Chapter 8 Rhodes
RHODES
Vann bolts out of the locker room after our morning game like a bat out of hell. When Tanner calls after him, he just yells back that he’s headed to the cafeteria.
Something’s up with him. I follow, curious to see what’s got him so worked up. I’ve always been naturally inquisitive, and lately Vann has especially fascinated me.
Tanner and Orion don’t seem bothered when I leave.
They told me they want to head back to the apartment and go over the tape from yesterday’s game.
Tanner is still beating himself up about our loss, even though it’s not his fault.
Austria played a good game. There’s skill and strategy in curling, but like any sport, there’s luck, too. This time, luck was on their side.
Tanner and Orion will probably only look at the tape for a few minutes before they’ll be all over each other. The two of them only know one way to relieve stress.
The cold air smacks my face and whips back my damp hair as I leave the arena. Even though it’s not even noon, the sky is dark with heavy rain clouds. I tug up my scarf to block the chill.
Vann’s only a few yards ahead of me, but I don’t try to catch up with him. I have a feeling he’ll change course if he sees me, and I want to know where he’s going, because it’s definitely not the cafeteria.
He hangs left, headed toward the entrance to the Olympic Village. What the hell is he up to?
There’s a nervous bounce in his steps, and he’s muttering to himself under his breath. He reminds me of the bush babies I watched a documentary on last year. All big eyes and jumpy excitement. Vann’s so single focused, he doesn’t even notice me.
After leaving the village, he walks into a little shop that sells souvenirs. I give up my subterfuge and follow him inside.
“What are you doing?” I ask, coming up behind him.
Vann jumps, spinning to face me with a guilty expression. He’s clutching a purple teddy bear to his chest. “Nothing.”
I jut my chin toward the stuffed animal he’s holding. “So you’re just feeling cuddly?”
“I’m buying it for a friend.”
Everything suddenly clicks together. Vann doesn’t have friends here outside of our team. He’s close with his parents, but they’re old, stodgy professors. They definitely wouldn’t appreciate a teddy bear with the Olympic symbol on its belly.
But an omega would.
“You can’t go see her, Vann.” I rest a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m not. I’m just getting a jump start on groveling.” He shakes the little bear at me. “She doesn’t have to know who it’s from yet.”
Even with the music playing over the speakers in the shop, my sigh is loud. “Right, ‘cause making her think she has a stalker is so much better.”
“A secret admirer, not a stalker.”
“How often are you sending these gifts?”
He glares at me, then shoulders past. “Lay off, Rhodes. I’ve got to get this to someone on the bus to Milan before they leave.”
I watch as he pays, and we walk silently to the Olympic shuttle pick up.
Since this is the most spread out Olympics in history, the officials set up daily buses between the different villages.
They said transportation between Milan and Cortina would be monitored and restricted, but in practice they haven’t kept any of the athletes from going back and forth.
Vann quickly finds someone boarding the shuttle who’s willing to give Raven the stuffed animal.
It’s kind of cute to see him so obsessed like this, but Tanner isn’t the only one who worries about Vann’s focus.
The guy’s got serious ADHD, and can be all over the place on the best day.
When he’s hyper-focusing on the game, it can work out great.
But when he’s fixated somewhere else, it’s hard to get him to pay attention to anything except his obsession. Right now, all his focus is on Raven.
Which doesn’t bode well for our Olympic ambitions.
I hang back as he talks to the other athlete.
“You should stay and watch her skate if you get the chance, she’s incredible,” my packmate says.
The others in the small group of athletes look around like they’re trying to find a way out as Vann continues to ramble on about all of Raven’s accomplishments and how excited he is for her.
He was fixated on her like this when I first met him, too.
We’d all just started college, and he’d found out Raven was his scent match not long before.
He was determined to get in touch with her, but after a year of failure, he moved on—or at least channeled his frustration into the game.
Now that he’s found her again, though, it seems like nothing else matters to him. Not even us.
