Chapter 23
Aiden
“Roxanne,” I call as I prop against the cafeteria’s back door. “The love of your life is here!”
Laughter echoes from the kitchen and familiar faces send smiles my way while they call for their boss to deal with her favourite student. I grin back at my spectators, loving their teasing as much as I do the food they made specially for me.
“Alright, settle down, ladies,” Roxanne scolds as she appears, my bag of goodies already in her hand. “This kitchen isn’t going to clean itself.”
The catcalls quiet down as the woman of the hour stops in front of me with a less-than-impressed glare readied behind her orange-framed glasses. “I thought you were leaving this place. Told me as much a few weeks back, if I remember right.”
“Yeah, that was the plan, but things changed.” I shrug, not about to get into my love life with Roxanne—no matter how good her cheeseburgers are. “Everything alright with you?”
“It will be, if you’ve got my money,” she says, all business as usual.
“This is why I love you,” I tell her, digging out the twenty from my back pocket.
“And this is why I love you, sweetie,” she says, taking the bill with her first genuine smile before she hands the brown bag over. “Your favourite, plus the mushroom one you asked for, and some extra fries just for you.”
I peek inside and grin as greasy meat fills my nostrils. “You’re the best.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbles, waving me off as she heads back into the kitchen. “Scoot before I get blamed for you not being in class.”
With a parting smile and wave to the rest of the ladies, I slip out of the cafeteria and head off in search of my mate. Julian said he needed to help Beckett with some work today, so he’d skipped lunch, and I planned to rectify that.
I find him seated on a bench at the front of the school with his beta, books splayed out on the table between them.
“Beckett, this is basic math,” I hear Julian say as I amble closer. “We’ve been going over this for an hour now. What are you not getting?”
“Everything,” Beckett groans. “Nothing about math is basic. What the hell are we finding?” He perks up, green eyes widening.
“Ask yourself, Julian, what is ‘x’ really? I’m telling you, these aren’t answers—we’re calculating some shit to build a nuclear bomb.
I can’t be expected to build a fucking bomb, I’m in high school. ”
Julian stares at his friend for a hot second with a defeated expression I’m sure I’m rocking too. I knew Beckett wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but I always thought he was at least in the shed.
“I’ll just do it,” Julian sighs, grabbing Beckett’s book.
“You’re doing his work and yours?” I ask as I stop behind him. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
Julian tosses his head back at the sound of my voice, and the strain in his eyes dissolves instantly as he smiles up at me. My heart stumbles, and I almost do too, but I manage not to look like a complete idiot as I lean over to set the greasy bag down.
“You good, Jewels?” I ask, sliding my hands over his shoulders.
He nods quickly, his smile somehow turning even sweeter. “I’m just helping Beckett out. It’s nothing major. He could do it if he applied himself,” he quips with a pointed glare at his friend.
“If you want to build a bomb, be my guest,” Beckett mumbles, boldly reaching for the bag. I slap it away before he can touch it. “Ow!”
“Control your sausage fingers—that isn’t yours.”
Beckett glares at me, but doesn’t argue. He slings his bookbag over his shoulder. “I’m going to find Emitt,” he mutters to Julian. “I’ll be back before lunch is over.”
I wave the big dunce goodbye before I slide into the space beside Julian, who’s already starting on Beckett’s homework. I rub the back of his neck, kneading the muscles there as I draw a little closer.
“Have you eaten?”
Julian shakes his head, trying to concentrate even as his body leans towards mine. “I have a snack in my bag,” he mumbles. “I’ll eat it when I finish this. It won’t take long.”
I tug at the border of the book, snatching it from Julian’s grasp and holding it out of his reach when he tries to nab it back.
“Aiden!” He’s already climbing over me to get it. “Give it back.”
“Eat first. Beckett’s homework can wait.”
Julian’s gaze darts down to mine, annoyed, but it only makes me smirk as I wrap my free arm around his waist and steal a kiss. The fight in him melts—and so does he—as he kisses me back. I groan, barely stopping myself from pushing him back and spreading him on the table so I can have more.
“Eat, Jewels,” I whisper against his lips when we part. “I got this made special for you.”
He looks annoyed, but curiosity outweighs his reluctance. He settles back in his seat and pulls the bag closer. He sniffs a little, undeterred by the smell of beef, and pulls out the two foil-wrapped burgers. He hands me the beef one without needing to check, then unwraps his own.
