6. Grace
“Is the random from the app still asking to help you through your heat?” Sienna asks me a few days later.
She takes the tray of drinks from the bar and looks around.
“Keep your voice down,” I hiss at Sienna as Ella and I follow her. We traipse through the bar, past the high stools and the people getting ready to watch the game on the large screen.
We find a booth, large enough to seat my sisters when they arrive.
“That table has a better view of the screen.” Ella points to another free booth.
I’m not too bothered about moving or watching the hockey game, but I know my sister will be pissed if she can’t watch her boyfriend play on the ice.
We move tables and once we’re settled, Ella looks at me rubbing at the ache in my stomach I’ve had all day.
“You know your heat could start tomorrow,” Ella says.
“Yeah, you really need a plan, and the crazy guy might be a good option. You told me he has a good body,” Sienna adds.
“I need more than a good body.” I glare at Sienna and shake my head. “What the hell are you thinking, anyway? I don’t know the guy from Adam. He could be a serial killer.”
Sienna chuckles before she mutters, “You’re definitely an omega. I’m surprised I never noticed before.”
I growl at her. Not only for her comparing me to an omega, but because I was starting to see the appeal in agreeing to Henry’s demand thanks to her not letting me forget about him.
And it was a demand.
So much so, I logged myself off BetaFans because he was getting a bit carried away with my nearing situation. Wanting me to see his cock, trying to coax me with the promise of hot sex.
But then the conversation turned away from sex. Each time we spoke this week, he got needier and seemed desperate to take me through my heat.
It’s like he wants to do this with me.
He has a plan—one I haven’t agreed to, by the way.
But being a typical alpha he thinks little omega me will drop my panties and play.
Hell no.
At least, I don’t think so—
Sienna purses her lips before sighing and saying, “You’ll remain anonymous. He told you he bought himself a breathable mask that alphas sometimes wear in heat hotels when they want to remain private and not be hounded by a needy omega afterwards.”
“And how weird is that?” I hiss.
“You wear one on BetaFans,” Sienna argues.
“Not a serial killer breathable one. Anyway, using one on the app is different.”
“Sounds an awful lot like double standards to me!” Sienna retorts. “And you talked to the guy every day on BetaFans until you freaked out about his proposal. The guy is probably your number one fan. I mean, you gave him your number for a reason you’ve never been able to explain.” She stops and takes another sip of her cocktail and looks around the bar.
“That’s technically incorrect,” I say. “It’s a burner phone. It’s not my real number.”
“Technically... You gave him your number.” With a tilt of her head, she smiles sweetly.
“Which I could get rid of today.”
“But you haven’t... Why not?”
I shrug my shoulders.
Sienna smiles because she thinks she knows me better than I know myself. “What time are your sisters coming? I want to check out the guys with Bardot when she gets here.”
“What about me?”
She shakes her head and scrunches her eyes while looking at me as though I’ve lost it. “I’m not walking around with you, smelling all omega-like.”
“I sprayed an eliminator. I don’t smell.” I lift my arm and sniff my pit.
“Not just there... Everywhere. If I was an alpha, I’d know exactly what your smell was, but my beta nose just knows you’re an omega.”
“It’s the spray!” I press. “Or maybe you’re a secret omega.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, I couldn’t take a knot. My vagina is too tight.”
“You’re priceless.” I burst out laughing.
“I’m surprised the alphas in the room aren’t going crazy,” she says, all doe-eyed and nervous.
“Well, the answer to that is obvious.” I smirk. “It’s because the eliminator spray is working.”
“The smell isn’t the spray!” Sienna rolls her eyes before she glances around the bar. “Anyway, Bardot is more like a beta in her personality than an alpha, so she doesn’t scare away the men.”
I blow out a breath and lift my hand and check the time. “They’ll be here in ten minutes. Don’t mention the guy... or the app I’m on. My family doesn’t know about it.”
Sienna and Ella glance at each other.
“What makes you think nobody knows?” Sienna asks.
“My subscribers know I’m only available to talk for the five nights a week Mom is working. Harlow is too busy with her boyfriend, and Bardot is studying hard for her nursing degree, and sometimes she goes to work with my mom to get work experience. And I have the house to myself.”
Sienna glances around the bar, staring at the men who are ready to watch the New York Bears play against the Dallas Riggers.
A game that, according to my sister, New York needs to win. I never asked why. I’m not even vaguely interested in hockey. Harlow attends the home games, but this one is away and on Texan ice.
A few minutes later, I see my sisters at the bar and know that I need to wrap up this conversation before they overhear something I don’t want them to know. They’ll be mortified that I’m on an adult only app, and more so that I’m pondering meeting an alpha in a hotel room.
Maybe I am vaguely interested.
My cell chimes in my pocket, I recognize the sound and pull out the cheap cell I bought for him and for checking my messages from BetaFans.
