Chapter 21 Naomi
Chapter twenty-one
Naomi
Lakeview feels big.
Just this morning I was snowed in. Now I'm walking down Main Street under the stars, dressed in my wool coat, black dress, and heeled boots.
Mia links our arms as we cross the street. “Almost there,” she says, voice soft.
She steers us toward a brick storefront with fogged windows and a swinging sign that says Merry Sweet Chocolate.
The bell over the door chimes when we step inside.
Heat hits first, then scent, chocolate, cinnamon, sugar… maybe the ghost of peppermint. Exposed brick walls are draped with evergreen garlands and fairy lights. A tiny Christmas tree blinks in the corner, fake presents tucked underneath.
We step up to the counter. The barista, a teenager in a too-big Santa hat, beams at us. “Hey! What can I get you?”
“Two house hot chocolates,” Mia says, then glances at me. “They’re basically a sweet hug in a mug. Trust me.”
Right now, that sounds like exactly my speed. I nod.
We pay, move aside, wait while a machine hisses. The barista lines up two enormous mugs, drowns them in whipped cream, dusts them with cinnamon, then calls our names.
Mia picks them up and tips her chin toward the back. “Corner table?”
I follow her through the cozy chaos to a small table tucked against the wall. I sink into a green velvet chair, the cushion swallowing me up a little; Mia drops into the one opposite.
We set our coats on the backs of our chairs. Steam curls up between us.
“So,” Mia says after a beat, fingers wrapping around her reindeer mug. “Tell me what happened.”
My mug is covered in skiing penguins with tiny scarves. I take a sip to stall. The chocolate is rich and dark and just yummy.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I say.
“Anywhere,” she says quietly. “You’ve been snowed in with three alphas for almost four full days.” Her brows lift the tiniest bit. “Something must have happened.”
A slightly hysterical laugh slips out. “That’s… one way of putting it.”
Another sip buys me a few seconds.
“So I had a panic attack,” I say finally. “Right when it sank in that I couldn’t just… leave.”
Mia’s expression softens. “Oh, Naomi.”
“They helped,” I say. “Well, Felix did most of the talking-me-down part. And then we were just… there. Together. No escape route, no phones, nothing else to do. We cooked. Played Monopoly. Drank whiskey. Went sledding.” My chest tightens.
“And then we… slept together. All of us. It was—” I let out a breath. “Really good. Way too good.”
Her chair squeaks as she bolts upright. “Oh my God—”
Three people look over. She freezes, eyes wide, then eases herself back down.
“Ahem,” she says, quieter. “Okay, sure. Questionable, professionally speaking, but… not automatically a bad thing.”
“But there's more,” I say.
She blinks at me. “There’s a more?”
“Today,” I go on, “even though I took DuoBlocks… my scent apparently erupted out. Out of nowhere. And theirs hit me at the same time. Full-force.” My pulse jumps just remembering it. “And then we realized—”
The words jam up in my throat.
“Tell me,” she says gently.
“We’re scent matches,” I manage. “All four of us.”
Mia just stares. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah.” I take another sip because my hands need something to do. “It doesn’t even make sense. DuoBlocks don’t just… give up.”
She sets her mug down, leaning her elbows on the table.
“Actually,” she says slowly, “they kind of do. In one very specific situation.”
I frown. “And what would that be?”
She takes a long sip of hot chocolate, like she’s bracing herself. “When you’re around your scent matches.”
I just blink at her. “I’m sorry, what? That doesn’t make sense. Where are you even pulling that from?”
“I swear I’m not making it up.” She leans in a little.
“So I told you a few days ago my friend Elena was on DuoBlocks for years.
But what I didn't tell is that, when she met her current scent-matched pack—” she makes a little explosion gesture, “—her scent just erupted out. That was quite the scandal in Lakeview actually, since everyone thought she was a beta... Anyway, she eventually researched and found out what I just told you.”
I shake my head, eyebrows practically up in my hairline. “No way.”
“Way.” Her mouth quirks. “I don’t know why the drug company doesn’t advertise it. ‘DuoBlocks: Stops untimely biology, except when you meet your scent matches.’ She shrugs. “But yeah, it's an official side effect. Or feature. Depends how you spin it.”
