Chapter 14 Nash
FOURTEEN
Nash
My head is swimming.
Of all the omegas for me to meet on campus, what are the chances I run into Delilah?
Any doubts I had over whether she was the omega Tae and Jagger are obsessed with were dashed when every step she took away from me elicited a strange tugging sensation in my body.
I had to command my legs to stay still to stop myself from following her, overcome by the primal urge to take care of and protect her.
I came to campus for a quick meeting with Orin Strike, SVU’s head of security. Like me, he’s a man of few words, but he takes his work seriously and feels just as strongly about keeping paparazzi and campus hysteria around Jagger to a minimum.
I never expected to run into her on my way back.
I lift my sleeve to my nose. I can still smell her on me. Her delicious apple pie fragrance is baked into the soft cotton of my shirt. It reminds me of a cozy mom-and-pop shop where you’d sit at the counter and order a slice of pie with a fat dollop of ice cream. The kind I never tire of eating.
I understand now why Jagger and Tae like her so much.
My muscles tense, realizing I more than like her.
I’ve never smelled an omega so inviting before, my reaction to her primal.
Her body fit perfectly against mine. Her round breasts squashed into my chest made me want to share more than my body heat with her.
And fuck… she is breathtaking, even if the sight of her tear-soaked cheeks shattered me.
Seeing her like that made me want to punch my packmate in the face for being part of why she’s so miserable. Jagger’s crushed, but I could see in her alluring brown eyes today that she is too. He hurt her. Badly. And all I could do was just stand there.
Usually, I’m not an emotional person. It’s easier to push my feelings down and avoid facing them. After my brother’s death, I became an expert at finding ways to distract myself from the pain—namely, by fixing things.
Perhaps that’s why when I see her crushed book, splayed out under the glow of the streetlight.
I stoop to scoop it out of the puddle. It’s in really bad shape.
Probably beyond salvaging. I grimace, holding it between my thumb and forefinger, water dripping from it.
I quickly shake it to get rid of any excess liquid.
While most of the pages are soggy, miraculously, the author’s signature page is still intact.
So she likes pretty books. Huh…
I turn it over, examining the painted book edges. I could easily recreate a similar pattern. A plan forms in my mind as I go through a mental checklist of everything I’ll need—a new copy of the book, cloth, a stencil…
Bookbinding is a skill my mother taught me.
My father taught me and my brother a number of skills, like how to strip an engine, change a gasket, and lay a floor, but bookbinding was my and Mom’s special thing.
Robbie was never interested, so while he and Dad worked on fixing washers and stripping parts, I’d quietly work with her on her books on the other side of the garage.
I liked the precision it took, loving to watch the care she’d take over all the small details.
How she’d sing while she sewed the pages together, measured the cover perfectly, and drew delicate patterns across the edges.
It’s a hobby I always return to whenever I need to calm my mind.
Although I may not be able to fix the damage Jagger has done to her heart, I’ll be darned if I can’t give her a perfect book again. Resolve sweeps through me as I stash the wet book underneath my jacket. At least that’s something I can solve. Something I can fix.
“You arrived just in time.” Tae looks up from the pot he’s stirring when I return home. He’s making his mom’s famous gochujang jigae—a delicious, spicy red stew. “Although you should dry off first.”
Even though I’m soaked, I can’t feel the cold, my thoughts still fixed on her.
“What is it?” Jagger asks from his spot at the table, slouched over a notebook while he works on new lyrics. He inhales sharply then jumps up, chair screeching across the laminate. “You met her.”
Tae looks up from the pot again. “What—”
“How is she?” Jagger descends on me, his hands curling around the fabric of my shirt to yank me closer like a desperate addict seeking his fix.
Since he ran into Delilah, Jagger has barely slept, walking around here like a zombie with dark circles under his eyes. He has the look of a man who’s haunted by his mistakes. I don’t know how I never noticed it before. Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention to him.
“What did she say?” Jagger’s eyes bounce frantically around my face. “How did you find her?”
