“I think it’s … great.”
“Liar,” Spencer chastised softly. He let out a sigh. “And I’ll probablywantyou and Ryder to come over a lot more often, so I can see for myself that things are okay between you and Noah. And to sleep over at yours whenever Chase and Noah are gone because I need the cuddles.”
“We’ll get a bigger bed,” Ash said immediately.
The thought of them buying furniture because of Spencer—because they wanted to keep him—had Spencer’s eyes burning.
“What else?”
Spencer cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m easy, my little spitfire. I just want more of the same, I guess. I want to spend time with you both, do all the things we’ve been doing, only now I know I’m allowed to love it as much as I do.”
Ash tugged a little harder at Spencer’s shirt, like he was silently reprimanding him. “You loving it was always the point. We were wooing you.”
Spencer laughed. He felt so light all of a sudden he was practically giddy with it. “So Ryder said. You did a good job.”
Ash scoffed. “We really didn’t.”
Spencer pressed a kiss to his prickly omega’s hair. “Beg to fucking differ.”
24
ASH
Ash doodled on his notebook page while the freshman omega finished her story about challenging a condescending alpha professor’s grading of her paper.
Ash was paying attention, sure, but it helped his resting asshole face if he had something else to focus on while he listened. The group didn’t seem to mind. This was Ash’s third time attending, and everyone had been welcoming from the get-go. And even though Everett ran a tight ship, the omega members were generally chill.
Ash had been surprised at first at the number of members he wouldn’t have clocked as omegas before his new senses came online. There was a big, burly junior in particular whose size screamed “alpha” but who had one of the gentlest temperaments Ash had ever seen. Ash couldn’t tell if it was his own lack of pheromone processing that had led to his skewed perception, or just his previous lack of interest in designations altogether coming to bite him in the ass.
“Ash? Anything to share today?”
Ash glanced up to find Everett’s baby blues laser-focused on him. It wasn’t exactly a surprise; Everett let the doodling slide, but hedidlike Ash to participate in the whole feelings sharing that happened after the studying was done. Everett didn’t seem to pressure anyone else, so it must’ve been his version of a friendship thing. Or maybe it was the fact that Ash had let it slip to Everett that he was trying to be more—ugh—open and honest in his life.
Ash cleared his throat and shoved his notebook aside. “Uh, I guess I can say I’ve adapted to scenting pheromones. I don’t find it distracting in class anymore or anything.” At Everett’s encouraging nod, Ash swallowed hard and forced himself to continue. “And I’ve, um, started the birth control you recommended. So far, so good. I’ll report back if I get any weird side effects.”
Everett’s angelic expression turned sly. “And how do yourtwo alphasfeel about this development?”
Ash narrowed his eyes at the little sneak. “I’m more interested in where that massive hickey on your neck came from.”
Ash had clocked it the second he’d walked in the room. Everett may have been wearing a high-collared shirt, but it didn’t cover it completely. Neither did the foundation he’d slapped on. It basically looked like Everett had been mauled.
Everett kicked Ash’s shin under the table. Hard. “And that’s meeting adjourned, everyone,” he announced sweetly.
Everyone stood and gathered their belongings, and the group slowly filed out of the private meeting room Everett always reserved for them in the campus library.
Everett walked alongside Ash. “You’ll pay for that,” he murmured, his tone of voice just as sickly sweet as when he’d been addressing the group.
“Stop saying ‘your two alphas’ in that voice you do, and I won’t have to punish you so publicly,” Ash countered.
Everett only smirked evilly as they made it out to the library steps, but Ash was too distracted by the sight that greeted them to care.
Because there was Spencer in all his unbelievably hot, disheveled, postgym glory, leaning against the stairs’ railing.
Spencer waved when he saw the two of them. “Asher, baby!” he called. “You’re freeee!”
He was loud enough to get stares from the other students—embarrassing as fuck—but Ash’s lips twisted into a smile without his permission anyway.
“Spencer,” Everett whined as he trotted down the steps. “Ash was being very mean in study group today.”
