Chapter Twenty-Nine Nix
Nix
Nix watches his first love run from the room, taking a piece of his heart with him. He’s known since the moment he revealed his decision to fight Hayes that Jamie still had doubts—even if he tried to show his support. Even after all these years apart, Nix can still read him.
Jamie buries things deep, and he’s letting this run him ragged.
There was nothing Nix could do about trying to work through it now, though. Jamie would come back when he felt he was ready to face them, and, given how Jamie had fled, it could be a while until he returned.
Despite the weight of Jamie’s absence, despite the bruises this fight has already left on his heart, he still wants tonight with Grayson. Nix has plans—romantic, sexy plans, dammit—and he wants to give his mate his (mostly) undivided attention. If Grayson was putting in the effort to make this night special, then Nix was going to reward him for it, even if the timing wasn’t ideal.
“Well. That could have gone fucking better.” Luca grabs Nix around the waist and rocks him back and forth, careful of his wound. Gideon joins in, and together, they stand in the center of the gym. Leo had kissed his cheek before following Jamie out and taking a stone-faced Rowan with him.
Nix is learning that Leo often needs time to work through things, and Nix wants to be sure he respects that—he envies it, even.
Rowan, though? Nix thinks something might be building there. Their bond flares, and it’s burning with something that feels like anger. It’s uncomfortable, and Nix hopes they can talk it out before he has another irate enigma making threats and shaking Nix’s new family to the core.
It’s infuriating that Hayes’s influence is still infecting everything it touches, no matter how hard Nix fights for it to be different. He feels like he’s still dodging big things, and he hopes Rowan will not be one of them. Fighting the memories was one thing, but fighting Gideon in the gym was something else entirely.
The training session had gone smoother once Nix stopped overthinking and let his instincts take the lead. Gideon was a formidable opponent—well-trained, lethal, disciplined, and relentless. His uncanny ability to read Nix’s every tell made it feel like he was always one step ahead, forcing Nix to push harder and think faster.
Taking the accidental hit hadn’t been the worst part. Nix could handle that. What had gutted him was the devastation on Gideon’s face, the emotional turmoil radiating from his mates—no longer just a theory, but instead a bloody reality. But none of it changed a thing.
Because now he knew, without a doubt, he could do this. He could stand against Hayes and survive.
He wasn’t blind to the strain this was putting on his pack. He wasn’t oblivious to how he was pushing every single one of them to their limits. But if he backed down now, he’d never be free.
Even Jamie’s rage—fed by red-hot fear coursing along their bond—wouldn’t change his mind.
Nix’s hands tremble as he watches Jamie, Leo, and Rowan leave. Turning in Gideon and Luca’s arms, he squeezes them, whispering, “I’m sorry.”
He’s sure it won’t be the last time he has to say it, either. Finn joins them, and Nix lets his black currant add to the rain-soaked mocha, and together, it’s almost enough to drown out his sad vanilla and the lingering scent of vomit.
“Baby, come show me how to use that hose so I can clean this up.” Sighing, he pulls away, already missing their comfort.
“Kitten, I’ll do it. It’s my mess. Besides, don’t you have a date?”
Nix was dreading making an explanation for Grayson about the injury, wondering if it would be a repeat of Jay’s reaction, when Gideon brushes his fingers through Nix’s hair, then down under the shirt, over his wound. His eyebrows go up, and he lifts Jamie’s t-shirt to show Finn. “What the fuck?”
Finn drops into a crouch to see for himself. Nix can’t see it well, but by the look on Finn’s face, it doesn’t look as it should. “Does it not look good, Finn? Is it infected?”
Nix wrinkles his nose at the thought. That’s not sexy, and Nix doesn’t want to gross Grayson out later. Oh, and he doesn’t want to be sick, either. Can Weres get infected wounds? Is that a thing?
