Page 58 of Written in Scent

Jamie laughs. “I get it. I wasn’t your first choice for the evening, but I am glad I get to see you again.”

I blush even harder. Alex tells Jamie to leave me alone, but there is no real heat in it.

Then Alex turns to look at both of us. “Wait. You two were hanging out earlier?”

Jamie nods easily. “Yeah. We were working together in her bug lab.”

Alex bursts out laughing. “Bug lab? Is that a euphemism?”

I lose it. A fit of giggles bubbles out of me and I hiccup in the middle of it. Jamie sniffs the air and shakes his head.

“You two are both drunk,” he says.

I talk right over him, still giggling as I launch into an animated explanation about my actual bug lab. I tell Alex about the specimens, the drawers, the careful pinning process, my hands waving as I describe everything. Alex listens with a tender smile, his arm still around me.

The car moves through the dark campus streets, and for a little while the three of us are just laughing and talking like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

I lean into Alex’s side and let the glow of the moment carry me.

The car slows and the tires crunch over gravel as we pull into the driveway. Warm golden light spills from the porch, pooling across the wide wooden steps and wrapping the front of the house.

The night air carries through the open window, the familiar layered scent of cedar and storm, the same one that has been settling over me all evening, now mixed with the cool damp of late September grass. My head feels pleasantly fuzzy and I lean into the solid weight of Alex’s arm still looped around my waist in the back seat.

Before anyone moves to open a door I hesitate, fingers tightening around the end of my jacket sleeves. The house looms solid and inviting, but the thought of stepping inside makes something flutter nervously behind my ribs.

“Is anyone else home?” I ask, voice quieter than I mean for it to be.

Alex turns his head, pale gray eyes fixed to mine. His thumb brushes a tantalizing circle against my side through the thin fabric of my dress. “Chase and Adrian are inside,” he says, calm as ever, the low rumble of his voice easing something inside me even as my pulse picks up. “Is that all right?”

I bite the inside of my cheek, tasting the faint sweetness of the last sip of beer I took at the party. The words slip out before I can stop them. “I just… Chase doesn’t seem to like me very much. I’m nervous to be around him.”

Jamie twists in the driver’s seat, one elbow draped over the backrest, his blond hair falling across his forehead. The grin he gives me is pure mischief wrapped in warmth. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s not dislike. That’s Chase having the hots for you so bad it’s making him grumpy as hell.”

Alex starts to speak, something diplomatic already forming on his lips, but Jamie talks right over him, eyes sparkling. “Nope. Alex is about to give you the careful version. I’m giving you the truth. Big guy inside is fighting his instincts like they personally offended him. It’s adorable and painful to watch.”

I glance between them, Alex’s serious, thoughtful expression and Jamie’s bright, unfiltered one. The contrast is so ridiculous, so perfectly them, that laughter bubbles up from somewhere deep in my chest and spills out before I can catch it.

“Alphas are crazy,” I say, shaking my head, still laughing as I reach for the door handle.

The cool night air rushes in the second I push it open, brushing over my bare legs and clearing some of the haze in my mind.

I slide out of the car, the gravel cool beneath my boots, and start toward the porch steps.

The guys catch up quickly, their footsteps noisy on the gravel behind me. Alex’s arms slide around me from behind just as Jamie reaches the front door, drawing me back against the solid heat of his chest.

His cedar and pepper scent wraps around me, rich and full bodied, sinking straight into my bones. I lean into him without thinking, letting my head tip back against his shoulder as the cool night air brushes over my bare legs beneath the short hem of the dress.

I turn my face just enough to speak against the collar of his shirt, intending for my voice to come out as a whisper, but it’s loud enough to carry on a giggle. “We should get Jamie drunk,” the words spill out light and tipsy. “So he stops being so self-righteous.”

Jamie’s laugh rings out from inside the open doorway, bright and immediate. “I heard every word of that, and I think it’s a fantastic idea. We can even play a drinking game.”

The sound pulls another giggle from me. I twist out of Alex’s hold just enough to dart forward, the wooden porch boards creaking under my boots. Alex stays right behind me, close enough that I feel the brush of his jacket against my back as we cross the threshold together.

The moment I step inside, the house folds around me in a strangely comforting embrace, like my body remembered it. Lamplight spills across honey toned floors and deep leather furniture, carrying the faint shared undertone of sun-warmed skin and charged storm air that belongs to all of them.

It eases over my shoulders, easing the last nervous flutter in my chest as the door clicks shut behind us.

A deep voice rolls down from the top of the stairs, rich and teasing at first. “Is the star lacrosse player home already?”