Knot That Pucking Scent, Part Two (Knotty Puckers #6)

Chapter 1

Kane

Unfortunately, dating isn’t a professional sport. I can’t call the athletes back after the game’s over and ask them to reflect on their performance. I can’t see a reel of highlights, show scores, or even look at pictures of the game.

So I have no clue how Timber and Ollie have been since our half-time adventure between courses of our dinner date.

I texted Ollie to ask how she’s doing, and there’s been complete radio silence, so obviously I’ve done something wrong. Such as forcing her onto Timber when she was all dressed up. Or telling Timber her heat is coming.

Now I have to wait until tomorrow when we’re back at the rink to ask Timber how he felt about kissing us, and if he wants a replay.

I’d hoped they would get in touch with me first and ask me how I'm struggling in the vast, lonely world without them, but no. Even though I wasn’t as involved in their make-out session as I wanted to be, I was still part of Timber’s foray into the world of maple syrupy goodness.

And our pack life is becoming more of a reality.

As long as I actually see them again, and they get to know each other, and we overcome the weight of Ollie’s lie. And that’s on top of the backlash from my scheming.

Though I currently have a bigger issue on my hands, such as this beta with a shotgun.

His hands are steady as he aims, his hazel eyes stone cold. There’s no way out of it. If I say the wrong thing, I’m toast.

“You think I’m joking, boy!?” he snaps as he cocks his gun, and I raise my brows. “I’ll put one straight through your brain if you aren’t honest about your intentions!”

I sit in the chair next to his hospital bed, drenched in confusion.

Because Ollie’s twin is holding his crutch under his arm, and the way he acts has me convinced that he could fire a bullet from it if he wants to.

“I said, what’s your intentions with my gosh-darn sister!?” he yells in a terrible Texan accent.

The bed shakes as his leg casts clack together. They look like two marshmallows sprinkled with rainbow pictures and messages. He wears a thin blue hospital dress that covers the tops of the casts, and his short blond hair reminds me of Ollie’s wig.

It might have been fearsome if he weren’t the same size as Ollie, and almost as cute.

I hold back my grin so that he feels like I’m taking him seriously. It’s a shame betas can’t growl, because it would suit him.

“I came here because I have evil plans for her,” I hum.

He pulls his lips back over his teeth in a sneer. “You’ve got one last chance, boy, and then it’s six-feet under for you.” He narrows one eye, looking down the barrel of his crutch.

I’d grown up with enough cousins to fill a school bus, so I’m used to dress-up games. Though I can’t remember the last time I played them with a guy in his twenties.

“You think you’re good enough for her? The only thing you’re good enough for is feeding the worms!” he hollers before he moves his finger to the trigger, smirks, and fires.

“Bang!” he shouts, and I sit there, curious to see what he’ll do next.

Silence hovers between us as we watch each other with steady gazes, before he tilts his head.

“Hey,” he whispers out of the side of his mouth. “This is the part where you’re meant to die.”

I twist my lips, still not sure what to make of him. “This really wasn’t what I was expecting when I came to visit the great Luke Newham,” I say.

There’s a pause as he lowers his crutch, and he sparks up exactly the way Ollie would.

He bursts out laughing; the sound bouncing around the small, curtained room before he winces. He quickly clutches his stomach with a grimace.

“Ugh, I’m sorry. Sort of. I’m just so freaking bored here.

There’s nothing to do, and no one will come visit, and my neighbours won’t talk to me for some reason.

” I look around the area at the side tables and chairs stacked with books, magazines, board games, and other electronics piled among dozens of vases of flowers.

I couldn’t say whether anyone was visiting him or not, but there were signs.

“And Ollie is way too depressed to do anything apart from share meal plans with me.” He sighs. I perk up at the mention of my omega.

“Oh, that got your attention, didn’t it? I know why you’re here, Kane. So, just spit it out.”

“What if I’m here to make a good impression on my future brother-in-law?”

“Ew, no. Don’t do that smarmy shit. Ollie might fall for it, but you’re getting nowhere with me. Just because she’s scent matched with you guys doesn’t mean you’re part of the family.”

I suck in a sharp breath, shoot up in my chair. Heart thundering, legs shaking, I look at Luke with wide eyes as he grins. I can tell he knows exactly what he’s done, and my whole body is suddenly on fire.

He didn’t say outright it was Timber, but who else in Ollie’s life could it be when she lives with him?

