Chapter 6
Chase
Chase woke up at Burke’s house. In Burke’s bed.
It wasn’t a slow realization, no confused blinking back to reality and wondering where he was. Chase knew exactly where he was. They’d fucked, cuddled, and he’d somehow fallen asleep afterward, still in Burke’s arms.
Even if Chase hadn’t remembered the whole incident with startling clarity, it was obvious, because these leather-and-cherry pheromones surrounding him didn’t exist in Chase’s bed.
He wished they did. Wished he could smuggle a pillow out under his shirt and sneak it into his bedroom, fall asleep to that scent every single night.
So maybe it wasn’t that surprising he’d fallen asleep, what with that thick cloud of comforting, contented pheromones surrounding him.
What was surprising was that Burke had fallen asleep too.
Chase was still cuddled into him, a hand resting on Burke’s steadily rising and falling chest and a leg slung over his hip.
Burke, for his part, had an arm around Chase’s middle. He was still fully clothed.
Because he fucked you fully clothed, his pants only unbuckled and unbuttoned enough to release his thick alpha cock. Which shouldn’t have been as hot as it was, Jesus effing Christ.
Anyway, Burke was still dressed. And Chase still didn’t know what the alpha looked like naked, or even shirtless. And he wouldn’t get to know, because Burke had been very clear that they wouldn’t be doing this again.
And Chase had known that, so he didn’t get to have his feelings hurt about it, even if the sex had rearranged something crucial inside him and he was still trying to figure out what exactly it was.
Slowly and carefully, Chase untangled himself, wincing at a telltale soreness between his legs—Burke’s cock was not beginner-level; that was for sure.
Neither was the way the alpha fucked, for that matter.
Sex with Burke was some new realm of sensuality where brute force met careful consideration and a whiskey-soaked voice taunted and praised in equal measure.
Don’t think about that right now, Chase told himself. Just get out, quick and easy.
Chase didn’t have a lot of “slipping away in the middle of the night” on his sexual résumé, but he knew he couldn’t face Burke right now, not while the alpha was conscious. If he did, Chase was going to do something stupid, like beg to do it all again.
For one brief moment, when Chase began to move away, Burke’s arm tightened around him, as if he was reluctant to let him go.
Chase stilled, not even daring to breathe, and after a moment, Burke’s arm relaxed again.
Chase was able to roll away and off the bed in one smooth motion, landing silently on his feet.
It seemed he’d finally found a non-sports-related benefit to his athlete’s reflexes.
Chase grabbed his pile of clothes and his shoes and took them out into the front room, where he dressed quickly and silently.
He felt mildly guilty about heading out and leaving Burke’s front door unlocked for the night, but it was probably preferable to him staying and forcing the professor into an awkward morning-after conversation.
Once he was safely on the porch, Chase pulled up a rideshare app. It was approaching three in the morning, and the bars were already closed, but drivers were still out and working.
Chase chatted politely to the beta driver, Susan, who seemed pleasantly surprised and grateful to have a sober passenger at this time of night. She drove him to his car, still waiting at the bar, and then Chase took himself home.
He let himself into the house, trying to sort out what he was feeling. He was exhausted but also … not exactly wired, but raw. On edge in a way that wasn’t familiar to him.
Chase thought of Burke petting him, telling Chase it was necessary aftercare. How much worse would Chase be feeling if Burke hadn’t taken the time to cuddle? With how soft and high and fuzzy he’d been feeling in his postcoital state, Chase could imagine the steepness of that drop.
He was grateful for what Burke had done to mitigate it.
And Chase was grateful now to see a light on in the living room, and to find Spencer sprawled out in a corner of the couch, watching something that involved a lot of alphas throwing fists at each other.
Spencer gave Chase a slack, drunken grin. “Chasey! You’re back!”
Chase slipped off his shoes, heading toward the couch. “I am. I’m surprised you are.”
With Noah working that night, Spencer had headed to an all-alpha frat for one of their legendary parties. Betas weren’t exactly unwelcome, but it was usually more of an alpha-omega arrangement, so Chase had been given an easy excuse to bow out.
Spencer shrugged. “Had my fun and wanted to get home. Unlike Noah.” At Chase’s confused look, Spencer’s grin widened. “Didn’t you see the text?”
Chase knew he’d received a text on the group chat, but he hadn’t checked it yet. He looked now and saw a message from Noah letting them know he planned to be out all night and that he’d see them tomorrow. It was followed by ten or so messages from Spencer hounding Noah for more details.