I read the text as Sienna nods at my phone.
“Who pays you more than him? I’m not only talking about money? The attention he gives you. He talks to you five days a week. He texts you seven days a week. The guy is obsessed with you.”
“He isn’t obsessed. He doesn’t want to get involved with anyone. He’s an entrepreneur and his career is too important, apparently. He likes me because I make his life easy.”
And you help to get him off.
HENRYLUVSBETAS: What’s your temperature today?
I smile.
Sienna grins after staring at the message. “He’s perfect. He’ll take you through your heat. You won’t have a clue what he looks like, and you’ll be anonymous too. You can both walk away from the agreement and save yourself a fortune from not having to pay the Heat Hotel’s extortionate fees. What do you think, Ella?”
While Ella and Sienna continue their conversation, I text him.
ME: Definitely warming up.
And this ache I have in my stomach is getting worse. Have I eaten something that hasn’t agreed with me or is it the start of my heat?
HENRYLUVSBETAS: To my proposal?
ME: Nope. The heat hotel is booked.
HENRYLUVSBETAS: ...
The dots keep coming, but no words come back. Finally, it stops, and I know he has given up once again.
Ella shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. A single alpha might not be enough when you’re going through a heat. I don’t think it’s such a good idea.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“You’ll need a pack,” Ella continues.
“What the fuck? I don’t want one knot inside me, never mind...” I fling my hand around in the air. “Lots of rutting alphas with their monstrous cocks.”
Sienna chuckles, her shoulders shaking. “You only need three, one for your pussy, one for your mouth and one...”
“Don’t go there, little miss beta with her too tight pussy. You can’t take one knot, so don’t go offering for my body to take three.” I pick up my glass and take a drink.
“I can take one in my ass.” She smirks.
“Too much info, lady.”
Sienna chuckles. “But I’m a beta and you’re an omega. You’re built for it,” she says, arching an eyebrow.
“Are you trying to say I have a big pussy?” Ella says.
“Well, I can’t take two men at once,” Sienna retorts.
I spit out my wine, slapping my hand over my mouth. “Sorry.” I wipe my fingers over my wet chin. “I can’t do packs. One man and one cock will be more than enough for me.”
“You shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Ella says, picking up her cocktail and taking a sip before she grins. “I might have taken all three of my alphas at once.”
“Tell me more,” Sienna says, placing her glass on the table.
Ella is an omega... a worshipped omega. She has three alphas who keep her grounded. She needs it. Though she still acts like a prima donna when her alphas are around her. And I know they’ll be here somewhere. She can’t go anywhere without at least one of them following.
Especially Walker. And I still can’t believe she ended up with not only her dad’s best friend, but her godfather.
I swipe my forehead, wiping away the sweat beads that have formed.
God, I can’t wait for this heat to start and finish. I want the implant and have normal conversations about buying the café. Conversations that used to fill my days.
I want to feel normal again.
My cell chimes again, and I sigh as I read the message.
HENRYLUVSBETAS: I need to speak to you at ten tonight.
Ella watches my finger as I’m about to reply. She shakes her head. “You have to remember this isn’t just sex. This is your heat. I was begging for things I can’t even remember. And like me, this is different for you because it’s your first heat. The most potent of them all.” She shakes her head. “One alpha cannot satisfy you. Especially you.”
“Me,” I whisper.
“Yes, you. I expect because your omega has been dormant for all these years, that your heat might last for days... a week, perhaps.”
Ella is adamant I need to go to the heat hotel, and as she’s an omega, I trust her judgement better than my own. I send a reply to Henry.
ME: I can’t do that.
My cell buzzes before I have the chance to put it in my pocket.
HENRYLUVSBETAS: I’ll be busy for a few hours, but I want to talk to you.
“Hi sis,” Bardot hugs me as I silence my cell and slip it into my pocket. She sits on the opposite side of the table to me, next to Ella.
I smile at Bardot as Harlow slides into the booth, sitting next to me.
My sisters Bardot and Harlow are twins, not that you’d notice. Yes, they are identical in the face and body, and both girls have cerulean blue eyes.
Harlow looks like a model with her perfect and long chocolate waves, that and long, black eyelashes, and luscious pouty lips, she’s gorgeous.
Bardot has the opposite personality to Harlow, and it shows. Her hair is cut into a short bob and dyed platinum blonde. She wears thick black eyeliner around her eyes and her lipstick is also black.
Where Harlow wears pretty dresses, Bardot wears jeans that are too big for her and tops that are too small.
But they are the best of friends.
“Are you ready to watch the game?” Harlow asks excitedly. “Colton sent me a text earlier to tell me he and Carver are on the team.”
Her boyfriend is a rookie on the New York Bears hockey team. His brother is a few years older and is a regular on the team. Colton expected to be on the bench for most of the season, but he’s seen more ice than some of the older players.