“Not at all. If anything, it looks days old. You wouldn’t have needed stitches.” Finn frowns, pulling at the skin as if the answer is written there. “And your legs? Perfect, in under twenty-four hours. I wonder if it’s an omega thing…”
His wheels are visibly turning, and he reaches for his med kit again. “Here, let me take the stitches out.” It takes Finn a fraction of the time to take them out as it had taken him to put them in. “Un-fucking-believable. I can see the skin healing.”
“I’m better? Seventeen stitches and it’s healed?”
“Crazy. I’m going to call Riordan.” He kisses Nix’s cheek and then whispers, “Have fun with Grayson.” His sly smile is so sexy, eyes twinkling behind his glasses, and it makes Nix think about following the doctor out the door and into his library just so he can distract him from his call and his questions. Questions he has about omegas.
Sigh.
The things Nix can add to his weird list of ‘omega superpowers’ are getting longer, and perhaps accelerated healing and voluntary scent suppression isn’t even the weirdest.
“Hey. Baby?” Luca is waving his hand in front of Nix’s face as Gideon rolls out the water hose. Nix’s beta smells better—not his usual sweet chocolate-mocha, but better than before. If Nix is going to be in the right mindset to give Grayson his all tonight, then he can’t think about Luca’s conflict with Jamie. Goddess knows he has his own tough conversation to have.
But not tonight. Tonight is for Grayson.
“Hey, want to help me get ready for my date?”
Luca jumps and down, squealing. “Fuck, yes! Let’s go! You go get showered, and I’ll bring all my shit to your room.” Luca pulls him to a stop in the middle of the room. “Do you have anything in particular you want to wear? Or can I choose?” Nix lets Luca’s outward enthusiasm drag his mood along, though he envies how effortlessly he compartmentalizes.
Nix doesn’t know what Grayson has planned, but Nix isn’t sure he’d be up for a red tutu today, anyway. “Um. You could choose, but–”
Luca’s understanding smile is so gentle it calms Nix’s worries right away. “Nothing flashy. Got it. I have just the thing. Trust me. Go get in the shower.”
Nix detours to kiss Gideon’s cheek and gets a burst of cold water for his trouble. Squeaking with fake outrage, Nix grins, relieved to see some color back in his face.
“Go have fun, kitten.”
The shower in his room— his room (he might never get used to saying that)—is hot, and the yellow towels are just as soft as he remembered. There are more than yesterday, rolled and stacked so high the pyramid-shaped pile nearly tips over. Now, there’s even a pale yellow loofah sponge and a brand-new hairbrush.
When Nix lifts a towel to his nose, the faint scent of cinnamon clings to the fibers, and his heart soars. Leo was here—thoughtful as ever in this not-so-small-way.
It’s almost incongruous if Nix thinks about it—the tattooed bassist of an indie rock band, the same man with unmatched stage presence, buying pastel towels and making sure Nix has the best hairbrush money can buy.
There’s no doubt about it—Leo was thinking about him. Even with everything their family is going through, this simple act reminds Nix that he is loved. That’s enough to push his lingering sadness for Jamie aside.
Nix washes thoroughly and towels off, slathering himself in the vanilla-almond lotion Grayson had seemed to prefer when he gave Nix all those toiletries.
That’s where Luca finds him when he arrives, a cosmetic bag in hand and clothes hung over his arm. He had taken the time to change his shirt, and the soft black tank smelled like happy-Jamie. Nix can tell that Luca is putting on a brave face because his mocha still has that faint tinge of burnt coffee.
“You okay?”
“Peachy. Don’t worry about me and Jay. He’s an amazing alpha. I’m mad at him, but we will work this out, or he will die trying—I mean, we will.” He smiles ruefully.
Luca looks through some of the skin care Grayson has given him. “Okay. Ooh, Gray got you some good stuff. You sit, and I’ll do the rest.” He picks out several bottles and begins with a cotton pad and a watery toner.
“When is Gray coming? Snort. Coming .”
Nix just rolls his eyes at his mate’s adolescent humor and closes his eyes for the next thing Luca is slathering on his face. “Around 5:30? What time is it now?”
“We have ninety minutes. You are going to look like a movie star before I’m done. Not that I need to do anything, cuz you are fuckin’ gorgeous.”
