheromones.
“I wasn’t really trying to.” He smirked before taking a step back, his hand accidentally brushing mine. Or maybe not so accidentally.
“Number eighty-three.” I was both grateful and annoyed by the loud voice calling out my order.
I cleared my throat to regain a few octaves. “That’s me.”
“Eat with me?” Why did Coop have to look so freakin’ hopeful? He was so not making this easy on me. It was ego boosting and not unreciprocated, and if the situation were different, I’d have zero hesitations, but they weren’t different.
“It’s to go.” I made an excuse that was honest, but only partially so. I needed to sit down with him and discuss everything, but not here. Not now. “I have office hours.”
“Damn, I’m taking the wrong classes.” He winked, his scent filling the air around me, practically embracing me. Why did he have to smell so incredibly yummy while being so charming? My willpower was failing by the second.
“I only teach undergraduates.” Thank freaking goodness. I couldn’t begin to imagine how this would be playing out if he had been in my class. I’d have to resign. There’d be no choice. “Taking my class would indicate you were, in fact, in the wrong class.” My attempt at a joke fell flat as the voice from the counter pulled my attention.
“Eighty-three.” The man behind the counter shouted this time.
“Go. Eat. I’ll see you around.”
“Probably not for the best,” I mumbled to myself out of sexual frustration. It was for the best. He had a child and needed to know her. She had both his nose and his eyes.
I snatched the bag with my lunch before apologizing and saying thank you. What was wrong with me? Oh yeah, my life was a cluster fuck of bad timing.
“Nothing worthwhile is.” Coop turned to leave, and my hand automatically reached out for him, landing softly on his arm. “Yes?” he asked, his arousal evident in that one little word.
“Do you have class at four?” It probably wasn’t smart making plans with an audience present, but people seemed to be carrying about with their own lives as the words fell out. He needed to meet Sylvia. That was first and foremost.
“Today? Yeah. But after that, I’m done.” He looked so optimistic, having no clue I wasn’t asking him for naked fun or even romantic fun. I was about to turn his life completely upside down and backward.
“Oh.” I needed a backup plan, but none of this had been thought out in any fashion, so that was all I managed to get out.
“Okay then,” he said before pulling out his phone and typing away like a mad man. “This you?” He held up the course selection for the semester, and my name was across the screen.
“It is.”
“Omega Studies. Nice. I think my brother Killian is in your class.” Because sometimes complicated situations just needed a little added twist.
Killian Daye was in my class. He was a non-traditional student, closer to my age than Coop’s if looks were a strong indicator. He too was an alpha, a mated one with a child at home and another on the way. This I knew because he took every ch
ance he could to show anyone around him pictures of his growing family. There was never a moment I was more grateful for having not flashed photos of my beautiful daughter to a student than now. It’s very possible he would have recognized some of his brother’s features in his niece. The niece he didn’t know existed.
“He is, and I need to run. My office hours start in five minutes. Sorry.” I was babbling, unsure how to process anything I’d just learned.
As I scrambled out the door, the cool air hit me, clearing the fog his scent had enveloped me in. I was screwed. Good and screwed and not in the way that resulted in Coop’s knot. I needed to find a new job and fast before all the shit hit the fan.
And it would. It was only a matter of time.
Taking out my phone as I headed the long way to class, hoping the time would remedy the disobedience of my cock, I called the one person who knew everything.
The blasted thing went straight to voicemail, and I left a quick message for her to call me before I bowed into an alley for a breather. It was better for me to be late than to show up unable to have a rational discussion with my students. Not that any of them showed up for office hours unless it was the day before a test and they were in panic mode. Then I had all the students.
“You dropped this.” Coop’s voice filled the air. So much for fixing the erection challenges.
I lifted my head to see him standing there with a lopsided grin and holding my lunch. Shit, when had I dropped that? As our eyes met, his sweet grin turned hungry and my traitorous body leaned in slightly, beckoning his lips to mine, a siren’s call he instantly answered. He crashed into me, our lips clashing with need as I stumbled back against the building wall.
My memory had done me such an injustice. He devoured my mouth, exploring, claiming, setting my body aflame. I wanted it—no needed it—and my body surrendered to his instantly. Our obstacles were gone in that moment. It was only us there—our bodies, our desires.
A crash broke the spell, someone messing with the dumpster farther down the alley.
“So much more,” he whispered under his breath.
“What?” I looked up at him, my breath still labored, and my body still on fire.
“It was so much more than I remembered.” He leaned in close, his scent taking my last bit of sense from me. “See me again. I’m not your student, so you can’t play that card.”
“Your brother is.” Even I didn’t believe my excuse, especially with my need so close to the surface. What was it about this alpha?
“We won’t tell him.” He nipped my ear. Playing fair didn’t seem to be his MO.
“I doubt that’s going to be possible.” He would see that too once he met Sylvia.
“This is too good to not explore.” His lips fell to my neck, and it took all my strength not to get lost in the sensations.
“There’s something you should know first.”
That caught his attention, and he tensed up slightly.
“Then tell me so we can move past this.” It was a command, and for fuck’s sake, why did that turn me on even more?
“You don’t sound like a college kid.” He sounded like a man, one who would take what he wanted but only in the best possible ways. I need to get away from him, his scent, his everything, and think. I needed to plan and figure this out. There was a baby involved. This was more than just going with my emotions even though that was exactly what I wanted to do.
“I’m not your typical student.” He pulled back enough to catch my eyes. “What do I need to know?”