“Here’s to Colton but...” I smile and lift my glass in the air. “I came here for the company and the cocktails.”
That’s when everyone in the bar yells at the screen as the puck drops on the ice and there’s a clashing of sticks. The players zoom around the ice. To me, it looks like chaos, but Harlow promises there’s a method to the play. That each man has a specific role in the game.
Not that it looks like it does.
Harlow squeals, jumping onto her feet as she watches her boyfriend take the puck with his stick. I only know because he is number twenty-six. I watch the screen for a moment before I swipe my fingers over my sweaty hairline.
I turn and look at Bardot, who is staring at me like I’ve turned into a werewolf. Her eyes are wide as she says, “You need to take off that sweater. You look like you’re going to burst into flames.”
“I think I’m dying. I’m sure I have food poisoning.”
Sienna starts laughing. “You’re not dying.”
But it’s Ella’s face that frays my nerves. She bites her lip as she searches around the bar before her eyes land back on mine. “Your heat is getting really close. Too close.”
Her eyes scan around the room again. Most of the men in the bar are watching the game, but the alphas are getting tetchy and their noses twitch noticeably as they smell the air.
“You’re emitting enough perfume to cause a rut,” Ella murmurs, as she searches for her alphas. “The eliminator isn’t working.”
“I’m taking you home.” Bardot grabs my hand and pulls me out of the bar.
They were right. I took off from the bar and hopped in a cab the moment I realized the ache in my stomach wasn’t from dodgy food. Now the pain is pulsing just below my belly button and spreading left and right in a straight line. It’s like an invisible sword is trying to cut me in half.
I need to sleep it off.
I pull out the thermometer from my mouth and check my temperature, shuddering, knowing I’m getting so close to a full heat. The way it’s been rising, I expect I’m only three days away from starting, maybe less.
I’m over this heat.
I’m over the ache in my gut that is turning into throbbing pain. I’ve noticed it on and off, but it was never bad enough for me to worry about.
Not tonight.
Fuck! I don’t feel well.
I need to cool down.
After turning the lever on the shower, I shrug off my clothes and step inside. The chill of the water gives me instant relief, but I can’t live under the shower, but I can stand in it until the heat dissipates.
When my body cools down, I turn off the shower, dry my body and get into my cozy but cluttered bed. It’s starting to resemble a table at a thrift store because Mom keeps bringing me different types of blankets; lots of fabrics, from pure cotton, some wool, to a beautiful cashmere throw. And every time she watches as I test the fabric against my skin.
“Do you want more of that material for your nest?” she’d say.
“I don’t want a nest. It’s my bed,” I’d argue.
After this heat disappears, I won’t need a messy bed—or a nest, ever again.
But I’ll keep hold of the cashmere throw because as time goes on I like the fabric more than anything else. It’s not about being an omega. I know I’ll like it when I’m a beta again. It’s the one item I like to rub over my skin, but I hate the little purrs that fall out of my mouth. I feel like a kitten, not an omega, right now.
As I cocoon myself in all the other items, including the cashmere throw to cuddle because it helps me to sleep, a deep throb rolls in my gut. I groan, sounding more like a lion than the kitten before.
“Are you okay? Can I get you anything?” Bardot asks at my bedroom door.
“This is hell. Alphas are the devil and that’s why they call it being in heat.”
She walks into my room and sits on my bed. “Mom’s found a Heat Hotel in Manhattan. It’s got availability and there’s a hotel opposite. I’ll come with you. We can check out the heat rooms, find out what happens, and if you’re happy with it. We can book you in.”
“Is there nowhere closer to home?”
“No, we’ve looked. There’s a few in New York and because of that availability is easier. Plus, it’s the one Ella found when she was thinking about going to a heat room.”
I sigh. “Thank you. Can we talk about it tomorrow? I need to sleep.”
“You can’t pretend it isn’t happening. Your body is telling you it’s ready.” She smiles. “And once it’s over, you can go back to how you were before.”
A beta.
I nod, holding the cashmere throw tightly as I roll over on my bed, and the first thing I see is the knotting toy on my bedside table.
Maybe I don’t need anyone—I can fuck myself.
But I’ll book myself into the smallest hotel room opposite the Heat Hotel just in case my idea doesn’t go according to plan.
I smile to myself. That’s all I need. A vibrator or two, my cozy blanket and the knowledge I can quickly get to the heat hotel if I need it.
“Goodnight Grace,” Bardot says.
I quickly turn around as she reaches my bedroom door. “Book the hotel for tomorrow.”
I’ve heard what omegas go through in their heat, and there’s no way I’m going through it at home. I don’t want my mom and sisters to hear any of those sounds.
“Will do.” She smiles. “It’ll be over soon.”