I open it to find Lila holding a plate covered in foil.
"Brownies," she says without preamble. "Well, brownie-adjacent baked goods. I'm still learning." She offers the plate. "Can I come in for like two seconds?"
I step aside.
She enters, perching on the edge of my desk chair, tucking her legs under her. Tonight's outfit: oversized gray sweater with a hood, sleep shorts, the same fuzzy fox socks.
"I just wanted to check you're okay.”
“I’m fine.” I feel my eyebrows sliding up quizzically. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Hmm…” Lila taps her bottom lip, trying not to grin. “Let me think. Of all the alphas you could’ve gotten to help you rebuild the greenhouse, you chose Calder Ashford and Tyler Vale.”
“I didn’t choose them,” I blurt out without thinking. “No, that sounds wrong. We gravitated towards the greenhouse, and then we kind of… lingered.”
She smiles. “You don't have to explain anything to me. Or anyone else for that matter. But you realize they’re both hot, right?”
I swallow hard, heat spreading from my neck upwards whilst simultaneously pooling in my belly. That’s what this is really about.
“Hey.” Lila grabs my hand and squeezes it. “I’m only a teensy bit jealous.” She pinches the thumb and forefinger of her free hand together to demonstrate, giggling. “But seriously, I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. And I promise I won’t ask for details. Or maybe I will.”
I can’t help smiling. "Thanks for the warning."
"No problem. Also, no pressure to perform. You're terrible at it anyway."
I snort before I can stop myself. “Do you… Do you know Sophie?”
Frown lines appear between Lila’s eyebrows. “Sophie Parry? Wealthy family? Clothes my mom would consider appropriate attire for alpha-hunting. Everyone knows her. Why?”
I bite my bottom lip. “No reason.” I don’t want to add to whatever gossip Sophie is already spreading.
“Ah.” Lila inclines her head at me like a puppy. “You think she has her eyes on Calder Ashford. Makes sense, I guess. But, trust me, that ship was never going to sail no matter how hard she blew.”
I chuckle. “I have no idea what any of that means but thank you.”
She crosses my room and opens the door. "You’re welcome. Also, eat the brownies. They're either really good or moderately poisonous. You’re my guinea pig."
Then she’s gone.
We settle into a routine of spending Saturdays together in the greenhouse, me tending to the new seeds that have started to grow, Calder and Tyler fixing shelves, rehanging cabinet doors, and repairing workbenches.
My body still reacts to their scents whenever we’re together; my heart has made up a dance routine reserved especially for them, and my legs tremble like I ran a half-marathon to get here instead of crossing campus at a leisurely stroll. But I’m getting better at hiding it.
I think.
So, maybe Lila was wrong about my inability to perform.
I’m walking back from the greenhouse one Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks later, when Mira calls. I instinctively hang back and watch Calder and Tyler’s backs receding towards the building when I answer.
“Hello, Grandma.”
“Elowen, sweetheart, just calling to see how the greenhouse is coming on.”
“It’s looking good, Grandma. The seeds are thriving, there’s a cat…” The two alphas turn around and wave before they disappear into the quad, and my heart performs a dance-contest-worthy backflip in response. I turn around and face the greenhouse while I wait for it to regulate. “Some other students have volunteered for maintenance. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
The pause that follows is so long I wonder if she was even listening. Then she says, “I’m glad you found it, Elowen.”
I smile. “I think it found me.” I don’t add that I couldn’t walk away from it now, any more than I could stop breathing.
