Chapter 11
NATE
I’ve changed my clothes five times. God, Hayes was right. I need to add more to my wardrobe than basketball shorts and old station T-shirts.
Even though we aren’t going anywhere fancy and it’s for the whole weekend, I still want to dress to impress.
I’m still not sure if this date is where we should start off, but whatever it takes to court Hailey, I’m ready to do it.
Did I think a weekend getaway was going to be the first step?
No, but Hayes wanted to do something grand.
“Stop stressing. I can smell it all the way over here,” Hayes says.
He looks put together, and so does Sterling. Both of them oozing effortless confidence.
God, Erin really did a fucking number on me. Not just me either. I only spent three months with the older Omega. Hailey has spent her whole life with that woman.
I grew up raised by two Beta parents. We didn’t have much, so when I met Erin and her pack I was starstruck.
The seventeen-year age gap didn’t bother me.
I was also drawn to the fact she had so many established, successful Alphas in her pack.
I naively thought that they could help guide me in the right direction.
I had no experience with packs, or really what being an Alpha meant, and I thought joining a big pack would help me get there.
I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I can see that now.
Her Alphas wanted nothing to do with me.
They weren’t friends or lovers like a pack should be.
Erin liked me for my looks, and that was about it.
She liked control over Alphas, that’s what it always was with her, control.
I didn’t even know she had a daughter until we’d been dating for two months.
When I met Hailey, I could already see the major differences in their personalities.
Hailey was a nuisance to Erin, and I was just some young arm candy with a knot. I was already trying to figure out a way to not bite into the pack, how I could get out from underneath Erin’s thumb and away from her cutthroat Alphas, when I heard Hailey crying in the bathroom.
She’d designated, and I’d never been more attracted to a scent in my life. It made me feel like an absolute piece of shit. I was lusting after the woman's daughter I was actively trying to get away from. Luckily for me, Sterling helped me get out of there, but who helped Hailey?
Guilt weighs heavy on my chest as Sterling rubs my shoulder.
“Just be yourself, Nate. You’re good enough,” he says, and I sigh.
“I left her there with Erin, not knowing she kicked her out. She’s been working at a strip club to make ends meet and I’ve just been here, healing with you two. It doesn’t seem right that I get this chance with her.”
Hayes surprises me by being the one to speak first. “But we’re here now. You’re making things right. Give yourself a little grace, man.”
“Maybe talk to her about it later tonight if it’s weighing on you this much,” Sterling says.
“I don’t want to ruin the date.”
“You won’t,” Sterling assures me as we leave the house.
We toss our weekend bags in the trunk and head toward Hailey’s apartment.
Sterling and I sit in the front, while Hayes sits in the back. This trip is Hayes’ big idea. He said that Hailey wanted something grand, but not too over the top. I’m pretty sure this is over the top as hell, but hopefully it wows her.
Hailey deserves good things in her life, and maybe it’s guilt, or maybe it’s my Alpha instincts finally knowing what to do, but I want to give her everything she wants.
We pull up to her building and we all get out of the car.
I hate that she lives here. It’s fucked-up that her mom lives lavishly, comfortably in a massive pack house while she lives in this outdated apartment complex.
Even if she didn’t want Hailey to live with her anymore, she could afford to put her daughter up in a decent place.
Instead, she tossed her away and made her figure it out on her own.
There’s a guilt deep down that makes me think this is my fault.
My reaction to her scent pushed Erin over the edge.
But I know better. Erin was jealous and narcissistic.
When she thought Hailey was a Beta, there was no competition, but a younger, kinder, sweeter smelling Omega in her own house?
There was no way she would let that stand.
This apartment is a testament to Hailey’s resilience, though.
I had a firehouse to lean back on, Hailey only had herself.
She’s been so fucking strong and all I want to do is prove to her that she doesn’t have to be.
That good people are out there, and she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
We don’t even knock before she swings open her front door, almost like she was watching the front of the building waiting for us to get here. She’s wearing a tight emerald green top, and dark jeans that squeeze every perfect inch of her. Her long hair is down in waves, framing her pretty face.
“You look beautiful,” I say, watching in awe as pink floods her cheeks.
“Thank you. You all clean up pretty nicely, too.”
“Do you have a sweater?” Sterling asks as he grabs her bag and carries it under his arm.
“I do, your packing instructions were very thorough,” she says, and I can tell she’s trying to hold in a laugh over the list Sterling sent her the other night on what to pack.