“What do you mean by ‘guys’?” I ask.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, hockey boy?”

I’m trying not to leap from my seat, but I need him to tell me straight.

Ollie and Timber had kissed so passionately at the restaurant, to the point I genuinely thought they were fucking the moment I saw them, and that had to mean something.

If they really are matches and it wasn’t just some spur-of-the-moment thing, I’ll sink to the floor in happiness.

“Luke.” I can barely control myself as my hands curl around the thin wooden arms of the cheap chair. “You have to tell me what you mean.”

“Says who? If I tell you what you want to know right away, you’ll disappear, and I’ll be left all alone. What do I get in return?”

That sounded oddly familiar. Like how I wouldn’t go all the way with Ollie in case she bolted.

If Luke’s the same as Ollie, then getting in his face and demanding he tell me what I want to know could backfire. He can already tell he’s got me, and not just because I’m fidgeting in my seat. I needed to play this cool, draw him out like a little gossip mouse instead of being too obvious.

“Are you sure you’re twins?” I ask, trying to deflect the conversation. From the small amount I know about Ollie, I didn’t think I’d find her acting like this. Then again, how much can I say I actually know about her? Which is exactly why I sought him out.

He points straight at himself, his gaze intense.

“Look at my face. You think I’m fucking with you?”

When we mate with Ollie, are we going to have to put up with this for the rest of our lives?

I hope it’s a temporary insanity from being in the hospital and not a full-time occupation for Luke, because I can’t see Timber enduring it for long. He can barely stand me when I act out, so how will he handle this?

“Anyway, don’t try pretending you came here to see how devilishly handsome I am. So, out with it. What else do you want to know about my sister, apart from who else she’s matched with?”

And here I thought I was going to have to be patient, whip out my charm, and sneakily mine the information from him. It looks like I need a different tactic.

“Not that you’re getting it for free. It’s gonna cost you, and I don’t know if someone like you can afford it.”

My heart skips as his expression grows hard, and I think of how much I’m willing to pay to find out.

Timber talked about his ex-wife milking him for everything he’s worth, but I want a proper confirmation that Timber and Ollie are matches.

Maybe I could get some stories about Ollie when she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as part of the deal.

Luke sighs dramatically. “I mean, basically, I haven’t had a burger and fries for weeks, and I’m getting antsy, you know? I miss my meat sweats, and you have no idea how hot it is in these casts.”

“I thought you were a nutritionist as well?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I can cook for myself here. And I get lonely here. I feel like a burger would make this whole conversation flow way easier, you get what I’m saying?”

***

One drive-through and two burgers later, Luke is wiping the last of the grease from his mouth and sighing happily.

“Oh yeah, that hits the spot,” he groans.

“Are you going to give up the goods now?” I ask. I’ve been as patient as I can, but I'm close to exploding. The number of questions that have built up since Luke said ‘scent matched with you guys’ is driving me wild, and I don’t know how long I can keep up the act.

Luke peers at me out of the corner of one eye as he slurps from a large cup.

“Well, she told me you figured out that she’s posing as me to live with Timber, so you don’t need to know that. My guess is you want to know why my sister would keep living with her scent match when she can’t ba-doink-a-doink that booty.”

Then it’s my turn to grin at him, because that’s exactly the way I want to fuck Timber and his tight ass.

Luke didn’t even make it into a dramatic reveal. He just casually slipped that they’d matched into the conversation like it wasn’t something I’d been desperate to hear since I scented his lunchbox.

Happiness rushes through me, and I don’t want to cheer like a maniac, especially when Luke’s face twists and the mood turns somber.

His smile vanishes, and his shoulders droop as he plops his empty cup onto the table next to the bed with a hollow thud.

Even with the sounds of nurses and patients in the ward carrying on beyond the curtain, it’s like Luke has frozen the room with his dark look.

It’s the same echoing silence that fed between Ollie and me when she called me that night, and my heart catches in my throat.

“I really screwed things up for her, you know?” Luke says softly as he rubs the back of his neck. “We were so freaking excited about this job. It was going to be our big break; we were finally going to follow in our parents’ footsteps by running a food business, and I…”

He blows out a heavy breath, and I think he’s going to be sad or guilty, but instead, his head snaps up. “And then I just had to go and get hit by a van!” He laughs.

“You’re talking as if it’s your fault.”