Chapter 9
By 6 PM on Wednesday,the office has cleared out for the holiday and Alice has effectively dodged any meaningful conversations with Grant and Caleb despite their best efforts.
If it wasn’t Grant stopping by her desk for a chat, it was Caleb leaving a donut and a note, or ordering her Thai food to be delivered promptly at 12:30 so she can’t try and skip out on lunch. They were as focused and relentless in giving her attention as they were in their work. She had to respect that, even if it did make her stomach turn.
They are unmistakably courting her.
She’d watched her siblings court their mates, and vice versa. She would hear about it from friends, and reasonably knew it was a thing that would one day happen to her, but the abstract was much less stressful than it actually happening.
She worried that her heat, the courting, all of it, would make Caleb and Grant want to baby her—that by being an Omega, she’d need to receive softer feedback—but even with the extra attention to her eating habits, work has gone on as usual.
When Grant and Caleb collaborate on a document with Alice, they are as professional and thorough in their feedback as before—Caleb’s messages aren’t different in tone or style, and he still adds or removes no less than five commas from everything she sends him, though she sees his notes in a new light. He’s not talking down to her or dismissing her requests, he’s always been prompt and straightforward.
Alice has been trained to think that in order to excel in the workforce, she needs to be cheerful and effusive constantly to avoid coming off as a bitch. But maybe she can be more like Caleb.
Alice has been trying to emulate some of that energy in her correspondence, but earlier today when Logan asked her to send over some deliverables to their Canadian client before the end of the day, she still responded “Sure!” and ended up being the last person in the office because of it.
With all of her necessary emails sent, she crosses the task off of her agenda and starts packing everything up into her bag. Her eyes burn from all the screen time, she has to close them for a few breaths before standing up. It doesn’t help that her sleep hasn’t improved, she’s still tossing and turning and is totally restless when she closes her eyes at night.
Exhaustion has started to show on her face again in a way that no makeup can really cover. Last night, she finally gave in and put on Grant’s hoodie that she took, but even that only offered temporary comfort.
It’s fine though. Everything is fine.
Alice is alive and well, and not liable to go into heat any time soon, at least not for another three months or so. That is more than enough time to potentially get over these pesky, persistent, and unwanted feelings she gets every time she sees Grant and Caleb talking, or when they catch her looking and they grin like it’s already Christmas.
Alice sets her shoulders, raises her neck, and vows not to think about them for the rest of the evening. This plan goes immediately to shit, though, because when she pushes into the hallway from the office, Grant is there, almost panting with the tip of his nose red.
“Grant,” she says and attempts a polite smile. Her scent is by no means subtle now that she’s wearing fewer scent deodorizers. The blue of his eyes is eaten up momentarily by his expanding pupils.
He’s not wearing his work bag, only a winter coat and a red scarf, which she recognizes as Caleb’s. Of course they share clothes.
“Alice,” he says, taking a step closer. “It’s snowing.”
“I saw,” she says and looks down the hall to the floor length window. “I like the snow. It’s peaceful.”
“I was driving home and it kept snowing harder. I was thinking about you here working still, and, uh, I came back.”
“Oh.” Alice stands up straighter. “Why?”
Grant’s eyes are fastidiously set on her lips, his own parted.
“I wanted to make sure you got home safe,” he says. “Let me drive you.”
Inexplicably, she takes a step closer. There’s that string between them tugging her chest towards his, and she can’t fight it. Not when she hasn’t slept much in three days and especially not when he smells so perfect, like sweet chamomile calming her senses.
“I can take the bus,” she says, a bit breathless at their sudden proximity.
“Don’t be difficult,” he says. It’s a plea more than a command. Still, she inches closer, and so does he—they’re less than a foot apart now. She smells him, and Caleb, too, lingering on Grant’s clothes.
“I’m not difficult.”
“You’re a brat.”
“And you’re bossy,” she quips, but her neck is tilted back so she can look at him in those scorching blue eyes, bright like the base of a flame.
“Christ,” Grant breathes and before she knows it, his lips are against hers. She falls right into it, her bag slipping off of her shoulder before he scoops her against him. He doesn’t kiss so much as he devours, his tongue sliding into her mouth for her to suck on and push against.