“Shall we?” Hayes says. Hailey gives him a smile as she takes his hand and he leads the way to the vehicle.
“So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” she asks as she slips into the backseat, next to Hayes.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Hayes replies as we get in the car and make our way to our first destination. “But just to clarify, you’re not afraid of heights, right?”
“Oh,” Hailey says, her finger going to her mouth. Hayes’ eyes go wide and I can see his brain turning, trying to figure out how he’s going to salvage this date. Hailey laughs and shakes her head, completely fucking with him. “I slide down a twelve foot pole. No, I’m not afraid of heights.”
“You nearly gave me a heart attack,” Hayes says, clutching his chest.
Their banter is effortless, so fucking easy.
Not that I’m surprised, Hayes could charm just about anyone, and the fact is I don’t really know Hailey.
I know she’s beautiful, that she’s determined, and that I can’t stop thinking about her cherry scent.
But outside of that, there’s so much more I need to know.
Fuck, I need to make sure she even likes me too.
What if me having previously dated her mother is something she can’t look past?
What if I’ve ruined everything for my pack?
Sterling reaches over and grips the back of my neck, a tight squeeze of reassurance.
“We’re here,” he says in his deep voice, dropping his hand from my neck as we pull up alongside the landing strip. An idle helicopter waits in the distance and Hailey leans between the two front seats, her cherry scent nearly choking me to death as she touches my shoulder.
“We’re going on a helicopter ride?” she says excitedly.
“Over the Grand Canyon,” Sterling adds and I turn to take in her face.
Her soft, plush lips part in surprise before a wide smile takes over her face. She looks back at Hayes.
“So you took the word grand pretty literally, huh?”
“What about me buying you a BMW screams that I’m a man of half measures?” he asks.
“It rides like a dream,” Hailey says.
“I bet it does,” Hayes says, and now I’m willing myself not to get an erection as we get out of the car and head to the helicopter.
Hailey and I sit next to one another, and Sterling and Hayes do the same so we can each see out a window.
When the helicopter takes off, Hailey gasps and grips my thigh, her nails digging into my skin, and I place my hand on top of hers to let her know that I’ll keep her safe.
Once the helicopter levels out and we’re in the sky, she doesn’t remove her hand and neither do I.
I’m not sure who’s more comforted by it, but there’s no way I’m going to be the one to break this connection first.
“Wow, it’s crazy seeing Vegas from this angle,” she says, glancing out the window.
“Just wait till you see it at night on the way back,” Hayes says, and I have to give him a look. He just shrugs back at me. He’s always been a showoff, but this is truly taking it to new heights.
It’s hard to talk over the headsets, but the views make up for it as we fly over the desert. It takes about an hour to get to the Grand Canyon. Every second of wonder on her face eases something in my chest.
“It’s amazing,” she says into the mic.
“It really is,” I reply, but I’m not looking out the window. I’m looking at her.
Despite everything she’s been through, she’s still hopeful. We take in the geological wonder that is the Grand Canyon for a good twenty minutes, before veering off to the landing spot where a limo is there to pick us up.
“What are you three up to? I thought we were going to go to a nice resort like last weekend, but you’ve taken me across state lines and inadvertently taken me somewhere I’ve always wanted to go.”
“We wanted it to be unforgettable. We said we were courting you and we need you to know that it’s serious,” Hayes says. Sterling and I nod in agreement.
The desert flashes by us as we drive further out into the middle of nowhere.
I don’t sense any fear on Hailey’s side, and I’m thankful for at least that.
Maybe a first date in the remote desert isn’t the most brilliant idea.
Fuck, what if she feels pressured to be physical while we’re all staying under the same roof?
I glance over at Hayes again, wondering if we should have let him plan this date. He just rolls his eyes at me, like he can hear all the anxious thoughts flipping through my mind.
But as soon as we pull up to the house that sits on top of the hill, with a three-sixty view of nothing but stunning desert views around us, the fear eases.
“We’re staying here?” Hailey asks, not even waiting for the driver to open her door as she slips out of the limo. She uses her hand to shield her eyes and looks around at the place.
Hayes grabs my ass, giving it a tight squeeze.
“Stop stressing so much. She has her own room here. There’s no pressure for anything,” he says against my ear before walking away.
“Should we take the grand tour?” Hayes says, and Hailey gives him a wide grin as we make our way through the house.
Sterling and I grab the bags and follow them.
“She’s happy, Nate. We did good.”
We did, didn’t we?