Page 119 of Knot What She Seems
He immediately blushes and glances down. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be…” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, ruffling the strands. “Look, I’m being weird, aren’t I?”
I place my pointer finger and thumb a millimeter apart. “Just a bit.”
“I just don’t know how to act around you anymore,” he confesses, a tiny bit of exasperation tinging his tone. “You saved my life, and I’m grateful for that. But you’re also…um…you, and I understand why no one can discover the truth, but it feels… I don’t know.” He throws his hands in the air. “I’m fucking this all up, aren’t I?”
I nudge his shoulder with mine. “Nah. You’re doing fine.”
Sam’s smile turns more genuine. “I’m doing awful, but thank you for lying and trying to make me feel better.”
“You just need to stop tiptoeing around me,” I tell him. “I’m still the same person you met that first day.”
The beta throws his head back and laughs. “You’re definitely not the same person I met that first day. But…I’m beginning to believe that I like this new version better.”
His compliment brings an unexpected blush to my cheeks.
I know I’ve changed since I’ve been a student at Eros Academy. It’s nice to receive confirmation that it’s been for the better.
I reach for my water bottle yet again but pause with it halfway to my mouth. I become distinctly aware of eyes on me. It’s an almost physical weight on my shoulders, and my stomach twists into a dozen intricate knots. Slowly, keeping my water bottle raised, I swivel my head.
Only to see Colter leaning against the door to the gym, watching me. Always watching me.
A strange heat prickles my skin, and I bite down on my lower lip.
Colter rarely attends class, despite being the instructor. He much prefers to watch. Assess. Study. I’m always all too aware of his presence and the caress of his eyes on me.
Like Kylian, he’s shirtless, and I can see the numerous scars littering his muscular torso. His jeans hang low on his hips, hugging them in a way that seems almost indecent. Today, he wears a new skull mask, which only covers the top half of his face, with tiny slits for eyes. I can just make out the lush curve of his lips and the barest hint of stubble on his jawline, as if he hasn’t shaved in a few days.
It’s the first time I’ve seen his lips, and damn. Warmth flickers in my lower belly as I imagine tracing those lips, kissing them, them kissing me.
Though I know I need to look away, I can’t tear my gaze from him. I’m captivated.
Kylian moves away from Ridge and Luka to strike up a conversation with the giant alpha, though Colter never takes his eyes off of me, despite nodding at something Kylian says.
It’s too much.
Too damn much.
My blood… It feels like it’s on fire. I suddenly have the desperate urge to scratch at my skin. Has it always felt this…tight? Constricting?
“Oh no,” Sam whispers in alarm, his nostrils flaring.
From behind me, an alpha releases a surprised growl, and another voice exclaims, “Holy fuck.”
“Do you smell that?” a third voice chimes in.
I can’t speak, can’t breathe, can’t even think. All I’m aware of is the heat that eats away at me like moths nibbling on a blanket. I’m on fire.
More and more alphas begin to jerk to awareness. Nostrils flare, heads tilt up, and eyes bulge.
“Are we smelling an omega all the way from the academy?”
“Holy fuck, that smells good.”
“I’m so goddamn hard right now.”
Voices blend together, until I can’t differentiate one from the other.
“Please tell me this isn’t you,” Sam all but begs, his voice managing to penetrate the hazy fog my brain has become. “I thought you said you’re on…” He glances in both directions and then lowers his voice to a whisper. “I thought you said you’re on suppressors.”
