Chapter 30 Jae
JAE
Summer was taking a long time in the bathroom.
I’d finally gotten away from Aaron and I peered over the railing, hoping to spot her in the crowd. Alyssa appeared and leaned on the railing beside me. I wondered how long I should wait before I left so it wasn’t obvious it was because of her.
She undid her hair clip, letting it all fall down one shoulder. A tired exhale left her as she massaged her temple and winced.
I spoke before I could stop myself. “What’s wrong?”
Fuck, I was dumb.
“It’s nothing.” Alyssa watched the performance blankly, taking in none of it. I didn’t recognize her at all.
“Sorry if I came on too strong,” she said quietly, her lashes lowered. “I have to be so cutthroat doing what I do. I didn’t realize how much of myself I was losing.” She turned to face me, tucking her hair behind her ear shyly. “Thanks for coming tonight. I mean it. It really is good to see you.”
Alyssa inched closer. I wanted to teleport. Blast off into the sky like a rocket. Anything to get out of here.
I felt her fingers wrap around my wrist, and I let out the world’s most awkward gurgle as I jerked backward. “No, wait,” I said, panicking.
Annoyance flashed. “I have waited, Jae.”
“Oh my god, no means no. What the hell is the matter with you?”
Summer . It was a miracle. I must have used up all my luck on the serendipitous reappearance of the fiery little omega.
She redirected Alyssa’s hand away from me with a firm push. Like stopping a misbehaving toddler. I was in awe of her humongous balls of steel.
“Sorry I took so long,” she apologized to me, slipping into the circle of my arms where she belonged.
“I needed some fresh air but the bouncer wouldn’t let me come back in if I left.
Luckily, he redirected me to the back courtyard.
It took me forever to find it. Navigation is not my strong suit.
” She giggled bashfully, and the sound was a shot of pure serotonin.
All the layers of Alyssa’s facade fell, fury irradiating from her instead. “You’re not meant to be here!”
“Sorry to burst your delusional bubble, but Jae asked me to come,” she said simply. “That means I’m meant to be here.”
“God, you’re like a fucking cockroach.”
“Hey!” My alpha’s protectiveness blistered through every fear I had of angering her.
“I don’t give a shit who you are, you do not speak to Summer like that.
” I motioned at the stage. “I came here to see the opener, and I’ve done that.
You want my thoughts? They’re great and should be signed.
But not by you because they deserve better than that.
Consider my obligation to the label met as I’ve heard more about user-generated content than I ever cared to and I’ve had it up to my fucking neck with you. ”
I grabbed Summer and got the fuck out of the VIP area. Maybe we could salvage this shitty evening. All I needed was some good music and her.
But as we got farther away from the execs, Summer’s grip on my hand tightened. I caught the wobble in her bottom lip as her manufactured bravery fell away and knew I had to find somewhere clear of the crowd quickly.
The small balcony on the second floor was quieter, the acoustics of the space muffling the sound. Made for casual spectators, scattered in small groups along the balustrade.
I hugged her, closer than close. It still didn’t feel like enough. Her scent was thin. The usual sugar brightness all but gone, like the dying rays of dusk. My alpha was desperate to see it sweeten. “I’m so sorry,” I said quietly, kissing the top of her head.
Her pupils grew large, darkness eclipsing the light. “Can I ask you something?” she said haltingly.
“Anything.”
“Forget everything that happened with Alyssa. Do you want to go to LA?”
“No,” I said instantly.
The squiggle of her brows said she did not believe me. “But you like the Fitzroy Ghosts. And it sounds like it would be a good opportunity.”
“That’s all true.” I shrugged. “But I’ve always preferred working on my own first. Once I feel good about a track, then I put it forward to the label. I don’t do great thrown in with collaborators from the start. I’ve only ever worked like that with Rowan.”
“Oh.” She pondered this for a few moments before giving me a shaky smile.
