Chapter 6
ESPER
I cannot ask Penny what I should wear to my first date. I refuse. Not after our heated conversation yesterday. I wish I could ask Reed, but I’m too damn shy. Plus he’s so chill, he’d probably tell me to go in sweatpants.
Neven was quick to ask to meet in person, asking for a date the very next day. Worked out for me, so I agreed. I’d been champing at the bit to ask Reed to meet, but chickened out every time I thought I worked up the nerve.
Was it a good omen that he asked to meet at what was actually my favorite spot?
I’ll take my wins where I can get them, so it seems that way to me.
Juni’s Butter and Batter Bakery. Excited to be meeting so close to campus, I’m early to our date.
My sneakers squeak against the wood floor, and I wince at the sound.
Searching for Neven is much more anxiety-inducing than I thought. What if I go up to the wrong person? What if I trip or fall or anything before I even get to him?
“Esper,” a gentle yet deep voice sounds right next to my ear, making me jump about a mile, whipping around to see my date.
Oh wow. He’s tall. At least a head taller than me, if not more.
He is just as attractive as he is online and…
he smells… fucking delicious. I love when men smell good.
Not just their scents, either. I like cleanliness.
When a man takes care of himself, I can trust he’ll take care of me.
My mom loved that saying. I lean in subconsciously, inhaling the fresh scent of body soap and…
Oh, God, caramel? He just keeps getting better.
“Neven?”
He nods, his black box braids shaking with his movement.
They are about cheekbone length around his face and a bit longer in the back.
His smooth brown skin beckons me in, my omega dreaming of rubbing my face against his.
He has the hottest glasses I’ve ever seen.
A bit of a rounded square, with a silver cross on the arms, glinting through the gaps in his braids.
Stepping back so I can think clearly without temptation telling me to jump him, like, immediately, I take as subtle a glance as I can at his outfit.
He wore a gray half quarter-zip sweater with a white shirt underneath and designer jeans.
It immediately sets me at ease about my outfit.
My mini skirt and sweater make us appear like the perfect fall couple inspo pic.
“I’m so glad you could meet so soon,” he says, and I melt a bit at the sound of his voice. “I’m more of an in-person kind of guy.”
“Me too,” I mumble as he steps in front of me, stepping in line for the front counter.
“Have you been here before? I heard their chocolate chip cookies are really good.”
“This is actually my favorite spot,” I say sheepishly. “You heard right, their cookies are to die for. I could eat one every day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“Perfect.” He turns to the counter when it’s our turn. “Let me get five chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate chip croissant, and… a slice of cranberry crumble bar. All to go.”
“Five?” I mutter my eyes darting to the case. That’s… that’s all of them. What if he didn’t want to share? Can I assume they are for the both of us? But five can’t be split evenly. Why five?
“Don’t worry. They're for us,” he says with a wink.
His words make me sigh with release. Thank goodness. I may have cried not getting a taste of my favorite cookie. I already know I have far too many but… could I really go a day without one?
No. I couldn’t.
Is that a problem?
Probably. Oh well.
Neven pays, which is good because I didn’t even think to reach for my wallet.
He grabs the yellow boxes with our desserts in them in one large…
attractive… hand as I lead us to my favorite spot.
A booth along the long wall of windows. The perfect spot to watch the trees along the sidewalk change with the seasons.
They’re still green since it’s only early September, but yellow is sneaking onto the tips of the leaves, and some are even dotting the pavement.
Autumn isn’t far.
Neven settles into the booth, a pleasant if nervous expression on his face. “I’m not quite sure what to ask on a first date…”
There, too, we’re on the same page. It’s not that I’ve never been on a date. It’s that every single one has this awkward phase of wordlessness that I never seem to avoid. I try bringing a list of questions, but that feels interview-y. I try to let conversation flow, but it’s so hard to start.
And yet, I find myself opening up. Maybe it’s the Neven effect.
“First dates are hard. Especially ones like these.”
“‘Like these’?” He sets two cookies on two napkins and slides one across to me.
I break off a small piece and toss it in my mouth. It’s the only way to stop myself from shoving the entire thing in at once.
“This isn’t necessarily a date for… well, regular dating. We have to be quite intimate quite quickly, and that adds another layer to this, at least for me.”
“Me too.” His admission makes it easier to breathe. He’s not expecting to jump to bed right away, which was my fear. I can’t—don’t trust people with something so vulnerable, such as my body, and I… I can’t let my first time be any more uncomfortable than it already will be.
For a long time, I wanted to get rid of my virginity before my first heat so I wouldn’t have the pressures of my first heat and my first time weighing me down. I just never… found someone I was close enough with to open myself up.
I always broke up with them before we could get to that part.
“Since you brought it up, I did want to say, I hope you know—” He cuts himself off with a laugh, seemingly more at himself before he continues.
“I wanted to talk about your expectations. Now, this is only a first date. I’d like to see you a couple more times, if you’d like, before we commit.
Ensure you are comfortable before we… well, yeah.
But that will depend on you and your timeline.
