3. Bella Rose
Chapter 3
Bella Rose
N ash clasps my hand. “Come on. We’ll steal some supplies from the kitchen and find a quiet spot by the lake.”
He’s tall and built, forming a barrier between us and the party. He keeps me close as he cuts through the bottleneck on the stairs and the crowded main floor. People shout his name, though he doesn’t give more than a nod.
We get a few curious looks, but before my anxiety spikes, Nash gives my hand a squeeze. He leans in, murmuring, “Almost there.”
The party is even more chaotic than when I first arrived. Kids are still dancing and making out, but the dining room has been transformed into a beer pong tournament with a wall-to-wall crowd drunkenly cheering. The music and yelling are so loud that I can barely hear myself think.
Nash tugs me into the kitchen, and some of the noise dies. It looks like a pack of wild dogs has ransacked the place, with empty bottles and spilled cups littering the floor and the big birthday cake a crumbled heap.
Without paying any attention to the mess, Nash opens cabinets and hurls directions. “See what you can salvage from the cake.” He tosses me a plastic container that I almost fumble and goes back to rifling through the owner’s drawers. After passing me a set of forks, he disappears into the pantry.
I eye the cake, trying to decide if it’s worth it before taking a mostly intact piece from the edge.
“Water or soda?” Nash calls.
Peeking into the pantry, I chime in, “Water, please.”
He turns at the sound of my voice, and he looks so excited that some of my nerves settle into anticipation.
“Look what I found. Now it’s official.” He proudly holds out a candle before snagging two bottles of water from the shelf.
“There you are!” My cousin’s giddy giggle causes my stomach to drop.
“We’ve been looking for you all over,” Lindsey whines, stumbling into the kitchen behind my cousin.
I stare at the two girls, their eyes glassy and smiles wide, unsure what to do.
“Hey, Marigold. I hope you don’t mind, but I was just about to take her to the lake.” A warm palm presses into the small of my back, Nash’s presence settling behind me.
Marigold bounces on her toes, shaking her head like a bobble doll. “Yes, a perfect reason to bail on us. Have fun!”
Lindsey gawks at the two of us, nudging Marigold.
“Oh shit. Wait,” Marigold blurts. “Can I borrow my cousin for just a minute? A little girl-to-girl moment?”
“Sure.” Nash hesitates, leaning down to ask softly, “If it’s good with you?”
Part of me wants to tell Marigold and Lindsey to go kick rocks for disturbing the surreal dimension I’ve stumbled into tonight. Still, the other part of me remembers what it was like when we shared everything. Maybe Marigold is right and I’ve been the one in my own way.
“I’m good. I’ll meet you right out back,” I promise. “Five minutes.”
Nash squeezes around me, murmuring as he passes, “Take longer than ten and I’m coming to find you.”
A giggle slips out of me, then another as I watch Nash walk cooly toward the back door, the two omegas spluttering in his wake. They both talk at once while Marigold tugs the container of cake from my hand.
“Give me that,” I argue, tugging back.
Lindsey holds out her hands dramatically. “Focus!” she hisses. “We need to get you ready.”
Marigold rolls her eyes but drops her hold. “Fine.”
I think about punching Marigold’s pretty face, but instead, I sidestep the two of them, done with whatever nostalgia kept me here.
“Don’t be mad!” Marigold pouts. “I’m trying to help!”
“I think I’m good,” I say, walking away. Maybe I’m being sensitive, but every time I’m around Marigold, I feel like shit about myself.
“Don’t you want your birthday present?” she asks, her voice full of hurt.
I hate that there’s this wall between us, that there’s so much I don’t know how to navigate or talk about. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I turn back. “You got me a present?”
“Yeah, I told you I had a plan.” She smiles at me. It’s the old one, the one I’ve missed.
Lindsey scrambles around in her purse and hands my cousin a small pouch. Marigold takes out a plastic sleeve with glimmering stars and dangles it in front of me.
“Hold still!” Marigold orders.
“What were the odds Travis brought them tonight?” Lindsey jumps excitedly in place.
“And Nash?” Marigold squeals. “Talk about an alpha who can awaken a designation.” She holds the plastic to my cheek. “I’m gonna add these to your look, and you’ll be perfect.” She dabs with her nail, and something slimy touches my cheek before tingling then going numb.
“What was that?” I rub my cheek, trying to wipe it off, but Marigold bats my hand.
“Don’t! You’ll mess up the glitter.”
Lindsey leans in, staring. “Feel anything yet?”
“Feel what? What the fuck is it?”
The two omegas freeze at my tone, blinking owlishly.
“Horny, hopefully. Enough to perfume. It’s these aphrodisiac stickers,” my cousin explains.
Lindsey backs her up. “Yeah. They’re like temporary tattoos, but they’re supposed to help enhance an omega’s perfume and draw it out. Mari’s been trying to get them for you for weeks.”