I stroked the apple of her cheek with my thumb. “Now. Do you want to tell me what happened when you went to the bathroom?”
She went still. I kissed her knuckles, her palm, her wrist. Hoping she would feel safe enough to tell me.
“Alyssa cornered me,” she said finally. “Said that I was holding you back and that, um, I should take a cab home.”
A wall of red crossed my vision as the temperature in my skull rose several thousand degrees.
“I considered it.”
No .
“But I thought…I could run out of here crying and pay an exorbitant amount for a cab back to Starlight Grove. Which would be pretty stupid since we live in the same house. Or…”
My heart’s kickdrum beat sped up.
“I could talk to you. Even if you were going to tell me something I didn’t want to hear.”
“I’m so glad you did.” My lips crashed to hers, fierce and desperate. “So fucking glad.”
She had taken a chance on me. Chosen to trust in us. Why did that ache?
“I guess I thought you were cute enough to come back for.” Summer winked, pinching my cheek.
“Cute?” I didn’t fucking feel very cute right now. Summer gasped as I spun her, leaning her against a banister. My arms bracketed both of hers, my nose tucked against her hair. There it was . The flirt of wildflowers and passionfruit syrup was returning, and all the blood in my brain shot south.
I kissed along her humming pulse until I was swimming in the perfect golden hour of her scent. My hand drifted. Down, under her skirt, back up again. Her lithe back curved, her softness pushing back against me. Anticipation was heady between us as she waited for more.
Her thong stretched easily to one side, snapping back against her butt cheek as I released it. I unzipped myself discreetly.
“We both need this, don’t we?” I murmured, running the head of my cock along her drenched slit.
I plunged inside her and we both groaned.
The Howler Room melted away. Distorted riffs and raspy vocals blurred to a dull roar.
My mind was blank, floating in our connection.
I wasn’t even thinking as I draped her hair over one shoulder, exposing the nape of her neck.
I bit down lightly, running purely on instinct.
The effect was immediate. Her pussy clamped down tight around me. “Alpha,” she whimpered.
Her weight sank against me and pushed me even deeper. I didn’t dare move yet. Even though the lights were low, anyone could look a little too closely and realize I was inside her.
Somehow that made it hotter. God, I was filth.
“Jae, I don’t know how but I swear I’m already close.”
We were both degenerates, and I was the luckiest bastard in the world.
Her clit was swollen and needy right above where her pussy was stretched around my cock. I cupped her jaw with my other hand, letting my thumb sit on her plush bottom lip.
“Don’t let it show on your face,” I said as I began to swirl the sensitive bud.
“Hnghh.” Summer’s breathing quickened. I couldn’t help but match the energy belting from the stage as the deep bass coursed through our bodies. It was a good show, but the one Summer was putting on for me—squirming, desperate, and flushed—was even better.
Slick began to drip over my knot. “That’s it,” I encouraged her. Don’t get too enthusiastic and ruin it for her . Same pace. Tight ovals. Her neck strained as she held back a moan.
I covered her mouth with my palm. “Let go for me, angel. I got you.”
She trembled first, then clenched, her cries muffled by my hand.
I couldn’t help myself, risking everything to thrust shallowly as pleasure swept over her.
By the time she ripped off my hand she was panting.
I brought my slick-covered fingers up to her lips and she instantly sucked them into her mouth, licking them clean.
“You should knot me.”
“Summer,” I groaned. “If we’re knotted I won’t be able to pull out if anyone catches us.”
“I don’t care.” Nails dug into my forearm. “I want to feel you drip out of me the whole way home.”
Incredible logic. Absolutely infallible. My hips were already starting to move, and I was too far gone. My alpha was committed, determined to give my omega everything she wanted. Summer started to grind back on me, bouncing her ass off my cock as if she were dancing along to the music.
Was she made for me? Fuck, maybe she was.
Claim her.
No, you can’t fucking do that.
