Page 14 of All Packed Up

God damn, maybe he did need to go to yoga with Tate. The alpha was tall and fit, and his shoulders looked damn good, and they flexed and rolled beneath the worn-out tank he was wearing.

“They should really fix the elevator,” Arlo complained, and Nic silently agreed.

“They never will,” Tate argued.

Nic hated that he was right. Their places were nice, but landlords were still landlords, no matter how fancy the property. If they didn’t want to fix it, they wouldn’t. Fucker.

Finally, they reached the third floor, and Nic led them to his door. The two alphas grew silent, and they sat the bags down in the hallway for him.

Nic dug out his keys and failed to see the glances they shared.

Their feet shuffled behind them. “So… don’t take this the wrong way, man, but… your apartment is smelling pretty sweet…”

“You find an omega for yourself?” Tate asked bluntly, overlapping Arlo’s slower, more polite dig for information.

Nic tensed, his grip slipping on one of the bags. It crashed to the floor in a muffled rustle, since it was just blankets.

“Why do you wanna know?” he asked, stilling with the keys in hand.

It surprised him how he instantly went on alert, turning to face them. He towered over them both. How easily these two friendly alphas went from neighbors to a threat.

They both stepped back, probably sensing his tension.

“We’re just curious, nothing else,” Arlo said hurriedly. “Told you not to ask,” he grumbled, and elbowed his roommate.

Nic paused. “Wait, how long have you been wondering?” He really thought he’d kept her scent under wraps. How long had she been perfuming the place up?

Tate tilted his head to the side, shared another telling glance with Arlo. “We scented them this morning when we first went out to smoke. It smells sweet, dude. Really sweet.”

Betas weren’t as sensitive to scents as alphas and omegas were… so maybe he hadn’t been the right judge on how to keep her scent hidden.

“Well… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nic lied. “I live alone, you both know that.”

Arlo narrowed his dark gaze. They were stoners, not idiots. They knew their own senses and knew he was lying.

But he appreciated it when Tate smiled. He sat the bags down at Nic’s feet and stepped back a polite distance. “Sure, man, our bad. Let us know if you need anything. We’ll mind our business otherwise.”

Following suit, Arlo tugged Tate down the hallway, past Nic’s door and down to their own. He waited until they disappeared inside their apartment before he slid the key home.

When he opened the door, he knew exactly what the alphas had been referring to.

“God dammit,” he hissed, and pulled the bags in the door before slamming it closed and locking it. He deadbolted it too, and immediately dug out a candle from the mess of bags and lit it. He slammed it on the table by the door, and then found the wall plug-ins.

In every outlet in the living room, he plugged in a stupid scented wall thing. And waited.

It would smell so strongly of cinnamon whatever, no alpha would be able to scent an omega through it.

Hopefully.

Nic sighed and unpacked the food.

Once he was done, he leaned against the counter and breathed a sigh of relief. And… paused.

It still smelled sweet. Sweeter than usual. Grabbing the cat bed and the blankets and pillows, Nic made his way slowly down the hallway, omega nesting supplies stacked higher than he could see over.

As he drew closer, he realized why the alphas had been concerned.

Even his beta nose was a little overwhelmed by it. Sticky and juicy and sweet in a way that made his mouth water. He swallowed sharply and knocked.