Chapter 29 - Ollie
Ollie
Luke is cackling his head off. As soon as I told him about scent matching with Timber and Kane, he started hooting and hollering like he never had before.
“And you agreed to go on a date with them… with both of them?”
“No, God. That would be even more awkward. I don’t even want to go on this date with Kane.
But I guess I can sacrifice my dignity and go undercover in a dress.
” I flick my nonexistent hair dramatically.
“Not that I’m down with the feminine vibe, I just trust you to make me a dress that’s going to knock him out. Though probably not with my tits…”
Noa gives me a shaky smile as she adjusts herself in her chair.
We both sit next to Luke’s hospital bed. They’ve released the ropes and pulleys so he doesn’t look like a marionette, but he’s still stuck there with his face bandaged, and trying to make the best of it.
They moved him to a ward, so we’ve got a curtain pulled around his bed to hide us from the rest of the patients.
Noa is an insanely pretty omega who moved in next door to Luke and me when we were still in college. She was shy at first, but Luke and I have a habit of adopting quiet people, and she’s definitely one of them.
Even though we overwhelmed her at first, she slowly grew used to us, and now we’re regulars at her cozy fashion store.
She mostly sells handmade blankets and shawls, but I go there for her awesome punk designs, and Luke is obsessed with her dresses.
He has a bunch of different wigs that he wears when she needs him to model her new lines for her website.
We occasionally help her out with the ridiculous embroidery skills we learned from our grandparents when we kept switching roles as well.
“I have a dress that would work. I would just need to make some adjustments beforehand,” Noa says.
I’m honestly so grateful Noa is offering because she knows my style, and she won’t drench me in the frills and lace Luke loves.
“That’s fine.” I wave my hand. “Kane and Timber aren’t back until the end of the week, so I can wallow in my misery before we doll me up. Then I’ll go on a totally normal date with a freaking hockey player.”
Luke bursts out laughing again. But he chokes up, wincing as he almost doubles over, clutching his cracked ribs. I tense up at the sound of his pain, but I won’t let it show how much it affects me.
“Will you shut up? I’m only doing this because you’re the idiot who got hit by a van!”
Luke and I are good at pretending everything is okay and making jokes to cover up our problems. We usually believe everything will work out, but we’re cutting it pretty fine this time.
It’s better to avoid a big conversation when Noa’s here. When we arrived an hour earlier, he casually threw his magazine down on top of the letter by his bedside. But I saw it before he could hide it.
It’s an invoice for the cost of a week’s stay at the hospital, and that’s with our insurance.
Since I woke up on the couch with Timber leaning over me, looking at me like he was going to fuck me so hard I’d stay in his bed forever, I’ve been thinking about leaving him. But seeing the number of zeros on that bill was a harsh reminder of our real situation.
My omega side is still soaring, flying sky-high at how close Timber was and how much I still need him to see me as his match.
The problem is, I don’t know him well enough to know how he’ll react when he finds out the truth.
I’ve never been the kind of person who sticks around for the hard stuff.
Kane was right when he said I was a ‘bolter’.
Leaving Timber and bouncing out of his life is the easier option. But Luke’s already been in the hospital for three weeks. The doctor says it will be another week until he can move to crutches, and the cost is no joke.
If I knew I could support us, I’d take him out of the hospital straight away and look after him in our third-floor apartment, a building with no elevator and annoyingly narrow stairs.
Luke wouldn’t be able to escape, but I’d have to put up with him complaining for months until he could walk properly.
Or we admit we can’t do this and move back to our grandparents.
All answers point to continuing to lie to Timber while we wait for the paycheck at the end of the month, before we make our next move.
Luke laughs again. “Nu-uh, no way. There’s no way you need to go on a date with Kane Moretti to save our business.”
“No, I’m pretty sure your doctor prescribed me two hot alpha males. One is a daily dose, and the other is a hit a week to keep me juicy.”
“Blergh!” Luke pretends to gag. “Noa, help me out here. Tell Ollie to stop using me as an excuse.”
