Chapter 3 #3
I shrug. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” my brother says. “What happened?”
I have a frightening urge to cry.
I choose to blame it on my Omega hormones.
“I was worried something was wrong with Alvin,” I admit. Said cat is busy nuzzling Avery’s hand, unaware of my panic that centered around him.
“What else happened?” Piper adds.
I bite my lip. “Nothing.”
Piper and Avery don’t believe me. It’s obvious on both their faces.
But how do I explain it to them?
Hey, I think I blew the chance with the guy that could have potentially been a scent match?
And trying explaining that to my brother?
No way.
Even Alvin doesn’t believe me. He yawns, unimpressed by my lies, tail swishing back and forth.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I grumble at the three of them.
“I brought you food,” Avery says, and I perk up.
“Yeah? What did you bring me?” I’m still upset, but the promise of a better lunch than just a protein bar piques my interest.
“A salmon bowl,” he says.
“Take lunch early if you want,” Piper adds. “Blair is coming in soon, and Mari just got here.”
“I can stay for a bit,” my brother says. “I don’t have any more classes today.”
I huff. “Fine. But only because you brought me a salmon bowl.”
Avery grins.
We sit on a wooden bench away from the rescue and clinic, food in our laps. The sky is a crisp bright blue, and there’s the perfect gentle breeze to accompany it.
It’s also a relief to escape Logan’s tempting bourbon and vanilla scent.
If I don’t focus on it too much, then I’m not reminded of the most awkward conversation of my life, or how Ivan stared at the both of us in uncomfortable disbelief.
Looking things up online is never helpful, Logan had said.
Well then what was the internet invented for, if not to look things up?
What a jerk.
“How are you?” Avery starts, digging into his teriyaki bowl.
I poke a piece of salmon with a chopstick. “You really don’t have any more classes today?” I ask him. “It’s early.”
As a professor of photography at Luna Community College, Avery’s schedule is usually packed on the days he teaches.
It’s suspicious that he’s at the rescue in the early afternoon.
“Nah,” he says softly. “Class got cancelled.”
I frown. “You mean you cancelled class.”
He doesn’t reply, so I begin to devour my food, the flavors hitting my tongue. I close my eyes in bliss, savoring the umami taste.
But I can feel my brother watching me, and I swallow and turn to him. “What?” I ask carefully, meeting the amber eyes that resemble mine.
“Piper says you’ve been having a hard time recently,” he says gently, and the food in my stomach sours with a realization.
“Did you cancel class just to talk to me?” I ask in disbelief.
He shakes his head too quickly. “Of course not,” he insists, and I’m mortified.
My brother has never been a good liar, especially not to me.
“Avery, what the hell? I’m twenty-four years old. I’m an adult; you don’t have to drop everything to check on me.” I look back at my lunch suspiciously. “Or bribe me with food to talk to me about something.”
His cheeks turn pink, and my humiliation from before returns tenfold.
“Oh my god,” I mumble, dropping my chopsticks in the plastic bowl.
Everyone thinks I’m a mess.
My best friend talked to her Alpha, my brother, about me.
“So, what?” I ask softly. “This is like…some sort of sibling intervention?”
“It’s a sibling check in,” he amends. “Piper said she already tried talking to you, but I’ve known you for much longer. I might have some advice she doesn’t.”
I look away from him and fix my attention on an empty fast-food cup that floats along on the wind across the gravel of the back parking lot.
“I’ve just been worried about the cats more,” I admit. “Sometimes the worries get loud.”
Silence.
The cup continues to roll along, carried by the breeze.
“Avery, come on,” I huff. “I’m fine.”
“Do you remember how it used to be?” my brother asks. “When you were a kid, and you would worry that something would happen to me? Is it like that?”
When it was just him and me against the world. When he was my protector.
If something happened to him, I would be all alone.
The worries I had as a child would keep me up at night, and I would cry about imaginary scenarios in my head.
“That’s a good question,” I admit begrudgingly. “I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that I keep embarrassing myself around people, and now—”
“It’s not embarrassing, Maeve.”
“It is. Even Ivan looked at me like I was crazy today,” I murmur.
Avery frowns, a deep crease forming between his eyebrows. “What does Ivan have to do with it?”
I snap my mouth shut.
Oops.
I’m not too keen on sharing my love life with my brother, or lack thereof.
I don’t need him to activate Big Brother Mode.
He’s kind and sweet, but the last time I dated an Alpha, he gave them the nth degree with questioning.
At least Piper hasn’t blabbed about Ivan to Avery.
I just shrug and shovel my mouth full of salmon and rice.
“Anyway, I didn’t come here for an intervention,” my brother says. “I wanted to talk to you about something. I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” I ask over a mouthful of food.
“Take a class at the college. Something you like. I can enroll you for free.”
I swallow and make a face. “Why? I hated college.”
I dropped out a year into my studies, vowing to never set foot on a campus again.
“You hated your classes,” Avery corrects me. “You picked a major in business, which I told you was a bad idea. And you were nineteen at the time.”
“I’m not taking your photography class, Avery.”
He rolls his eyes and sighs. “No, Maeve. Like I said, pick something you like. LCC has everything. Painting, writing, dancing, acting, music—”
“Music,” I interrupt. “Like guitar?”