“Wasn’t he working tonight?” Chase asked, taking a seat next to Spencer on the couch.
Noah worked as a barback at the same place Spencer worked as a bartender. Spencer had gotten him the job.
“Must have met someone at the bar.”
That didn’t sound like Noah at all, but Chase let it lie. If Noah had gone home with who Chase thought he’d gone home with, he wasn’t going to want them pressing him for details.
Spencer leaned in, maybe to scent mark Chase, and then froze in place. “Whoa.” He sniffed the air. “Whoa. Did you change designations while you were out?”
Right. Because Chase absolutely reeked of Burke’s alpha pheromones.
Chase tried for a casual shrug. “Just a hookup.”
Spencer gave him a look. “Um, yeah. You’ve had hookups before. You’ve never come home smelling like an alpha in rut.” He sniffed the air again, wrinkling his nose. “Intense. Who was he?”
“Just some guy.”
Chase supposed he should be grateful Noah wasn’t home right now.
There was no way Noah wouldn’t recognize Burke’s distinct pheromones.
But Spencer had never taken Burke’s class, and he hadn’t been there that day in the quad.
Chase and Burke should be in the clear, even with Chase reeking of his former professor.
“You gonna see him again?”
This will be one time only.
“Nah.”
“It’s kind of a bummer sometimes, huh? The one-time things?” Spencer’s bleary gaze had sharpened, and he was eyeing Chase with more scrutiny than usual.
“Yeah,” Chase said with surprise. “Didn’t think you felt that way though.”
Maybe Spencer had smoked some weed with his booze. Sometimes that made him introspective.
Spencer leaned back into the couch again, throwing his head back with a sigh.
“Sometimes after I nut, I get hit with this, like, gut punch of loneliness.” He thumped a fist against his chest in demonstration.
“Like, it hurts.” He lowered his chin, meeting Chase’s eyes with a loopy smile, like he hadn’t just said something completely heartbreaking.
“But then I have you guys to come home to, and it’s fine. ”
This definitely wasn’t the time to get through to Spencer about anything important, but Chase couldn’t help saying something. “You know, there’s this thing where some people hook up and then still hang out afterward, and it’s not so lonely in the end.”
Spencer rolled his eyes. “I know what dating is, Chase. Want me to help with that a bit?” He waved a hand at Chase, encompassing his whole being. Or, more likely, the pheromones drenching him. “You’ll need to take a real shower to get it fully off though. I don’t think my scent can really compete.”
The thought of covering Burke’s pheromones didn’t sit right in Chase’s gut. He cleared his throat. “No, I don’t mind. I’ll shower before I sleep.”
Probably. Possibly. Maybe.
Spencer bolted upright out of nowhere. “Oh my god. Should we make grilled cheeses?”
Yeah, he’d definitely had some weed with his booze.
Chase shook his head. “I think I might go to bed, actually. I’m beat.”
Spencer sank back with a disappointed sigh. “But I’m not tired yet.” He gave Chase a hopeful look. “Wanna sleep out here on the couch while I watch my movie?”
Chase really, really did.
“Yeah, man, that sounds great.”
Chase grabbed a spare pillow and shoved it against Spencer’s side, laying down his head. He tucked his legs onto the couch, grinning when Spencer draped a blanket over him.
Long fingers petted through Chase’s hair as the sound of alphas fighting on the TV screen filled the air again. “You’re the best, dude,” Spencer said with a happy sigh.
Chase wasn’t anything special. But it was clear Spencer didn’t want to be alone tonight, and for some reason, neither did Chase. He might not get the best sleep of his life on the living room couch, but at least he’d be with someone who cared, and that felt kind of important.
Even if Spencer’s spiced pheromones weren’t quite right, they were familiar. Comforting.
Chase closed his eyes and—for the second time that night—let himself fall asleep next to an alpha.
The next two weeks were … fine. Totally and completely fine.
Chase went to class, studied less than he should have, and met some of his former teammates at the sandpits for a chaotic game of beach volleyball.
He spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to convince Spencer that just because Noah was keeping his new relationship private didn’t mean he suddenly hated them.
Chase even went to a terrible party and let himself be flirted with by a hopeful omega with pink hair and pretty freckles. That had also been … fine.
So Chase had been busy. Time card full.
He hadn’t seen Burke. Not once.
“Do you think this is real tuna? Or, like, the imitation stuff?”
Chase pulled himself out of his head to find Spencer peeling the top piece of bread off his sandwich, staring at the contents with suspicion.