A tiny groan escapes him as she bites his lower lip, and his arms wrap even tighter around her.
There’s this fire building in her chest, smoke tingles beneath her skin and through her veins. She’s afraid she might combust just from this, just kissing him in a stale hallway beneath buzzing fluorescent lights. The only other sounds are the heater flowing through the vents and their frantic breaths.
Alice gathers a sparse grip on reality and pulls her face away from Grant’s. He searches her face, none of the rakish confidence she saw last week. Only need, and desperation. He’s gripping onto her for dear life. Their heavy breaths mingle together and the heat of his skin under her palm all feels right, but there’s that niggling and persistent concern again.
“I have to go home,” she says instead of spilling the secret fears bubbling inside of her. “I’m not feeling well.”
“Let me take you,” he says.
She gulps before giving a nod. She will let him because he and Caleb have a nice car with heated seats and XM radio that will get her home faster than the bus, which is already slow even on a day with perfect weather. She will let him because she can only deny her body so much and walking away from him now would be too big an ask.
They untangle themselves from one another and walk to the elevator without touching. Once the doors slide shut, there’s a brief, tense moment before Grant kisses her again. It’s intense and messy, he kisses her so hard that her knees falter and she has to lean on the rail for support. He pulls back from her after only a minute of this, fixing his jacket just as the doors open to the parking garage.
Grant winds the scarf around Alice’s neck twice, and it smells as much like Caleb as she hoped it would. The car is much the same, an envelope of their scents encasing her as soon as Grant closes the door behind her.
“Will Caleb be upset?” Alice asks once they’ve pulled out of the parking garage. “About, um, the kissing?”
“Why would he be upset?”
Alice chews on the inside of her lower lip. “Because you’re together.”
“We are.” Grant nods. “I think if I was kissing anyone else he might be, and with good reason, but you’re not just anyone. You’re our missing piece.”
Grant’s candor about this makes Alice’s cheeks burn. They’re entering into dangerous territory, talking like this.
“You two seem happy enough.”
“We are,” Grant agrees. “I love him, and he loves me. We have a home together, a life we’ve built, it’s all very neat, but we were always open to finding an Omega.”
“Then why haven’t you?” They are the most eligible Alphas Alice has ever met. They’re hot, nice, and hard-working—Grant has a damn law degree and Caleb an MBA. Undeniably, they’re sexy, educated men, and Alice is to believe they haven’t had their pick of Omegas before now? That she was the one to finally turn their heads?
“It wasn’t right,” Grant says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world. Like the difference now is that she is right. “Caleb’s been. . . yearning these last couple of years. I think he’s been quietly hoping we’d find someone that fits with us for a long time.”
“Does that make you feel bad?” Alice’s mind rolls over the possibility that sweet, lovely Grant could be the one who hasn’t really wanted this match, not Caleb.
“No,” Grant smiles and a dimple shows on his cheek. Alice stuffs her hands under her legs to refrain from reaching out to touch it. “Caleb likes to take care of people. He’s got a lot of love under that rigid exterior.”
“Where is Caleb now?” She asks instead of digging further into this missing piece business.
“I dropped him at home. He has food to prep for tomorrow.”
“Oh. Right.” Tomorrow. Thanksgiving. It’s usually one of her favorite holidays, but this year she will be spending it alone.
In trying to deflect her mom’s probing questions, she hadn’t booked her flight early enough. Now they’re all too expensive, so she lied and told her parents she would be spending the day with one of her coworkers and vowed to spend at least a week back at home for Christmas. It’s for the best, ultimately, because Alice doesn’t know that she can deal with her family right now.
She’d assured her mother enough that she was safe, her heat was painless and, no, she didn”t bond with either of the Alphas, but Mom, lots of people wait nowadays, it’s not a big deal. Olivia is the only one who knows Caleb and Grant are her scent matches, a secret Alice only prays her sister won’t spill over turkey and mashed potatoes tomorrow.
“Do you have family in town?” Grant asks.
“None here,” she admits.
“Do you miss them?” Grant asks. His eyes don’t leave the icy road they’re on, and it gives Alice the chance to really look at him. His straight nose and sharp jaw were now covered in a shadow.