My brain scrambles to rearrange itself around that. So my DuoBlocks didn’t fail randomly…
“Fantastic,” I say faintly. “So destiny decided to jailbreak my meds.”
Mia’s lips curve. “And you still chose to sleep with them before any of that happened.”
“I mean, did I?” I frown at the reindeer on Mia's mug. “Do I actually like them, or did my body just get steamrolled by ‘ooh, yummy, nice-smelling alphas’?”
Her gaze softens. “I don’t know… I just know you look alive in a way I’ve never seen on you. Here.” She taps lightly over her own sternum.
“I mean… I think I miss being with them,” I admit, barely above a whisper. “I just…” I clear my throat. “I need to know I wanted them because our connection, like personality wise, is real. Not just because biology flipped a switch.”
“Naomi.” Her voice is gentle, but not mushy. “You overthink where your stapler lives. Answer me honestly: before the sex, before you knew anything about their scents, when I told you rescue would probably get there within forty-eight hours… were you relieved?”
“No,” I blurt. “I wasn’t.”
“Okay.” She nods once. “That’s a data point.”
I let out a shaky breath. “You make it sound simple.”
“I know it's not.” She leans back. “You got dumped by your previous scent match, so this rewires all your alarms. I get it. But that doesn’t mean nothing good can ever be trusted again.”
“Yeah, that old story… I was so sure about him, you know? I don’t remember being as… enthralled by his scent as I am by theirs, but still. We were together for years. And when he left, my whole world collapsed.”
“That was then.” Her voice is soft. “You’re allowed to put that story behind you. What if they’re the best thing that ever happens to you, and you never find out because you’re too busy bracing for impact?”
I open my mouth to argue and… nothing comes out.
Because she’s not wrong.
I wrap both hands around my mug, soaking in the warmth. “I don’t know how to trust this though,” I say. “Them. Me. Any of it.”
"Then maybe start with trusting you can handle whatever happens?
You're not eighteen anymore. You stare down billion-dollar negotiations for a living.
If you can handle those stakes, you can definitely handle feelings too.
" She pauses, her voice gentler. "Besides, you know you’re allowed to want things outside of work, right? "
My phone buzzes against the table.
I glance down. FRANCHISE – REVISED TIMELINE, SEATTLE
“Ah, crap.” I scrub a hand over my face, the familiar weight of responsibility trying to muscle its way back in.
“I still have to finalize the Seattle deal for your franchise, then meet stakeholders about it in like three days and—shit, Mia. I just realized I never even got the alphas to commit to the festival game. That was literally why you sent me up there, and instead I—”
“Hey,” she says gently, cutting through my spiral. “You were snowed in, with no reliable signal and a literal natural disaster going on. It’s okay that you weren’t in full closer mode.”
“But the anniversary game—”
"Can still be saved. Actually…" She sets her mug down and digs her phone out of her bag. “I wasn’t going to bring this up until you’d had more sugar, but… they texted earlier.” She scans the screen. “They said they’ve made a decision about the game and will only tell you directly.”
Heat rushes up my neck. “I don’t… I’m not ready to even look at them, let alone—”
“I get that.” She slips the phone away again.
“It’s pretty bold of them, and you don’t have to do anything with that info right now.
I won’t be disappointed if you decide not to meet them, as long as it’s because you truly don’t want to explore anything with them, not just because you’re scared.
” Her tone is steady, soothing. “"Just, relax for now, okay? Think about it later.”
We both fall quiet for a moment, nursing our drinks.
Around us, Merry Sweet Chocolate hums on. An older woman wipes a tear, holding a paperback. A couple by the window clink their mugs like they’re celebrating something. Two college girls take a selfie with chocolate mustaches and nearly knock over their cups.
This town loves out loud.
And Mia… she's just putting my choice first, even though I know how much the winter festival matters to her.
I can't just let my fear destroy this town's Christmas tradition.
I set my mug down.
“You know what? I’ll do it. Set a meeting with them for tomorrow.”