” Neven has dark skin, so he’s not quite blushing, but his shoulders cave in a bit and his smile is wide as his eyes cast down.
He’s so cute when he’s nervous.
Heat radiates from my cheeks. He’s so kind, and soft, and perfect. My omega is ready to purr at his words, and I choke a bit trying to stop myself from doing so in the middle of the shop. “Um, thank you,” I mutter, not sure what else to say.
“Of course! I hope no one has been rushing you, regardless of how long we’ve dated, or… or whatever. You can always say no. Anytime. This is your heat.”
“I… I only have the small symptoms. Heatflash, cramps, scent…” I clear my throat and break off another piece of cookie. “Small… bouts of…uh…”
Juni could bake these delicious cookies with just the mortified heat singeing my face. Is there a way to reswallow those words? No?
Well. Then we press on.
“...bouts of need. But no heat yet.”
“So we have time.” He smiles, and I feel my body calm a bit.
I nod and pop a small cookie piece into my mouth.
“You’ve never had one? Try one,” I say, trying to lighten the mood a bit. I gesture toward his untouched piece of heaven, and he takes the huge bite I wish I would have.
Well, take it, then!
Following his lead, I do. I ignore the part of my brain insisting I need to be “feminine” and “dainty” by taking a small bite. Like taking a big bite of food is a big deal. If he wants to be my heat partner, I have to feel comfortable with him.
“So, interior design? Tell me about that.”
Neven nibbles on his cookie while I spring off the launchpad, telling him all about my courses and my goals. The hope that one day I’ll be designing businesses and helping create spaces that offer comfort and sales.
Neven listens. His eyes don’t drift off, his body stays facing me the entire time, and he probably would let me prattle on all day. I’m almost tempted to, honestly. He’s just such a good listener and I can't seem to stop talking.
But I need to get to know him as much as he needs to know me.
“Okay, Neven, tell me about you. Computer programming is cool. Where do you want to go with that?”
“Ahh, well, I actually enjoy breaking things—programs. Finding what makes them tick. It’s quite interesting how strong—or how weak—systems can be.
” His easygoing calm goes tense, all of a sudden.
“But don’t worry. I didn’t hack the Seekers app.
It is quite secure.” He laughs nervously, and I can’t help but smile and nod for him to keep going.
“What do you like to hack into?”
“Typically company mainframes. Their websites. It started off as an exercise in ‘could I do it,’ and now they pay me to break their systems. I enjoy my work a lot.”
“So you’re already being paid for it. That’s amazing.”
“Yeah,” he smiles, but this one is different. The corner of his lips don’t quite reach as far as his smile did before. He taps his thumb on the tabletop.
“So why college?”
“That is quite the loaded question, Omega.”
The nickname makes my stomach drop right to my pussy. Oh my God, that is so damn hot coming from his lips.
“That it is,” I say, taking another cookie. I shake my head a bit, trying not to let my scent give away how much I liked that nickname. “You might want to grab yours before I eat them all.”
“I got them all for you.”
I melt into the booth seat, trying not to perfume. Cookies aren’t… well, maybe they are panty-dropping, but the fact he bought them without a second thought. Every one they had. As natural as breathing. Wow. That is so damn hot.
“Are you sure—” Offering a cookie is on the tip of my tongue, but he raises an eyebrow and I stop. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“So why college?”
“In this field it opens up more opportunities.” He shrugs. That makes sense. I could totally see that. “Why college for you?”
“I got a full ride,” I blurt. That earns me a chuckle.
“Well, I applied because my dad—one of my dads, Col, wanted me to seek higher education. To have something to fall back onto. He says having a degree, regardless of what it’s in, will be helpful in any job market.
I don’t know how much I believe that, but what I will say is that being surrounded by people with the same interests as me is really nice. ”
“Fall back in case of?”
I mull over the question. “Maybe that being an omega doesn’t take over my life?
I’m not sure. Maybe in case design doesn’t work out?
My mom is an omega and she was a jeweler or wanted to be.
She didn’t end up pursuing her dreams until I was in high school.
Despite my dads’ encouragement to make it work.
” I shrug, trying not to dump too much on my first date but probably failing.
“Well, what you want to do is always your choice. If you want to relish in being an omega and stay home or work or do both. It’s up to you. You’ll know what’s right.” His words are comforting, but I can’t help the niggling of doubt in my chest.
I needed a career. One I loved. In case I wasn’t good at being an omega.
“How’s that crumble bar?” I ask.
“You want a bite?” He holds it up, and I nod.
A semicircle is missing where he already bit into the dessert.
He’s so sweet, and so hot, and my body makes a decision before my brain can question it.
Leaning in, I bite over his previous bite and blush.
Trying not to think about how his lips were previously there.
This alpha seems like the perfect fit. He’s drop-dead gorgeous, his scent is amazing, and he says all the right things. He has goals, ambition. Neven is wonderful.
Too wonderful.
I hope I’ll be able to let him go after my heat.
Or maybe…he’ll want to stay?