“Shit.” She looks up at the ceiling. “Honestly, then maybe playing the drunk card is the way to go. The press doesn’t need to know otherwise, and the doctor won’t say anything if he enjoys not having Raelynn in his face for the rest of his life.”
“Does Raelynn know?” I’m confident the answer is no or Raelynn probably wouldn’t have involved a doctor, but I need to know for sure.
Piper shakes her head. “Can you imagine? I might still be Reverie Rest’s star artist, but she’ll brand me to be omega-first. I can’t do that.” Her eyes are wide, panicked.
“Maybe not,” I offer. “She is protective of you and the record label.”
“Only in regards to how much money I make her.” Piper clicks her tongue. “One more album and then I’m free from this mess, Nolan. I want to go back to making the music that I want, not what Raelynn finds popular enough to fund her extravagant vacations. I don’t care about packs or nesting or whatever bullshit people think omegas want. I just want this one thing.”
I nod. I get it, I’ve never really thought of pack life either. “You’re good at it. Better than anyone. Making music, I mean.”
Shit. I’m not good with words.
She looks up, and it’s like being targeted by a laser. “You think?”
“I know.”
She uncurls from the couch and regards me with a tilt of her head. “So. Are you going to tell me what’s eating you, or are we going to keep circling it all night?”
I don’t answer.
“Nolan,” she says. “I’m not fragile. You can say it.”
“You’re not fragile, but this is.”
Piper stands. I do the same to match her out of habit more than anything else. But now there’s no buffer between us.
“Do you mean the scent match?” she asks.
I cross the space in three strides and stop just out of reach. She lets me close the distance without backing up, which is enough to tell me far too much. I’m observant. I’ve seen the way Piper’s breath quickens when I’m near, or how she flusters easily at even the smallest comment I make.
Before we realized we were scent-matches, I didn’t think Piper was even all that attracted to me. Sothisadds a whole other level of complication.
“Piper…”
“You don’t have to pretend it’s not a thing.” Her words are soft but not uncertain. “It’s happening. I’m sorry it is. I wish it wasn’t, for your sake. I know this must make things… complex.”
“That’s not it.” The words are firm but my tone is not. It breaks and I fucking hate it. “I’m supposed to protect you. That’s my job.”
“And you are protecting me,” she insists. “Nothing has changed.”
“Piper,everythinghas changed.” I inhale sharply with the intent to ground myself, but it has the complete opposite effect. Piper’s scent floods my nostrils. My hands flex into fists at my sides. I want to wrap my arms around her and never let go. To kiss her, to claim her.
But I can’t. She is mine but not mine. And I’m having a hell of a time convincing my inner alpha of that.
Her eyes crinkle at the edges. “So what? Are you going to quit?”
“Never.”
Her breath hitches. She holds my gaze even as her pulse quickens, fluttering in her neck. “Good.”
“Our biology doesn’t dictate how we act,” I say even as my inner alpha roars to take over right now. “And I will keep things professional, but it’d be foolish to think that nothing has changed.”
Piper swallows slowly. Her palm comes to rest on my chest where my traitorous heart beats fast enough to break free. I turn from her and sit heavily on the edge of the coffee table. Piper moves to sit next to me, close but not quite touching. Yet still close enough to feel the static of her presence.
“I liked you before the scent-match, you know.” She speaks quickly, nerves lighting every syllable. “I’m sure you knew that because you’re observant and I’m an open fucking book, but it’s true. I just figured…” She looks up at the ceiling. “I don’t know, that maybe you didn’t feel the same so it didn’t matter.”
She turns back to me. I don’t know what to say, so I try the truth. “I have feelings for you, too, but?—”