“Get off.” I shrug him off then adjust my shirt. Mostly because I don’t want him to taint her scent. I’ll be putting this shirt over my pillow to sleep on tonight. I push aside the thought of smelling Delilah in my bed, hoping to avoid getting a hard-on in front of my packmates.
“But you saw her, didn’t you?” Jagger pushes. “You smell of her.”
Tae stops stirring. “What happened, Nash?”
“I didn’t go looking for her. She… ran into me.” I shrug. “I didn’t even realize it was her until she was about to leave and said her name.”
Tae’s brown eyes soften. “How was she?”
I wince, unable to keep the emotion from my face. Jagger’s shoulders slump, while the light in Tae’s eyes extinguishes, instantly picking up on my mood.
“Fuck!” Jagger’s emotions get the best of him as he kicks a chair. “This is all my fault.”
“We’re going to fix it,” Tae reminds him.
I’ve only been around Delilah for minutes, and already, she’s consuming my thoughts. I have no idea how he managed to get her through a heat then leave with no contact.
As furious as I am on her behalf, it’s killing me to see how badly this is tearing him up inside. Although I’m glad that he’s finally let his mask slip around us, it’s still hard as hell to see someone I care about suffering. Even if a tiny part of me thinks he deserves it.
“Did you feel it too?” Jagger asks me. “The connection?”
I clear my throat and nod curtly. I could elaborate, but I don’t. Saying how certain I am that she’s our pack’s omega will only make Jagger feel worse if she’s not willing to give us a chance.
“We have to find a way to speak to her,” Tae says. “I tried calling her, but it didn’t go through, so she must’ve blocked my number. All my texts are bouncing too.”
The hopelessness of the situation weighs heavily on my shoulders.
“I have an idea.” Jagger pulls a card out of his pocket with the initials ‘TVV’ on it. “Delilah’s housemate is the co-editor of The Valley Voice. If I let them interview me, maybe I can somehow talk to her? Ask her to pass on a message for us?”
“You mean the blonde chick who greeted us when we first arrived?” I scoff. Now I understand the frosty reception. “I’m sure you’re the last person she wants to hear from.”
“Her boyfriend seemed eager to chat.” Jagger shrugs. “It’d be a big story for a college paper.”
“It’s worth a try.” Tae nods enthusiastically. “But didn’t Val say not to do any interviews without her approval?”
“Screw Valerie,” I grumble.
Petty record label and agent’s rules don’t apply in this situation.
“I’ll set up a meeting.” Jagger is already typing on his phone. “It has to work. I already sent her tickets for my show this weekend like we talked about. Maybe she’ll come?”
I glower at him. “Tickets don’t make up for being walked out on after a heat.”
Tae shoots me a warning look as Jagger’s shoulder slump even more, like he’s disappearing into himself. I’m trying to keep my cool, but meeting her has made it so much more difficult.
I clutch my head, wishing I had hair I could tug on right now as frustration barrels through me. It’s not fair that his actions created negative consequences for all of us. My omega likely won’t give me a chance before I even get to know her.
Shit… Did I really just think of her as my omega?
“You’re right.” Jagger sighs. “Maybe sending her the tickets was stupid. I just wanted to show her that I was serious about wanting to talk.”
“It was a nice gesture,” Tae retorts as the rice cooker starts beeping. “A good start.”
“Delilah deserves more than a gesture.” Looking glum, Jagger slumps back into his chair, scribbling a harsh line through words in his notebook, so hard that it almost tears through the paper.
“She deserves an apology and an explanation. A real one. But how can I do that when she won’t even speak to me? ”
Talking it through isn’t going to change anything. I’m a man of action.
“I’m going to the workshop.” I ignore my rumbling stomach and the mouth-watering savory smell wafting from the pot.
“What about the stew?” Tae asks.
“Save me a bowl,” I reply over my shoulder. “I’ll eat later.”
There’s only one thing that I can do right now, and that’s get to work on fixing my omega’s book. If only broken hearts were as easy to mend as books.