“It really does seem like you just want to see him again,” Noa says. “You don’t have to go on that date to do that, though, do you? You could do something else together?”
“Ugh,” I sigh. “Fine, yeah, I want to go out with him. Quiet, you.” I glare at my brother as he snickers.
I do like the idea of going to a fancy restaurant where Kane can spoil me. I won’t have to cook, and I’d have a chance to learn about Kane in a more public setting, so I don’t tear my clothes off like King Kong and smash him.
I turn to Noa. “Do you have anything that won’t scream ‘I put loads of effort into this’? The restaurant has three Michelin stars, but I don’t want to look desperate or anything.”
“But he’s your scent match,” Noa says. “Don’t you want to make an effort?”
I blow air into one side of my cheek, puffing it up as I hem and haw about it.
Do I want Kane to think I’m sexy as fuck? Absolutely. But I want to do that while feeling like myself. And La Vie Bleue wouldn’t appreciate me turning up in ripped jeans and piercings.
So maybe I’ll go commando under my dress. Even if I look all fancy, I can still rebel.
“Hey, can you teach me how to do my face up properly? All pretty, like you do. Not like the paint I do for raves, but the formal stuff. More…” I circle my face with zero make-up and still look damn fine. “But that can also hide my piercings.” I want to hide who I am while still being me.
Our grandma thought omegas shouldn’t coat themselves to attract alphas, so I never learned that skill.
“Yeah, I’ve got some putty, and we can use sponges for your earlobes,” Noa replies.
“You’re honestly so cool!” I gasp as I throw my arms around her. She squeaks when I rub my face against hers.
I pull back quickly, worrying that her hair will get caught in my piercings. It’s happened before, but Noa is a great person to be stuck to.
If there are going to be more people shooting videos and grabbing photos of Kane for their socials, then I want to be unrecognizable while being hot as fuck.
“Maybe I can borrow a wig,” I say to Luke, and his eyes sparkle.
“Which one? I got a new brunette shoulder-length wig that I was going to try on for Noa’s next photoshoot. Though blonde will probably work, so you don’t look like you.”
“Kane is going to know it’s me, anyway. I just don’t want other people figuring it out.”
Luke hums while both of them stare at me.
“What? What is it?”
“Maybe it might be better to show your alpha who you are? Is it really that important to hide yourself?” Noa asks.
I twist my lips, knowing that she’s right, but I don’t have a choice. “I’m already mixed up in something awkward with them. I don’t want it to get any more complicated than it already is.”
“Okay, fine,” Luke grumbles. “But promise I get to wear the dress before you. We need to make sure it’s a good fit.”
“You can’t even walk. What if Noa has to rescue your dumb ass when you fall on your back like a beetle because your casts are too heavy? No one deserves that!”
“I could still try them on though! I’ll wear them at the hospital. Come on, Ollie! Noa? Pleeeeeeease. I’m so freaking bored here. The nurses won't even play with me.” The more restless he is, the more he acts like a kid. It can be seriously annoying.
“Is that all you care about? Just try making friends with some people instead of trying to get them to entertain you,” I tell him.
“Why would I do that when I’ve got Noa?”
“What about me?” I ask.
“You come with the territory. We just happen to get along. If I had to choose between you two, then Noa is definitely my favorite.”
“What if I told you I was going to go full Superman with this?” I say, and they suddenly perk up.
I can practically see their ears twitching.
“What do you mean?” Noa asks.
“Well, I don’t want to get caught with a dress in Timber’s house, and you’re busy that night, so what if we hide the dress in one of those storage lockers at the train station?
Then I can get the dress, go to the public restroom, and do a full change like I’m Superman in a phone booth.
I’ll stick my clothes back in the locker, go to my date, then do another change before I go home, and no one will have a clue.
” I grin at them. “It’s the perfect plan. ”
I could spray fake perfume on myself so no one can pick up my scent, despite how I want to spread maple syrup over Kane by the end of the night. And lick it all back up again.
“But people will see you change at the station,” Noa points out.