“I do. They’re a lot, but it’s just because they care very deeply. I know I’m lucky to have them.”
“Your mom sounded nice.” Grant chuckles and part of Alice dies remembering that he talked to her mom while Alice was in heat in the same house. “She loves you.”
“I’m sure she loves you, too, now,” Alice says. “Forever indebted for helping her baby, blah, blah, I’m sure you heard all of that from her.”
“I did,” Grant admits. Alice can’t help the smile that digs into her cheek.
“Is your family here? Is that why you took the job?”
“My parents are here. Caleb’s got a pretty big family, but most of them are still in Ohio.”
“The pumpkin farmers,” she recalls.
“Exactly.” Grant stops at a light and fiddles with the knobs before warm air blows through the vents. He turns on Alice’s seat warmer, too, and she sinks further into the comfort and coziness of the space. “His parents flew in for the holiday, so it’ll be quite the gathering tomorrow.”
“Sounds like it.”
After a few moments of silence, Grant lets out a big breath. “Please join us.”
She doesn’t know if he means join their pack or join them for dinner, but neither sounds like a safe option in her mission of not letting herself get any more attached than her body and biology would so like her to be.
“There’ll be so much food, plenty of space—I know that everyone would love to meet you?—”
“Meet me in what capacity?” She can’t help but ask.
Grant shrugs. “Whatever capacity you’ll have us. Colleagues, acquaintances, friends, lovers.”
Alice can’t pretend she’s not tempted by the offer. It wouldn’t take much for their meal to be one thousand percent better than what she was going to cobble together with her sparse groceries and mostly dry ingredients. She could probably make a cabbage soup, but that’s only if the cabbage in the fridge hasn”t wilted already, which is very likely that it has. . .
“Maybe,” she says. She’s too hungry and tired right now to say no outright. “I’ll think about it.”
When Grant pulls the car up to her apartment, she’s about to say her quick thanks before basically ducking and rolling out of the moving vehicle when she does a double take at a couple standing outside of her building, one ringing the buzzer repeatedly.
Alice lowers the window and leans outside. “Olivia?!”
Her sister and her mate turn around to look at Alice and Grant, and Alice’s jaw hangs open. “What the hell?”
“Al!” Olivia calls and runs up to the side of the car, nearly slipping on the slushy sidewalk. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Wh—”
“And just who is this?” Olivia extends an arm into the car through the open window. Grant, ever quick on his feet, puts the car into park and shakes her outstretched hand. “Olivia Walton, Alice’s favorite sister.”
“My only sister,” Alice cuts in, to Grant’s ever-growing charm and amusement.
“Grant Thompson, Alice’s favorite coworker. Thrilled to meet you.”
Alice gets out of the car to give her sister a long hug before also embracing her brother-in-law Jonathan. He introduces himself to Grant while Alice lightly pulls her sister’s hair which is tied in one smooth braid over her shoulder. She’s always coveted Olivia’s perfectly smooth auburn hair. “What are you doing here?”
“Keeping you company,” Olivia knocks some fresh snow off of Alice’s shoulder. “You can’t be alone for Thanksgiving.”
Alice hugs her sister again, tighter this time, touched that she would sacrifice time with the whole family to be with her in the city. “I love you.”
“I know, I know. I love you, too. Now, can we sleep on your pull-out tonight? The hotel situation was dire.”
Alice laughs and now notices the suitcase and duffle bag stacked by her building door. “Of course. Fair warning, I have nothing planned, so takeout is on the menu for tomorrow.”
“Takeout is perfect,” Olivia says and turns over her shoulder to where Grant and Johnathan watch the reunion. “What are your plans for the holiday, Grant?”
“I’m planning on setting the record of most slices of pie eaten in one sitting. We would love to have the three of you if you’re free,” Grant says, ever polite, ever the most charming fucking person Alice has ever met.
“Yes!” Olivia says at the same time Alice says, “Maybe.”
Olivia turns to her younger sister, “You heard your favorite co-worker, there will be enough pie to make a contest of eating slices. We have to go.”