“Not here. Meet me.”
“Anywhere.” His answer was instantaneous.
“At Omega House. At four tomorrow?” That was when I picked up Sylvia. It probably wasn’t ideal to say Congrats, you’re a dad in a public setting like that, but it was all my brain could contrive at the moment.
“I can come today.”
“You have class,” I reminded him.
“Some things are more important.” He stood firm, his body no longer pressed against mine. The alpha had a spine. Good. He was going to need one with all the life changes he had coming.
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I don’t need to know its value. I only had you for one night, and you’ve filled all my headspace so completely that I can’t let this chance slip away.”
How did he know all the right things to say?
“Tomorrow.” Not only was it wrong to pull him from a class when he was so close to graduating, but I needed more time. Time to get my head together about all this.
“Tomorrow. And Ash, I’m glad you picked this university out of all the universities.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he gently placed his fingers on my lips and shook his head.
“Because I got to find you again. Not getting your information that night is the one thing in my life I’ve had regrets about. I looked for you last summer when I went back, but you’d already moved and the new lady in your place had no idea where you went. Of course, that didn’t stop me from spending most nights at Om.” He took a deep breath and gave me a shy grin. “And I realize this makes me sound all stalkerish, but I wanted you to know. Tomorrow. Four o’clock. Omega House.”
Shit. Why did he have to say all the right things when looking like that with his lips still swollen and his pupils still shot?
“Tomorrow.” Because all the things I wanted to say in reply would have had me caving and dragging him to Omega House right then and saying yes to anything he wanted.
4
Coop
I must have done something right in my past life because karma was coming through for me big time. Like, better than I ever could have hoped. I thought my chance with Ash was gone the minute I left his apartment a year ago. Also known as the last time I felt like me. Since then, I’ve felt...wrong. Lost. Incomplete.
It wasn’t an instant loss. In fact, it was a slow creep of discontent. I thought I was just nervous to get back home. Then I blamed it on excitement for starting a new school. But as the weeks turned into months, I felt more and more like something was missing. I never thought I’d feel normal again.
But I did.
The second Ash walked in that room, everything felt right in the world. The memory of our night together came flooding to the forefront of my mind, and I wanted to pull him into my arms and hold him tight. Tight enough to get a good whiff of his scent and a taste of his mouth. Time suddenly felt reversed, like a whole year hadn’t passed.
If we weren’t in public, I would have torn his clothes off and buried my knot so deep in him that we’d still be locked together. But he resisted. Something was definitely making him uncomfortable. He wasn’t as receptive to my advances as I expected. He almost seemed paranoid. He tried to feed me some bullshit about our professor and student status being the problem, but I could tell that wasn’t it. Something else had him anxious and on alert.
In fact, the more I analyzed the situation, the more nervous I became. Whatever he had to tell me was bad. Like, really bad. I knew he wasn’t in trouble with the law because he was just hired by the university. And he seemed to have his head on straight. He didn’t seem sick or impaired in any way. So that left the obvious conclusion.
Ash had already found an alpha, and it wasn’t me.
That’s the only reason for him to resist me when I wasn’t even in the Omega Studies program. He must have met someone shortly after we were together and now he was off the market. Just the idea of Ash being mated to someone else had my stomach roiling and my chest aching.
Someone else had claimed what was mine. What should have been mine. Not what, who. Ash should be mine, but I was an idiot and walked away. I had a chance and I blew it, and now he’s probably planning to sic his alpha on me to keep me away from him.
I clenched my hands into fists and pressed them against my forehead, trying to imagine what I’d done to piss of karma to this extent. “Fuck!”
“What’s your problem?” My brother’s voic
e echoed off the walls as he let himself into my apartment. I really needed to change the locks. Just because this place used to be his mate’s before I moved in, doesn’t mean he still had in and out privileges.
I cracked my eyes open long enough to make sure he was alone before resuming my pity party. “Don’t you knock?”
“I did.” He kicked the side of my foot as he passed me then dropped onto the couch beside me. “You were too caught up in your head to hear.”
Well, that was possible. The room was dark, even though the sun was still shining brightly when I sat down at six. “What time is it?”
“Just after eight.” Killian tossed his phone onto the coffee table then nudged my knee with his. “So, what has your manties in a wad?”
“What?” I relaxed my fists, rubbing my palms up and down my thighs to calm down. “What are manties?”
“Inside joke. You can ask Marcus about it next time you see him.” Killian laughed and waved my question away with his hand. “But what’s wrong with you?”
I debated whether or not to open up to my brother. He was a strong alpha with a wonderful omega as his mate. Maybe he could help me sort out some of these crazy ideas in my head. “Do you know much about Professor Crawford?”
Killian furrowed his brows as if trying to place the name. “From Omega Studies?”
“That’s the one.” I turned to look at him fully, wanting to absorb every word he said about Ash. “What do you know?”
“Not much.” He leaned back with his hands clasped behind his neck. “He’s new this year. I think he and his wife are staying at Omega House, but I overheard him talking about waiting for family housing on campus.”
“His wife?” My skin felt too tight, like my insides might burst free at any moment. Ash was married...to a woman. “An omega?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know that.” Killian shook his head at my question. “It’s not like we’re buddies or anything. I’ve just heard him tell people he has to rush home for dinner and shit like that. Based on his urgency to get home to her, I’d guess she’s an alpha who has him wrapped pretty tight around her pinky.”