“Okay, but… the drama? Plus, messing around like that will stop me from being nervous. I can’t remember the last time I went on a date. Most of the time, I just use an app to hook up with alphas for my heat.”
“That sounds so fun…” Luke sighs. “I want to have fun too…”
“Stop whining. It means everything is going to be more exciting when you get out of the hospital.”
“Can’t we switch back soon anyway? You go off and have your heat. The doctors said that my legs will be better in a few weeks, and then I can seamlessly slip into the role of ‘Luke’ and they’ll be none the wiser!”
Noa and I stare at him pointedly because we both know he won’t be walking any time soon. We weren’t there when the van hit him, but he was in surgery for so long, and the bone damage was severe enough that, even when he’s healed enough to walk, he’ll have to use crutches for months.
We have to focus on the long-term: do well with Timber, and we’ll be set for the rest of our careers.
So maybe going on a date with Kane really isn’t a good idea…
What’s the number one way to get outed as a female omega? Going on a date in public with a famous hockey player.
“First of all, are you really going to get the same piercings as me?” I ask.
Luke likes to keep his skin clean because it’s easier to do his make-up. “There are tons of fake piercings around that I can use,” he replies instantly. “You just need to fill me in on everything that’s happened, and we’ll be good to go.”
There’s no way I’m telling Luke about accidentally dropping my slick in Timber’s oatmeal, or scent marking his bed, or how Timber brushed my lips as he wiped away hot chocolate that I can’t stop thinking about.
Mainly because I'm desperate to find out if Timber tasted my saliva in the hot chocolate, the same way he did with my slick.
I won’t tell Luke how insane I’m going over Timber, though I’m going to ask Noa to get a coffee later to ask her advice, because this isn’t just my usual alpha-crazy state. I feel like I’m going to go feral if I don’t climb Timber’s stacks.
“Luke, you need to be more realistic about your legs. Doesn’t the Scented Scorpions’ job last until the season is over? How many more months is that?” Noa asks.
“I could just say I had an accident when they were at an away game?” Luke groans. “Or something. Noa, give me a good excuse.”
She goes to back him up, but I pull her into a hug again, glaring at my brother. “Don’t do it, Noa, it’s a trap!”
“But I want to have some fun!” Luke whines again. “At least get some photos of you all dressed up before you go on your date. Or do something crazy at the restaurant so you’ve got a good story for me?”
I sigh as I release Noa. My brother is just Like That sometimes. I make a mental note to bring him loads of puzzles and toys next time to distract him like a toddler.
“Or Noa could come and hang out with you? As long as you don’t annoy the hell out of her. Or maybe one of your other million friends?”
“Everyone’s busy,” he shoots back.
“I’m sitting right here, Luke,” Noa replies dryly.
He pouts at her as he huffs. “Okay, fine, I’m sorry. Seriously, though, if my legs weren’t broken, I could totally go on the date instead of you. That would be way more interesting.”
It’s funny how fierce the possessiveness that rises in my chest is, considering I’ve only met Kane twice. I know my brother is joking, but I’m itching to growl at my brother.
I don’t want Luke anywhere near him. But that’s also because Luke holds onto secrets like a leaky pipe. There’s no way he could be around Kane or Timber for five minutes without slipping up.
He’s a freaking beta, so even if he tricks Kane with his appearance, he won’t get away with not smelling like hot pancakes. Though we could just say it’s all the suppressants and creams.
This is the same feeling I have when I’m scrolling through videos on Kane’s tag and see omegas gushing over him. It makes me want to stand in front of him with a baseball bat and scare off anyone who tries it on.
“Earth to Ollie!?” Luke shouts, his hands cupped over his mouth. “What’s going on in there?”
I jump, my chair squeaking on the floor, and guilt burns through me as I realize what I’m doing. I would pinch myself again for thinking that if Luke and Noa weren’t here. I’m only wound up because my heat is coming, that’s all.
At least I have two people in my life who will back me up when everything implodes.
I burst out with a grin as I meet Noa’s curious gaze. “I’m just thinking about what kind of dress you’ve got planned. This is the only time you get to play with me, so you’d better make it a good one.”