Why does that make my chest hurt?
“Uh, we really got to go, man,” the athlete holding the teddy bear says, glancing up at the bus.
“Oh, right, well, remember, don’t tell her who it’s from.”
“Couldn’t if I wanted to,” the guy mumbles, which I guess is true since Vann never gave his name.
Vann thanks the guy one more time before coming back over to where I’m waiting. He’s got a giddy smile on his face and a light spring to his step. He really thinks this plan will work.
I’ve never met Raven, but I know a bit about her history with my pack. I also know what it’s like to be picked on and humiliated. A teddy bear and some knick-knacks aren’t going to cut it. I keep my mouth shut, though, not wanting that smile to drop off Vann’s face.
As we turn to head back into the village, he throws an arm over my shoulder. The heavy weight feels surprisingly good. Comfortable in a way I don’t normally experience when being touched.
We don’t talk. What’s there to say? He knows how I feel about what he’s doing. More importantly, he knows how Tanner would feel if he knew about Vann’s secret gift-giving venture.
We pass by several other Team USA Olympians, giving some nods of acknowledgement and that weird little closed-lipped smile that I think everyone uses in public.
We don’t know all the USA teammembers—it would be impossible.
There are over 200 of them here this year, from a myriad of different states.
But they’re all pretty recognizable by their trademark branded apparel.
When we got here, we were given a literal suitcase of Team USA paraphernalia. Everything from track suits to polos—hell, even underwear with the damn American flag and Olympic Rings all over them. It seems a little excessive, but they want us to constantly represent our country while we’re here.
That’s what’s dangerous about Vann’s obsession. It isn’t becoming of an athlete to act like a certified stalker. We’re on thin ice as it is after he punched that guy on my behalf. Man’s got a stiff right hook.
The way he took the guy down drew the attention of everyone in the room, but more than that, it made something flutter in my chest that I haven’t really experienced before with Vann. I have to admit it was hot.
“Hey, wanna grab something to eat before we go back?” Vann asks just as an icy raindrop falls on my cheek.
With his arm still over my shoulders, his hip bumps against mine and sends warmth up and down that side of my body.
His touch is casual and friendly, completely normal for Vann, but my reaction to it is new, intriguing in a way I’m a little curious to explore.
Sexual attraction isn’t something I’ve felt often—which got me bullied a lot in high school and college. What kind of man doesn’t want sex, right? Even a beta.
I met my pack freshman year, and I was lucky they didn’t press me about it.
But I can’t say it didn’t cause some confusion at first. It wasn’t until the Human Sexuality class I took as an elective sophomore year that I learned what it meant to be demisexual.
It isn’t that I don’t want sex, but I need to form a deep and meaningful emotional connection to a partner before my libido kicks in.
That class changed everything. Finding out there were others out there like me, and I wasn’t broken?
It’s like everything about that side of myself just clicked into place.
A few more raindrops touch the bare skin of my face. Lightning cracks overhead, and I flinch. I hate storms. Vann’s arm on my shoulder shifts down so his hand squeezes my bicep. Even through my heavy coat, the pressure of that small, comforting touch lights something up inside me.
“Yeah, I could go for some food. And we should get out of the rain.” I’m not hungry at all, but I say yes anyway. I tell myself it’s to help him take his mind off Raven, but there’s more to it than that. I’m just not sure I’m willing to unpack it all right now.
The sky opens up, drenching my uncovered head and the beanie Vann’s got pulled down over his ears.
We look at each other and break into a run, dashing toward the dining hall.
We’re laughing by the time we get there, soaked through to the bone, shivering, but exhilarated.
The heated air is a shock to my system and my nose immediately starts to run.
When I sniffle, Vann turns to me and rubs his hands up and down my arms like he’s trying to warm me up.
Something sparks and skitters inside me with each brisk brush of his palms.
“You okay?” he asks, the genuine care in his voice takes me offguard, even though I know it’s just the normal concern of a packmate. “You’re soaked.”
