Chapter 18
Flora
“Miss Hewitt, can you wait a moment?” a smooth voice asked as I gathered my bags.
I froze, the lack of sleep and gnawing anxiety getting to me before I realized who the voice belonged to. Straightening, I turned to him and plastered a smile on my face.
Lyle, the teacher’s assistant, was waiting nearby, looking at me intently. He had been part of the class since the start of the year and often graded our papers.
He had been a TA for a while and dressed more like a teacher than a student, in slacks and a button-down shirt. He stood out next to the mountains of students who wore university sweatshirts and tracksuits. I had just sat through a three-hour international finance lecture and was ready for a nap.
Yes, I liked numbers. But international finance didn’t count in my humble opinion.
“Hi, Lyle. Yeah, of course. Did I mess up my last paper?” I asked, scrunching my nose. Knowing how sleep-deprived I had been of late, I wouldn't have put it past me to have utterly screwed up my assignment.
He smiled, waving off my concern. “Oh no, not at all. It was good, as always. I just wanted to check in.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, raising a brow and breathing a small sigh of relief. “My international finance papers are never that good. Once you bring different currencies into the mix, my mind gets a little muddled.”
“Trust me, it’s a lot better than some of the papers I’ve graded,” he assured me. “Though, if you ever want to talk about some of the finer details to maybe get your score from a ninety-two to a hundred, you’re welcome to stop by during office hours.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, nodding gratefully. As I slung my bag over my shoulder, I beamed at him. Honestly, I was happy with a ninety-two in international finance. It was one of the few subjects I struggled with, so I wasn’t distraught about not getting perfect grades.
Still, maybe at some point I’d be able to aim for more than that.
“I have office hours this afternoon,” he offered.
“Would next week be okay?” I asked. “I’ve got several tutoring sessions at the library this afternoon.”
“Tutoring sessions? I didn’t realize you needed tutoring. I’m happy to help. I took most of the advanced classes you’re taking.”
“Thank you again, but I’m not being tutored,” I explained. “I’m tutoring students.”
“Oh,” he said with a nod. “That makes a lot more sense. In that case, don’t let me keep you. Oh, by the way, I like your jacket,” he added. “Though I think you bought it a few sizes too big.” He laughed, like he had just cracked the most hilarious joke known to man.
My jacket. I just happened to be wearing the oversized leather jacket once again.
The one the handsome stranger had given me.
It was ridiculously large on me, but I couldn't deny the confidence it gave me.
“It’s a friend’s jacket. He’s letting me borrow it,” I replied with a small smile. I didn’t know why I felt the need to justify myself, but something about his gaze made me a little uneasy. Maybe he was trying to figure out if I had a boyfriend.
Well, if the giant jacket made him think I was taken, I was okay with that. Not that Lyle was a bad guy, but I barely knew him, and there was no way I was going to date a member of the faculty—even if he was just a teaching assistant.
Lyle nodded. “Well, in that case, my door is always open. I’ll see you next week.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder in what I think was meant to be a friendly gesture, leaning forward ever so slightly, his nostrils flaring as he took in my scent.
Smelling me was definitely not appropriate. Unfortunately, some alphas just couldn’t help themselves.
Thankfully, I was cloaked in the handsome stranger’s scent. Even though the jacket had been in my nest and I’d worn it out several times, his smell still faintly clung to it.
“You seem tired, Flora. Make sure you’re getting enough rest,” he said, his brows furrowing.
Internally, I bristled as I kept a polite smile on my face. I was sleep-deprived and cranky because I was terrified that someone was breaking into my apartment. That wasn't the sort of thing I could unload onto my TA.
Also, even if he was genuinely concerned, it was rude to tell a woman she looked tired. Unless someone was offering to do something to help relieve their tiredness, they had no business commenting on it.
I said goodbye and quickly darted out of the room. Truthfully, I wasn’t only in a rush because of my tutoring sessions. There was something about talking with alphas that gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Well, most alphas. There had been one or two recently who made me feel quite the opposite.
Chase, for instance. Part of me was tempted to go back to the club on the off chance I’d see him. Then again, would he be willing to have a repeat performance? He’d seemed pretty excited and happy about our encounter, but there was no way of knowing for sure.
If he’d really enjoyed himself, he probably would have left his phone number.
Shaking the thought out of my head, I made a beeline for the library.
My first tutoring session was with a first year, who was studying to become a teacher and, like Connor, was struggling with the required math credit.
The work she was stuck on was child’s play for me, so talking her through it was easy.
She was a sweet, quiet omega, and working with her was always pleasant.
Even though I’d only been tutoring for a short while, I’d found that female students were far more receptive to my support.
Male students were often more combative—especially alphas. The notion that they were wrong and I was right seemed to baffle them, even though, academically, I was miles ahead.
For instance, my second tutoring session of the day was with Ash, an alpha and a football player whose only joy in life was sports.
Unfortunately, he needed to keep up with his math classes to stay on the football team.
I’d been forced to set boundaries with him early on, as I didn’t appreciate his teasing or nicknames.
Unfortunately, that was something I had to put up with.
I had rent to pay, after all.
Between sessions, I grabbed an iced latte and a sandwich, but I only managed a few bites before my churning stomach forced me to stop. Anxiety and stress usually curbed my appetite, so I was struggling to eat.
Thankfully, I could always drink iced coffee.
The afternoon slipped by quickly, and even my male students were more subdued than usual. It wasn’t until I’d finished my final session and was walking toward my last class of the day that I realized why.
The jacket.
My steps faltered as it dawned on me. If I saw an omega wearing a jacket that large, I’d assume it belonged to their boyfriend.
It hadn’t fully sunk in while I was talking to Lyle, but after a whole afternoon of alphas being mildly pleasant to me, I was shocked.
Once I was home, I tucked the jacket back into my nest and snuggled with it, trying my best to forget about the anxiety wearing a hole in my gut.