30. Brylee
30
brYLEE
The only good thing that comes out of the Noth attack is the canceled classes for both academies over the next couple of days. Not only that, but Ridge emailed me late last night to announce our morning sessions are on hold until classes resume.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m free.
For the first time in who knows how long, I don’t set an alarm and instead allow early morning sunlight to wake me.
I stretch my arms above my head, feeling lethargic in a way I haven’t been in years, and kick back my blankets. I have a list of things a mile long to complete during this short break. Constantly switching back and forth between “Teddie” and Brylee has left me behind on everyday chores. I’m just grateful I have Teddie completing my Eros homework and Caran helping me with my Darling schoolwork. Without them, I’d be toast.
Toast sounds good, I think as my stomach grumbles.
I mentally configure a plan for the day.
After breakfast, I need to do laundry. A ton of laundry. I’m practically out of clean clothes. Then, I need to stop by Teddie’s apartment and pick up my assignments for next week. Maybe the three of us can watch a movie or play a game, the way we used to before everything got so damn complicated. Hopefully, Teddie isn’t having a bad day.
A pang reverberates in my chest at the thought, remembering one of the times I went to visit a few months prior.
Teddie couldn’t even leave the bed. He tried to play it off and make jokes about it, but I could see how taxing even simple conversation was for him then. His cheeks were flushed with color, and sweat dotted his forehead and neck. In the middle of the conversation, he fell unconscious, and all I could think was, This is it. My brother is dead.
But if there’s one thing I know about Teddie, it’s that he’s a fighter. He won’t allow a disease to keep him down if he can help it.
Even though he might not get a choice in the matter.
Harper would love to meet Teddie. I think the two of them would get along well. Caran would fawn over Harper the way he once did with me before he realized that I’ll never be a doll for him to dress up.
My lips curl up in the corners microscopically.
Telling Harper the truth feels like a weight has been lifted from my chest. I didn’t think it would be so…freeing.
Surprisingly, she allowed me to tell her the entire story without interrupting me once. Only after I was done did she pepper me with questions.
“How long has this been going on?”
“How have your scent matches not realized the truth yet?”
“Colter knows?!? Oh em geeee. Did he try to kiss you? Do you want him to?”
“Eros was attacked? Was anyone hurt?”
“What do you mean there’s going to be a ball in your honor—I mean Teddie’s honor? How are you going to be in two places at once? Ohhh. Idea! I could wear a blonde wig and—damn. That won’t work with your scent matches, will it? We can brainstorm tomorrow.”
Harper is a hurricane contained in a one-hundred-pound woman, but I’ve never been happier to have her as a friend. And that’s what she is—a friend. I’ve denied it for far too long, but somewhere along the way, the omega has weaseled her way past my defenses and has found a place for herself in my heart.
I lazily reach for my phone on my nightstand and flick it on, surprised to see it’s only eight in the morning. Before I attended Darling, I would sleep in until noon if I was able. My training at both schools must’ve impacted me more than I realized.
No new messages.
Huh. Kind of strange that Teddie hasn’t texted me, especially if he heard about the attack.
And I don’t know why I expected a message from Colter?—
Something taps on my bedroom window, and every muscle in my body locks together. The old Brylee would’ve screamed and maybe tossed her phone in that direction impulsively, but the new one has been training daily to protect herself.
Even though my pulse thrashes like a caged animal, I force myself to reach for the heaviest object closest to me—which happens to be a textbook.
The blinds are drawn shut, but I can just make out a broad silhouette on the other side. Someone must be on the branch outside my window. A Noth, looking to attack the princess? Or?—
I remember what Harper told me last night, and my shoulders slump. I release a heavy sigh as I pull back the curtains, unsurprised to see Kylian balancing precariously on the branch just outside my window, a bag in one hand and a Styrofoam cup of coffee in the other.
How the fuck did he hold those while scaling a tree?
And why is he even here?
I can’t deny the fact that my heart speeds up as I drop the textbook, then unlatch the window and force it open.
I cock one eyebrow at him, and a devious smile scrawls itself across his face.
“You know, when my roommate told me you snuck inside my dorm from the tree outside my room, I thought she was exaggerating,” I say, placing my arms on the window sill and attempting to appear nonchalant.
I totally didn’t think she was exaggerating, knowing what I do about Kylian, but “Brylee” has only met this man a few times in her entire life. I can’t be too familiar with him.
“It would be much easier if I could go through the front door, but I have a feeling you wouldn’t let me in, would you?” He continues to grin at me as he balances there, looking comically out of place. The man may not be as massive as Colter, but he’s still a giant compared to me and most omegas, and he appears as if he’s seconds away from shattering the branch he’s perched on.
