Page 32 of Perfectly Naïve
“The scent stays.”
Rearing back, I glance between him and Hayes, realizing they’re both dead serious. Sawyer appears, gaze frantically shooting to the door to make sure it’s closed. What the hell did I miss? “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?”
Wilder violently jabs a finger in Sawyer’s direction. “He brought an omega home.”
“You don’t say,” I deadpan. “Why are you two acting weird about her scent?”
It’s nice, but there’s only one scent I’ve ever longed to know. I’ve had a crush on Olivia, a sweet, quiet girl, since we were gawky teenagers learning ballroom dance before our scents fully manifested. I could tell her scent was sweet, but I never got to experience her perfume in its full bloom. The omega picked me as her partner over some douchey alpha, and the random facts she’d spew when she was nervous, and her cautious smile, stole my heart. Almost like she was afraid to enjoy herself. I always wanted to be the reason she smiled without fear.
Time and life led us in different directions.Her social media accounts are sparse, but I gobble up each new post like a fiend.
Hayes rubs his jaw. “We, uh, we need to talk.”
Dread swirls in my gut, heavy like lead. “Okay.” I fight the urge to tell them no before they get a chance to tell me that they want to court whoever this omega is. My obsession with Olivia hasn’t been a problem, because they’ve never showed signs of wanting an omega. My pack was content alone. I could pine for my teenage crush without worry.
One weekend away, one omega, and everything’s changed? I should give the omega a fair shot, though. She’s probably great, if the rest of my pack is interested.
We settle on the couches in the living room, and Sawyer props his arms on the back of the cushions, smiling like a kid who got a lollipop for the first time.
“There’s an omega,” he begins, smile falling a little. “It’s complicated, but I swear, Liam, you’d love her. She’s so sweet. Smart too.”
“What’s the complicated part?” I rest my forearms on my thighs. “She’s not with a pack already, is she?” There’s no way I’m going to steal an omega away from another pack. That would never end well.
“Of course not,” Sawyer says in a rush, eyes flitting away.
He’s being cagey. “Sawyer, what the fuck is the complication?”
Exhaling, he rubs his neck. “She may or may not be my friend’s younger sister, and she’s a virgin, and she wants me to teach her how to be a good omega so she can do right by a pack.”
My head rears back in different directions, like someone bitch-slapped me three times in rapid succession. “Hold on. Rewind. Whose sister is she?”
“It’s Henry’s sister,” he admits with a wince.
Henry? The same alpha we hang out with from time totime? “I didn’t realize he had a sister. Do you really think he’s going to be cool with you fucking her?”
Sawyer shrugs at my question. “I don’t know, but I’m not sure I really care? She’s just?—”
“Honestly, you need to meet her,” Hayes cuts in.Hayes. The burly alpha, who is content to live his life under cars without a mate, wants me to meet her?
Are they kidding me right now?
“You’d like her,” Wilder assures me.
“What do you mean, you’re teaching her?”
Sawyer grimaces. “That’s the biggest complication. She’s inexperienced and was going to go find some random pack to teach her, but I offered to do it instead so she wouldn’t end up with some asshole. I, uh, didn’t really think too much about the rest of it.”
He wouldn’t. He’s always impulsive. “And what about you two? What’s your excuse?”
“She smells really good?” Wilder asks with a grin.
“This is going to be complicated," I murmur, more to myself than the guys.
No omega can ever replace how I feel about Olivia, but maybe if this omega they’re seemingly smitten with can make my pack this excited, I should give her a shot. Deep down, though, the only woman I can picture myself is that omega who smiled at me with so much warmth it made my heart race. Maybe one day I’ll see her again.
Chapter Eleven
OLIVIA