Avery grins. “Yes. Like guitar.”
“So, you’re saying I could take a guitar class? I could learn guitar? For free?” I perk up.
He nods. “Yes. It could help you with—”
Cheep. Cheep. Chirp.
My head snaps up, and I scan the area quickly. “Do you hear that?” I ask, interrupting my brother.
He frowns. “The bird? Yeah.”
“You don’t think it’s a kitten, right? Like maybe one that needs help that we can’t see?”
Avery’s eyes widen. “Maeve, no.” He says it gently, with compassion his voice, and pity in his eyes.
The same look that Piper, Blair, Mari, and Ivan have all given me.
“Stop looking at me like that!” I insist.
“Like what?”
“Like…that.” I wave my hand in front of his face. “Like you feel sorry for me.”
“I don’t.”
I huff and continue eating.
Maybe I’ve been jumpier and more worried lately, but that doesn’t mean that my brother needs to leave his work to check on me.
Avery clears his throat. “So, your suppressants, maybe they could…uh…”
“Oh, god,” I groan. “Please, just don’t. I am not discussing my Heat meds with my brother.”
“I’m just saying, maybe you could have a weighted nesting blanket—”
“Avery, I swear, I will dump this salmon on your head—”
“Maybe your scent glands could be—”
“Okay! I’ll take the guitar class!” I interrupt him. “Sign me up. I’ll do it. I’ll take every music class you want me to. Just stop.”
My brother visibly relaxes and leans back on the bench. “Good,” he sighs. “Introductory guitar starts at the end of the week.”
“Already? Don’t I have to enroll at the college?”
Avery just blinks at me.
“Or you already enrolled me,” I murmur.
He nods sheepishly. “Yeah. You’re already a student at the school; I’ll just register you for the class.”
“I should probably be annoyed at you,” I say.
“Probably. But I brought you your favorite food to soften the blow.”
I stare into my bowl and sigh. “You did. What’s the teacher like?”
“He’s a friend of mine. He’s an extremely talented musician,” Avery says, looking thoughtful. “He can be harsh, but he’s an excellent professor. Maybe you can put your nervous energy into that. Turn it into something good for you, not hurtful.”
“I’m not…” I start, huffing. “I think Piper is making it sound worse than it is. But I’ll still go.”
“The worst that happens is that you learn a couple songs from bands you like,” Avery says. “You’re always listening to rock music, anyway.”
“My playlists are great,” I remind him. “I influenced your music taste.”
The corner of his lip quirks. “Whatever you say, kiddo.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not a kid.”
“You’re my little sister,” he argues. “You’re always going to be a kiddo in my eyes.”
“A kid with a job, a car, and an apartment of her own,” I remind him.
It’s endearing, though. I know deep in my heart that Avery will never stop seeing me as his baby sister.
I’m the youngest of the three of us, Willow being the middle child. Willow hasn’t bothered to contact me or Avery in years, and she basically left our parents’ roof as soon she could.
But Avery stayed behind for me.
I’m forever grateful for that.
So, if he wants me to take a guitar class, I’ll do it for him.
“And you’re okay on rent? Since I’m here,” he adds.
I grimace. Piper and Blair have given me a generous salary, more than enough to cover my apartment rent and other necessities.
But it wasn’t always like that, and it never feels good to ask Avery for money, no matter how easily he may offer it.
I know how lucky I am to have landed this position at Furs and Purrs. What started as a volunteer position with cats has turned into a full-time job with a salary high enough to keep a roof over my head.
“I’m fine. More than fine, because of you and Piper,” I remind him. I kick a rock with my combat boot, watching as it tumbles away.
“We always have space for you, Maeve. We have an extra room—”
“Nope.” I nudge his jean leg with the toe of my boot.
Sorry, but living in with my brother and his pack doesn’t sound like the best idea.
I don’t want to be a fifth wheel.
Besides, he’s earned his time to not have to freak out about me.
He sighs. “Okay. But—”
“You know how you get on me about worrying? I am literally watching you fret in real time. You might as well be wringing your hands.”
My tone is harsh, but I’m smirking, so he rolls his eyes and rests his hands on his thighs.
“Fine. As long as you show up to guitar class.” He holds out his pinkie finger, and I give him mine.
“I will. And you owe me another salmon bowl.”
“I do?”
“Yes. One where you don’t use it as a bribe.”
“You know I bring you a salmon bowl at least once a week, right?”
“Once a week isn’t twice a week, though.” I give him a cheeky grin, and he rolls his eyes but smiles.
“Yeah, yeah. Sure.”
“And thank you,” I add softly. “For the class.”
His face softens. “Of course.”
Avery’s idea is great and one I wouldn’t have thought of myself.
What’s the worst that happens?
The excitement of the class doesn’t soften the blow from earlier, though.
And the building, as much as I try to ignore it, is still laced with that bourbon vanilla scent.
It’s a terrible reminder that I’ll be next door to the Alpha that I humiliated myself in front of.
First impressions can’t be redone, and I’m sure Logan thinks I’m ridiculous.
“Hey,” Avery says. “It’s going to be okay. You know that, right?”
I nod, unable to tell my brother the truth.
That the handsome Alpha next door wants nothing to do with me, disappointing my Omega heart.