Page 4 of Roommates
“It's nothing,” I said, drawing back. “Just thought I smelled something. Do you use air freshener?”
“Air freshener?” Lucas stared at me.
“I don't know. I thought I smelled flowers.”
Lucas' eyes widened. “I... um... Yeah, I sprayed something earlier because you stink when you come in here after you exercise.”
He said that so quickly that I knew something had upset him, but I had no idea what. Did he not want me to find out that he liked the smell of flowers? Sure, spraying air freshener to mask the smell of your roommate's sweat wasn't the manliest thing to do, but not the worst thing either. “You really need to relax,” I told him. “I don't mind if you want the room to smell like flowers. It's not abadsmell.”
And it was subtle too. I'd only caught it for a few seconds and it was already gone again. I inhaled deeply, sniffing the air, but only detected faint traces now. “You can spray this stuff all you want,” I said. “No need to worry about it.”
Lucas shook his head. “Let's just focus on your exam, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed. I was more than willing to let this topic die, but even though I didn't bring it up again, Lucas remained tense for the rest of the afternoon.
I had no idea why.
3
L U C A S
That night, I decided to grab dinner with my friend Conner. I needed to talk to someone who knew what was going on, and I needed to get out of my room. Meeting up with my friend let me accomplish both those things at once. We got burgers at a small diner just off campus and took the booth all the way in the back. I liked this place because the eighties music they liked to play over the speakers was always so loud that there was little risk of your conversation being overheard by the people in the booth next to you. Yes, I was paranoid. Living with my secret for the past ten years, I'd trained myself to be.
To my relief, the place wasn't well visited that night, and the booth next to ours was empty.Jackpot.
“You seem nervous,” Conner said as we sat down. I hadn't told him why I needed to meet him, but he'd learned to read me pretty well over the year that we'd lived together. We'd spent too many nights staying up late, discussing everything from the books we'd read to the meaning of life and the alphas we'd met.
Wondering how to start the conversation, I studied the burger dripping ketchup on my plate. I really wasn't hungry. Adam had caught my scent earlier. Myomegascent. My pills were supposed to suppress it, though I knew they only worked to a certain degree. Until now, it had always been enough.
Had my scent been stronger because Adam's proximity stirred something in me?
I didn't like the thought of my body betraying me like that, trying to lure Adam to me even when I knew I had to stay undercover. No one would ever take me seriously as a lawyer if they knew I was an omega. Omegas raised children or taught kindergarten. They didn't defend people in court.
“Lucas? Are you okay?” Conner's eyes were full of concern as he looked at me.
“Yeah. I'm sorry. I just got distracted. How was the demo?”
“Not bad, really, but the turnout wasn't so great. I'd hoped we could gather a few more people.”
Conner cut into his burger almost angrily. He was the only friend I had who ordered burgers at this diner and then ate them with a knife and fork. “It's like people don't understand how important voting against Paragraph 9 is. I don’t think they realize that it would take funding away from omega shelters, or how necessary these facilities are.”
“You're doing your best to educate them. I'm sorry I couldn't come along today.”
“It's all right. Raphael came.” Conner grinned. “He painted us some really cool signs.”
“Oh yeah? That's good.” I'd only met Conner's new roommate once, but he seemed all right. An omega from the same town as Conner who was skilled with a paint brush. “I'm glad you get along with your new roommate, even if he's obviously not as cool as me.”
“I don't know. It's kind of nice to room with someone from the same town. I can mention someone from home and Raph actually knows them, or he's heard of them, anyway. He knows Jake too.”
I nodded. “I can see how that could be helpful.” I'd never met Jake, but I'd heard so much about him, I might as well have. He was Conner's best friend back home, but studying in a different country now.
He was also an alpha.
Conner told me they weren't in a relationship, 'not right now', but while rooming with him, I'd been witness to more than one overdrawn Skype conversation that wouldn't end because neither of them wanted to be the first to hang up.
Conner never dated anyone else either. Maybe that was why we got along so well—we both stayed away from the alphas on campus for our own reasons. Until I was made to live with one, anyway.
“How are you getting along with Adam?” Conner asked, as if he could read my thoughts.