His eyes widen at the sight of the juicy mushroom burger Roxanne had whipped up with some halloumi shit and beans for Julian’s vegetarian ass. He shoots me a grateful glance before taking a huge bite. He barely chews twice before his eyes flutter shut and he groans.
“I guess you like it,” I hazard as I unwrap my own.
Julian nods, mouth still full when he takes another bite. He’s way too civilised to talk with his mouth full, but the gleam in his eyes says it all.
“Good.” I lean forward to kiss his cheek before digging in.
I never thought of myself as the doting type, but Jewels is so focused in most aspects of his life, including being an alpha, that he sort of misses all the basic bits—like feeding himself.
More often than not, he’d forget to eat because he had some task to handle and he wouldn’t give himself a second to rest until it was ticked off.
If I left Julian to it, he’d only eat once a day, and as his mate, I’ve been determined to put a stop to that. He used to fight me on it, but he’s become a little more pliant. And every time he lets me take care of him, this satisfying bud of happiness and relief bursts inside of me.
“You got this made for me?” he asks when his mouth is finally empty. I nod and grab my water from my schoolbag, setting it in front of him.
“Why?” he asks before taking a sip. Good.
“Because I can,” I say, nudging his thigh under the table. “Because I like taking care of you.”
Julian frowns slightly and looks away.
Worry makes me want to press, but guilt shuts me up. I do want to take care of Julian, but ever since that night I’d slipped out to handle the rogues, I’ve been … overcompensating. I know good deeds don’t make up for a lie, but other than the truth, it’s all I have.
We should tell him, Max injects as he paces in my head. We shouldn’t have gone without him knowing.
You know how he feels about rogues, I snap back, even though he’s right.
It’d be better to argue about that now than to fight later because you lied to him.
The thought of fighting with Julian makes something inside me ache like there’s a real, festering wound. He’s my good. My one good thing. And I refuse to fuck it up.
With anyone else, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell them about the rogues we’d found beyond the packlands—how different they’d been—but it isn’t that easy with Julian.
He’s defended rogues before, so telling him would only lead to a fight, Still, he’s my mate, and we’re supposed to be doing this alpha thing together, which means I should share it with him.
You’re better than that.
Julian’s words have been haunting me since the night he first whispered them to me, because I know I’m not. If I were better, I wouldn’t be hiding shit from him.
“Hey,” Julian says with a nudge to my side. “Where’d you go?”
I force a smile, setting down my half-eaten burger. “Nowhere, just thinking too much.”
“Be careful,” Julian whispers “Your brain wasn’t built for such strenuous activities.”
“Alright, Heil,” I say, pinching his side and making him laugh. My soul lights up at the sound, and I pull him close so I can do it again until he’s squirming and laughing, trying to pry himself free.
“You done with all that smart talk?” I ask.
Vibrant blue eyes meet mine before he shakes his head. “You’ll have to beg for even the chance at that.”
I smile so wide my cheeks hurt. For a moment, there’s just me and Julian, and this perfect moment, and then the stupid fucking bell rings. I groan, resting my head against his as students shuffle past towards class.
“What do you have?” I ask, already resigning myself to a torturous hour of waiting until I can see him again.
“Nothing, a free period,” Julian mumbles, and I sit up so fast he startles. “What?”
“That means I’ve got you for a whole period.”
“You have a class, but—” He studies me for all of a second before shaking his head. “You aren’t going to it, are you?”
“Nope.” My grin widens.
“Well, I plan to study,” he says, balling up the empty foil and tossing it into the paper bag. “So you can sit there quietly and watch me, but that’s about it.”
“That’s enough,” I reply honestly.
Julian blinks at me, before all that pretty pink seeps into his cheeks. He tries to hide his smile, ducking his head and letting his hair fall into his face.
My blood heats, and I struggle not to touch him as he packs his things and stands. He leaves the table and I’m on his heels, mirroring every step.
“I know a spot,” I say, earning a glance.
“I know one too,” Julian replies with a fake gasp. “It’s called the library.”
“Mine’s better,” I promise as I take his hand and pull him behind me. “You’ll love it.”
“But Beckett won’t know where to find me,” he protests, even as he follows. “He knows to meet me in the library.”
Given the fact that he hadn’t returned as promised, my guess was that Beckett was preoccupied, but I don’t bother saying all of that. “Beckett has a nose.”