I did the next best thing and pushed my knot past her entrance, feeling her pussy grip and pull me in.
“F-fuck. I’m coming so hard,” I panted, shooting what felt like never-ending ribbons of my release deep inside her.
She reached down, curious fingers tracing where we were joined, and hummed appreciatively. “Mm, I love how stretched I feel around your knot.”
God, did she want me to be stuck inside her forever? “You need to start talking about tax codes or bacteria. Anything but my knot,” I pleaded.
“Why? Do those things turn you on, too?”
I bared my teeth with a low growl and she just laughed. We watched the next two songs like that, locked together. Just a normal couple enjoying some live music, absolutely nothing suspicious. By the time my knot finally deflated enough to slip free, I just wanted to be home with her.
“Let’s go,” I grabbed her hand.
“You don’t want to hear them finish their set?” she asked, surprised.
“Not even a little bit.”
Everything caught up with Summer on the drive home.
She shut her eyes for “just a second,” and the next time I looked over she was curled up asleep.
Her head was propped up on the windowsill, using a spare sweater of mine as her pillow.
I turned down the music so it wouldn’t wake her and almost missed a light change because I was thinking about how cute she looked.
The house was quiet as I carried her inside.
I had a tiny crisis outside her nest when I realized she hadn’t invited me in.
I didn’t think Summer would be very impressed if she woke up to find I had left her on the floor in front of her door.
But I also did not want to bring down the wrath of any ancient omega deities on my head.
She still had all her makeup on, and even I knew that was a no-no.
I could do something about that at least. I’d seen all her products multiplying and gradually creeping onto our shelves.
It took some serious label-reading to find something that took off makeup and I used about seventeen cotton pads to clean her face.
But once I was done with that, I was lost. She had so many products and contraptions. One looked like it was made out of jade, two spinning cylinders connected by a gold handle. Fancy. Heavier than it looked, too. I examined the engraving on the handle.
“Face roller…”
I looked at Summer. Back down at the roller. Intrusive thoughts were taking over. Was this really what it was used for? What did it do? I couldn’t resist rolling it on her face. She stirred and I nearly threw it at the ceiling in my rush to get it off her.
Won’t do that again .
It was clear I had poor judgment, and if I put her potions on her face in the wrong order I might end up melting it off. I settled for patting on some moisturizer before carrying her back to her nest.
Summer woke up and touched her cheek as we moved through the hall. “You washed my face?”
“I tried,” I said sheepishly. “I know you don’t sleep with makeup.”
Something inexplicable crossed her face, and she wound her arms around my neck. “Sleep in my nest tonight.”
My throat felt tight. “Are you sure?”
“Mm-hmm. Mercer might be passed out in there, though.”
“Permission to throw stuff at him if he snores?”
“Jae!” Summer laughed softly to herself as she opened the door. Damn, she didn’t answer me.
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her nest. Of course it was fun and bright and the pillows had faces.
It was so undeniably her and suited her perfectly.
Mercer was indeed already asleep, lying along one edge.
There was still plenty of room for Summer and me.
She pointed out her pajamas—one of Lucien’s missing T-shirts and pickle-printed shorts—and I began to help her undress.
“Do you think being a baker is boring?” she asked quietly.
“What? Are you forgetting how much of your cake I eat?” I scoffed, tossing her bra to one side and pulling the T-shirt over her head.
Summer never answered, a melancholy sigh escaping her instead as she cocooned herself under her covers and snuggled against Mercer. I undressed down to my boxers and lay down on her other side. “What’s going on, angel?” I asked, holding her close.
“I don’t think I’m supposed to like you this much,” she said, so softly I barely caught it.
Her breathing evened out as she fell into a deep sleep. I lay there, the ache in my heart mutinous, because I didn’t think I was supposed to, either.
We had six more weeks together. Six more weeks of her, this house, the town.
I reiterated the plan to myself like a mantra and ignored the ways I started to fray.