Marigold digs into the purse again and retrieves a tiny plastic bottle, breaking the seal and waving it in front of me. “We almost forgot! Take a whiff. It’s supposed to enhance the effect. Maybe take a shot too.”
I knock the thing from her hand, coughing at the dizzying wave of alpha pheromones. It’s a cocktail, and all of them smell too spicy. “What the fuck is wrong with the two of you? Maybe you should ask first before horny-bombing someone.”
My cousin cocks her head as if my outrage has confused her. She looks at Lindsey, then back at me. “But why wouldn’t you do whatever you could to make sure you perfume?”
I don’t know what hurts more—the fact that my designation is the only thing that matters to her or the fact that they didn’t involve me in their plan. My mind races.
What if it does work and I throw myself at alphas? What if I throw myself at Nash and he rejects me? I don’t think I can take any more disappointment.
I shove my way between them, taking inventory of my body as I flee. I don’t feel anything, and I can’t decide if that’s a relief or more proof that I’m broken. The sound that escapes is partly hysterical and at least a little bit of a choked sob.
Of course the only thing they think matters is my perfume. Isn’t that what I’ve been telling myself too?
It makes me hate myself a little because there is a spark of hope inside that’s getting brighter, asking, What if it works? What if I can finally be normal again?
* * *
“I was getting ready to send in search and rescue.” Nash pushes himself off an old oak and nearly startles me to death. He chuckles while I hold my chest, trying to stop my racing heart. “Come on, your birthday is almost over.”
I debated calling in an emergency SOS to my grandma and bumming a ride. She wouldn’t tell on me, and there would be zero risk of embarrassing myself in front of this flirty alpha. But that small what-if led me out the back door and down the back porch toward the lake.
I don’t feel any different, but what if I present? Maybe this is my chance. Maybe I’m not broken.
I let Nash grab my hand again, taking a discreet whiff of his outdoorsy scent. No matter what happens tonight, he smells good, and despite his bad-boy reputation, I like being around him.
“Everything okay?” he asks, fingers lacing with mine as he pulls me along the outskirts of the property.
His palm is warm, and when he touches me, my skin hums. It makes my brain feel fuzzy and my stomach swoop with nerves. “It’s fine. Just Mari being Mari.”
He makes an amused sound in his throat. “I can imagine. She looks like fun to deal with.”
“A blast,” I confirm, following him to the shadows by the trees.
The two of us duck like thieves as we avoid the loud group on the lawn and the people splashing in the lake by the dock.I realize his plan when we get to the bank and he tugs off a tarp to reveal three canoes. He lets go of my hand, handing me the bottles of water before flipping one over and hauling it to the edge of the lake.
“This is quite the birthday adventure.” Though my tone is teasing, I mean it.
“Hand off the goods and get in. We have a wish to make.”
I pass him our loot and climb into the canoe. Once I’m settled, Nash hands it back and pushes off, jumping in and making the whole thing teeter.
Nash laughs at my yelp but helps me get balanced before sitting and facing me. He pulls the candle and a lighter from his pocket, plopping it into the piece of lopsided cake before lighting it. “Happy sweet sixteen, Rosie. Make a wish.”
The warm little glow creates a kaleidoscope of colors, and it’s as if the star-filled sky swirls and twinkles like a dizzying painting. I swear Nash glows, little hearts and sparks dancing around his head as he gives me a lopsided smile. Somewhere inside me, panic blooms, as though I’m missing something important, but my body feels too good not to give in to the sweeping happiness of the moment.
I close my eyes and make a wish, but everything is blurry when I open them again. That little ache that started when Nash held my hand reignites. Only this time, it’s a raging forest fire that makes me feel hot and itchy all over.
“Aren’t you going to tell me what you wished for, football girl?” Nash teases.
He’s so handsome and his voice—mmmm.
Nash chuckles.
Shit. Did I say that aloud?
“You’re still doing it,” he says, that killer smile of his setting off another round of fireworks.
Nash leans in, and there are two of him. It’s hard to focus, but I think he’s gonna kiss me. Please let him kiss me.
I close my eyes, waiting for him, and get lost in the dreamy sense of floating. Everything is soft except my clothes. The reminder brings the sensation to the forefront, like little ants crawling on my skin. It’s too scratchy. And this body suit is splitting me in half. Tugging, I rip at the snaps, yanking it over my head.
Cool air hits my skin, but it’s not enough. I’m itching to the point I feel eaten alive, and the world won’t stop spinning and swirling, a moving painting of glow-in-the-dark stars.
Sound wobbles, distorted and far away. There is a deep, frantic voice, but I can’t make out the words. I scratch and tug at my clothes, tearing them off to get at the ants.
Stumbling, I flop into the water, scrambling until I hit the bank and fall into the slick mud. It’s cool—so cool—and the damp earth soothes my skin.A laugh bubbles from my chest, and I flop onto my back, looking up at the dizzying stars.
Nash leans over me, his eyes wide. He’s talking, but no sound reaches me, then my heart thumps loudly and the world goes black.