“You’d be right.” I absently tap my fingers against the sill. “I don’t make a habit of letting strange alphas into my dorm room.”
His smile is dazzling, and prickles of heat race across my skin. I hate my visceral reaction to him. I don’t want to be admiring the way the rising sun creates gold flecks in his eyes. I don’t want to notice the flexing of his biceps as he grips the brown paper bag. I don’t want to stare at his T-shirt clinging to his chest in a way I’m almost jealous of.
Maybe I can’t stop myself from lusting after him. Fine. Whatever. But I refuse to act on it.
“I’m happy to hear that, my pretty obsession, because if you had alphas in your room willy-nilly, then I might feel the need to go on a murder spree.” His smile broadens, revealing perfectly straight white teeth, and I try to ignore the way my heart flutters at his threat. I blame my body’s reaction on omega hormones. That’s all this is.
“Who I have in my bed is none of your concern. And what did you just call me?” I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously.
“I only told the truth,” he answers vaguely. He then extends the coffee toward me. “I got you your favorite. A latte with fat-free milk, two pumps of white chocolate, one pump of marshmallow, and one pump of caramel. Sweet…like you.” He winks.
“How…?” I blink at him, momentarily at a loss for words. I never ordered coffee in front of him before, of that I’m certain. Yet he got my preferred order perfect.
Kylian pantomimes zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. “A magician never reveals his secrets. Or, in this case, a stalker never reveals just how much he stalks.”
“How are you talking?” I deadpan, staring at him blankly. When he arches an eyebrow, confused, I say, “You just threw away the key. Which is stupid, if you ask me. I don’t know how you expect to find it. You probably should’ve just shoved the key in your back pocket for later.”
I expect Kylian to roll his eyes, just like my old pack did whenever I attempted to joke around. They didn’t understand my strange humor.
But Kylian surprises me by throwing back his head and breaking into raucous laughter, the noise loud enough to scare away a flock of birds resting on a nearby tree.
I watch the way he laughs—uninhibited and genuine—and emotions I can’t quite articulate swirl in my belly.
I really like his laugh. Way more than I should.
“So you have brains, beauty, and you’re funny. Marry me please.”
I suddenly feel embarrassed, and I don’t know why. Ducking my head, I reach for the coffee and take a sip. Dammit. It’s perfect.
“But that’s not all!” Kylian adopts the voice of an eighties commercial announcer. I glance back at him to see that he’s spread his arms wide—still maintaining perfect balance on the branch. “If you blink three times, I’ll also throw in a breakfast sandwich. Act fast before this offer is gone for good.”
It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to blink. My eyes actually begin to burn and water. I can’t help but remember Harper’s comment from last night, about my sexy blinking, and a smile plays on the edges of my lips.
Don’t laugh.
Don’t you dare laugh.
I laugh.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Damn.
Kylian smiles like he won the lottery and then thrusts the brown bag into my hands.
“A sandwich for my future sandwich,” he says with feigned formalness, bowing his head.
“Huh?”
“You know, because in the future, once you accept that we’re the only pack for you and fall madly in love with us, you’ll be the meat in our sandwiches?—”
Nope. Not having that conversation.
Even if I do feel a warm flush crawl up my cheeks.
I slam the window down before he can continue, and he offers me a dramatic pout from the other side of the glass.
His voice reaches me, slightly muffled. “I won’t talk about sex sandwiches anymore. I swear. Come on, boo. Let me in.”
Boo?
Ugh.
I think I prefer “obsession.”
Actually, I prefer neither. Yup. It’s definitely that.
“I just want to watch you eat and drink! But not in a creepy way, I promise! Though if you give me permission, I’ll totally film you and then screenshot different moments to choose between for my phone’s new screensaver.”
I snort before I can stop myself. Kylian really shouldn’t be as endearing as he is. It’s not fair when I’m trying to push him away.
“Come on, boo boo. I climbed all the way up here?—”
I pull the curtains shut.
There’s a beat of silence, and then I hear Kylian say, “At least moan while you eat, okay? Again, not for creepy reasons.”
I cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
Damn him for making me laugh.
Damn him for being considerate and bringing me my favorite drink and sandwich.
Damn him for being my scent match.
Just…damn him.
These alphas are weakening my resolve one word at a time. I’m afraid of what will happen if the defenses I worked so hard to fortify crumble around me.
I’m not sure I can survive another alpha group.
And I’m also not sure I’ll even have a choice in the matter.