Luca continues to add serum and moisturizer and plucks everything that needs it, maybe even some stuff that doesn’t. He uses only a few things from the make-up in his bag and refuses to cover even one of Nix’s freckles.
Even the hairdryer and flat iron are called to action to smooth Nix’s fluffy hair. When he deems Nix ready, he pulls him over to the bed, where the mattress is still missing.
“We ordered you a new one, but it won’t be here until tomorrow.” His scent goes a bit murky with sadness, but he clears his throat and straightens out the white, long-sleeved cotton artist’s shirt he’d brought.
“I think this is the vibe. Grayson has set up in the art house, and this screams artist’s muse , right?”
It does. It’s long enough to go almost to his knees, and when he pulls it on over his head, it has a deep v-neck tied together with cotton laces and is much too large but is still somehow perfect.
It reminds Nix of a flowy pirate’s shirt, but this is super-soft, almost transparent, luxurious cotton. It’s very feminine but slightly modest if you don’t count the sheerness or the hemline, which peek-a-boo’s open as Nix moves. It’s totally not Luca’s style.
“It’s beautiful. Where did you get this?”
“Not my vibe, right? It’s Gideon’s. I bought it for him from a boutique in Paris. Handmade by a tiny French woman named Elise. Told her I had a pirate fantasy, and voilà! He won’t mind if you wear it.”
“Really? It’s so pretty. How did the pirate fantasy work out?”
Luca giggles as he ties the laces loosely so flashes of Nix’s chest and belly show through. “Well, I can say I hoisted his mainsail, I swabbed his deck, and then he looked for pirate booty.”
“Did he shiver your timbers?”
“Argh, matey, he blew my man down.” Luca’s pirate voice is ridiculous, and Nix laughs so hard he has tears in his eyes. “Don’t wreck the eye makeup! Fuck, you look so good. One last thing. I know you might not feel comfortable going pantsless outside. Yet. So I brought you these. I picked them up in LA ages ago but never wore them.
The cream-colored box has La Perla on the front in gold foil. When Luca peels back the tissue, there is a simple pair of white panties inside. The legs are framed in soft lace, and when Luca helps Nix slide them on, they feel silky on his dick and ass cheeks. In fact, they feel like he’s wearing nothing at all.
“Jay has a role-play deflowering kink a mile wide, and nothing says ‘I’m a sexy virgin’ like these.” Luca’s scent sours again at the thought of their alpha, but he rallies and pastes on a fake smile.
Nix doesn’t know how to make it better, especially when it’s all his fault. Instead, he hugs Luca and says, “Thank you, I love them.”
“You look perfect. Look how they make your dick look so pretty. Here. Come see in the mirror.” He takes Nix’s hand and leads him toward the large floor mirror behind the white chair in the room’s corner.
Nix doesn’t recognize himself. He might even be pretty. Luca had made his eyes look brighter and lengthened his lashes. He’d added a bit of peach color to his cheeks and a soft gloss to his lips.
“What do you think?”
“I love it. Thank you.”
Luca retrieves the same iridescent glitter from the other night. “One last thing, then you’re done.”
He brushes a shimmering fingertip over Nix’s collarbones, over his belly button, then has him turn to trace over the dimples at the base of his spine. And because he’s Luca, he tops it off with a sharp bite to Nix’s butt cheek, just below the lace edge of the white panties.
“All done. Gray is going to nut before you even get to dessert.”
Nix sincerely hopes not, but he smiles, so grateful for this man that it overflows in a burst of affection. “Thank you for this. I’m sorry today was shit.”
His mate’s eyes are misty when he whispers, “I’m going to tell you what I told Jay. We’re a family. It’s not all on you. We are going to be okay—better than. Just keep doing what you need to, eh? I’ve got you.”
“I’m lucky you love me , ” Nix says.
Luca kisses his cheek and looks at him with unwavering conviction. “Fucking right you are. But, yeah, we are blessed to love you, too.”
Just then, there’s a knock at the door. It’s time.