“No wetter than you.” The words come out too breathy, and I clear my throat. Vann smirks at my unintentional innuendo. “How about some soup?” I unzip my damp coat and take it off before pulling the rubberband from my hair and squeezing out my shoulder length strands.
“Soup sounds incredible.” Vann removes his own coat, revealing a tank top that shows off his tattooed arms. How he can walk around in just that when it’s barely thirty degrees outside beats me, but I’m not complaining about the view.
Vann is leaner than most alphas, but his body is toned and there’s definition to his muscles that I can’t look away from.
The swirling black lines and roses that climb his arms just accentuate them.
Lately, it’s becoming harder and harder to deny that I’ve been thinking of Vann as more than just a packmate. Sure, I have an emotional connection with all the guys, but there’s something different about Vann.
Tanner and Orion were already intimately involved with each other when I joined the pack. Which is a nice way of saying they fuck like bunnies and never seem to slow down. Just thinking about how much lube those two must go through makes me wonder if they buy it in bulk.
Naturally, that led to Vann and I spending a lot of time together.
But then it turned into… more. I can’t explain it.
It isn’t like a switch flipped, it was gradual.
Vann is just so earnest and caring. It’s hard for me to understand how he ever could have bullied Raven.
The Vann I know doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.
His enthusiasm will lift anyone’s spirits, and his smile brightens every room.
I’ve never told him that I might like things to change between us. I’m too nervous. What if he rejects me, and it makes the pack dynamics awkward as fuck? I feel like we’re all pretty committed to each other, but I’m not bonded to any of them. If things really went south, they could kick me out.
And now that Raven’s back in the picture, things feel even more complicated. How can I compete with a scent match?
After paying for our soup and finding a table in the corner, Vann stares absentmindedly at his bowl rather than eating it. We both got French Onion soup, but he just keeps breaking the bread apart and toying with the stringy cheese.
“We’ve got to figure out how to convince Tanner to let us go to Milan to see Raven after her competitions,” Vann finally says, letting me in on his thoughts.
Of course they’re about Raven. I’m not bitter.
I wouldn’t expect anything else, but the soup suddenly tastes sour and feels too heavy in my stomach.
“Um… I’m not sure you’ll be able to. He doesn’t seem all that interested.” I glance up at my packmate, setting my spoon down in my bowl to give him my full attention.
“Oh, he’s interested. He just can’t admit it.” He’s so sure of it, exuding confidence I don’t feel.
“Well, I don’t think he’ll stop you if you want to go. As long as you don’t miss any games.”
“No, it’s got to be all of us, man. She hates us—Tanner especially—if we want any hope of winning her over, he’s got to be there when we apologize. She’s got to see that our entire pack, including our lead alpha, is sorry and wants her.”
“Does he, though?” I ask quietly, too chicken to admit Tanner might not be the only one who’s on the fence about Raven.
I don’t even know the woman. I trust Vann, and I want him to be happy, but bringing an omega into our pack could change everything.
What if she doesn’t want a beta? What if she doesn’t want me?
“I already told you, he wants her.” Vann finally shoves a bite of soup into his mouth.
“Maybe he wants her, but is he really sorry?” It’s not a question I want to voice, but it needs to be asked.
Tanner refuses to talk about Raven. I know he’s not proud of how he treated her, and I’m pretty sure he regrets it, but I’m not sure he’s ready to apologize.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tanner apologize.
Not really. If he messes up, he’ll change his behavior and fix things, but he doesn’t admit he was wrong. Alpha pride and all that.
Vann looks at me, head tilted to the side, mouth still full of food.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” I mutter.
Vann swallows and takes a sip of water. “You are. We’re gonna give her the best swoon-worthy apologies known to man. That, combined with the gifts, will fix everything. You’ll see.”
For his sake, I hope he’s right. For mine… Well, I’m not ready to admit just what I’m hoping for.