Olivia sends Alice a look that she recognizes from their whole lives, the one that says you better do this or so help me I will tell Mom what you did and you will never see the TV again. Alice swallows a sigh and gives a shallow nod. “We’ll be there.”
Grant’s face lights up, and for a moment, Alice thinks the potential anguish of being with her scent matches and their families on Thanksgiving might just be worth it to see him smile like that.
“Great! Okay, wow. Great.” Grant reaches out and squeezes Alice’s shoulder. His touch through three layers of clothing still feels exhilarating for Alice, despite having just made out with him. “Caleb will be thrilled. He’s, um, yeah, he’s going to be excited.”
Alice shivers, whether from the snow or the way Grant’s voice sounds like he just won a prize, she’s not sure.
“We should go inside,” she says and looks to Olivia for help.
“Right. Grant, it was so great to meet you. I am looking forward to seeing how many pieces of pie you can put away.”
“Me, too.” Grant gives Alice one last look before retreating to his still-running car, the exhaust pipe letting out a steady stream of condensation.
Alice bustles Olivia and Johnathan into the building before they can try to talk to Grant more through his open car window, or wave him on his way like parents watching their son drive off to college.
“Is he your scent match?” Jonathan asks because obviously Olivia’s secret keeping can only be expected to go so far.
“One of them,” Alice sighs. “I’ve been trying to keep my distance.”
They stomp up one flight of stairs and then another on their way to the fourth floor.
“God, why?” Jonathan asks, like the thought pains him to even consider. “Don’t you want to be near them?”
“No,” she says, but the churning of her stomach when facing another night alone tells a different story. “I don’t need a pack, I’m only twenty-six.”
Jonathan looks at Alice like she’s unstable. He’s a year younger than her, but he met Olivia two years before when he was halfway through his history master’s program.
Olivia was looking for an Omega, Jonathan was sick of relying on heat clinics every few months, they met on one of the apps, and the rest is history. They love each other deeply and were bonded within two months, married officially a year later. A perfect pack of two.
“Are you at least letting them court you?” Olivia asks as they reach Alice’s door.
“Well I’m not. . . not letting them court me,” she says. Ignoring all of their messages and invitations isn’t exactly being the most receptive to it, but it’s not like she’s turning away the free food that appears on her desk, or sending back the three teeny tiny horse toys that showed up yesterday with her other mini desk animals. “I let Grant drive me home today.”
Olivia deposits her duffle on the ground next to the couch and asks, “And would you have gone to their Thanksgiving if I didn”t say yes?”
“Maybe,” she says. “I’m not sure, but yeah, maybe.”
“Have you been sleeping? You look exhausted,” Jonathan says. He, like her sister, has barely a filter when it comes to talking to Alice.
“Probably because she’s ignoring her mates.”
“They’re not my mates.”
“But they are your scent matches,” Olivia says. She hangs her and Johnathan’s coats on the hooks by the front door. Alice hands over her coat, but keeps the red scarf looped around her neck. “Let’s let that piece of information sink in, shall we? Two. Scent. Matches.”
“I know,” Alice drops onto the couch and stuffs her face in her hands. Her tiny one-bedroom doesn’t feel big enough for the three of them and all of her conflicted emotions. “I’m just?—”
“Not ready?” Olivia asks.
“Scared?” Jonathan offers.
“Tired,” Alice adds definitely. Olivia and Johnathan both soften at this admission. The last two weeks have turned her life on its head. She met her scent matches, went through an eight-day heat, and worked thirty-three hours in three days, of course she’s exhausted.
Olivia puts a hand on her sister’s shoulder and squeezes three times. The family code. I love you, those squeezes say; I’ve got you. I see you. I’m with you.
Alice covers her sister”s hand with her own and squeezes three times back.
“I think I’m going to try to sleep for a few hours if that’s okay with you two,” Alice says. “I’m sorry I can’t be more entertaining tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Olivia says. “We’ll raid your fridge and take advantage of your Netflix subscription.”
Alice gives her sister and brother-in-law one more hug each before slinking to her room, kicking off her slacks, unclasping her bra, and falling straight into bed, the red scarf still keeping her warm and offering some semblance of comfort while her heart constricts in a confusing strain.