Page 40 of Perfectly Naïve
“He will be.” I know it. This has to work out. None of us ever wanted to be serious about an omega before, and now it all makes sense. We were waiting for her. Someone that was unlike everyone else.
“I never heard Liv talk about any guys when she was a teenager,” Sawyer muses, glancing at the stairs. “And she never had any boyfriends. That I knew of, anyway. She’s lived abroad, and I don’t even know what she did most of that time, outside of working.”
“Well, we have time to hear all about it,” I respond, grinning. “After all, she’ll be ours for the rest of our lives.” Maybe it’s jumping the gun, but nothing has ever felt more right.
Chapter Fifteen
OLIVIA
With the door closed, Liam’s light blueberry scent surrounds me, drawing me closer, despite my complete shock that he’s here. Corporeal. In Sawyer’s house. Statistically, the odds of me running into my crush from ballroom-dancing class are hard to calculate, but given that I don’t frequent social venues our families go to, the odds should be relatively low.
And yet, here he is. He’s as gorgeous as I remember, and I find myself studying his features. The strong line of his jaw. His short-cropped brown hair and clear skin. He’s grown up into a man. How did that happen? It feels like only yesterday he was sweeping me around the dance floor.
“Hi,” I whisper.
His lips twitch. “Hi.”
I bite my bottom lip. Where to begin?
Liam saves me the trouble of filling the silence. “I see you’ve met my pack,” he begins with a soft smile. “How do you know Sawyer?”
“My brother Henry and Sawyer are friends.” I swallow, throat dry from the nerves and Liam’s proximity.
“Oh, right.” His eyes flutter closed. “He told me Henry was the omegas brother.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
He opens his eyes, zeroing in on me. “Not at all. How have you been? You look amazing.”
“I’m good.”I literally just asked your pack to bang.My cheeks heat. “You, uh, look really good too.”
My gaze dips to his mouth. His lips are still as plush as I remember. Back then, I used to wonder how a beta had such kissable lips. I’d fantasize about pressing mine to them.
Liam closes the distance between us, hooking his thumb and finger under my chin and tipping my head back until our eyes meet. “I wondered if I’d ever get a chance to see you again, Liv.”
My eyebrows press together. “You did?”
He hums, studying my face, almost like he’s trying to memorize every line. “How was London?”
“How did you?—”
“I might’ve been stalking your socials,” he confesses with a wry grin.
I have . . . a stalker? “Why?”
“Because,” he says, stepping into my space, mouth hovering inches from mine, “I’ve spent years wishing I was brave enough to ask you on a date.” His blueberry scent is so strong, my muscles relax in his hold.
Rationally, someone internet stalking me should be mildly concerning. However, the evidence shows that it was only online, which is arguably less scary and far more common than if it was in real life. Normal people social-media stalk all the time. It’s practically part of the ever-evolving social contract.
His words play in my mind, and I tip my head. “You wanted to ask me on a date?”
“More than you know,” he says, voice strained.
Testing a theory, I wet my lips. His gaze flits to my mouth. Dilated pupils. Cheeks lightly flushed.Interesting. The science of flirting is fascinating. I think I’ve almost cracked the code. “Do you want to fuck me?”
“What?” he asks, voice pitching.
Or not. Did I read the room wrong? “You keep looking at my mouth. That’s a psychological and subconscious response to attraction.” I frown. “But you don’t want to fuck me?”
