Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

The flowers might've been stupid, but for me, they were the perfect amount of stupid.

I was a mess all day thinking about tonight. I couldn't help it.

Something about little librarian Ella just felt right from the moment I nearly ran into her with that glass coffee shop door.

I couldn't believe that no one had swept up Ella. In general, as well as the fact she had never been on a decent date. By the look of shock on her face, she probably never even had the door held open for her.

Ridiculous.

I wasn't an alpha, but I was very prepared to spoil the fuck out of this girl.

The place I took her to may not have served alcohol for obvious reasons looking between the high-top tables to the slick wooden floor of the roller rink in the center. People were already falling over their own feet sober, but damn, they knew how to make damn good orange cheese layered on top of slightly too crunchy tortilla chips.

It tasted like childhood, though if I ever brought Marko, he"d cringe. And then he'd probably also mentally ban the place from his memory.

The place also had a somewhat palatable karaoke night and an amazing roller derby team.

I'd have to bring Ella back if she wanted to see that live and in action if she wanted.

I figured Ella wasn't the traditional dinner and movie kind of girl for a first date. The way her eyes lit up when we walked in definitely agreed.

Fuck, I"m good.

"Roller skating?" Ella twisted around the moment she made it inside. Her entire expression hid nothing, surprised. "This is so cool."

I reached out to take her hand. She didn't flinch away this time like I noticed she had before. "I'm glad you like it.

"I see why I needed to wear pants now."

"I thought you'd prefer not to moon the public on the first date," I agreed. "Maybe the second one."

Before she could hold herself back, her hand whipped out, whacking me in the chest as she laughed.

Her eyes immediately widened in shock at her action, but I caught her hand before she could pull away. I stared down at her little knuckle dimples and shortly cut nails.

I stroked the back of her hand. "Are you hungry at all? They don't have a lot of great stuff, but they do have some decent snacks before we get you on wheels."

By her face alone, the answer was very much yes. Putting the nachos in front of her was as if I offered her a steak dinner.

Setting in across from her at a high-top table with our mini feast, I cock my head. "Ready?"

"Ready for what?" Ella barely looked up from where she was tucking into another chip drenched in liquid cheese and jalape?os. When she did, she left a dot behind.

Had this girl not eaten in days?

I loved her enthusiasm as much as I was concerned. I was prepared to order another round now that she started to relax. With most other girls I'd taken out, by this point I'd be more worried about how many drinks we were consuming.

Now, I wanted to feed her more.

Marko would have a field day if he ever got into the kitchen with her. My entire pack would easily fall in love with her.

If they wanted to, anyway.

And if Liam would get the stupid idea of adding an omega to the fold again out of his mind.

I made sure Ella saw me reach over the table before I swiped my thumb over the bright glob of cheese on her lip, wiping it away.

Her cheeks turned red.

I reached for another chip. "Questions, speed round. I didn't get to properly get to know you at the cafe."

Ella shrugged. "There's not much to know."

"I doubt that's true."

"There isn't," she insisted. "Like I said, I'm just Ella. I spend my days practically bathing in dust which I realize now is probably not very sexy."

"Oh, I disagree."

She shook her head as I bit my bottom lip. "Not much else going on. I'm pretty boring."

"For some reason, I think you are more interesting than you are telling me, just Ella."

She chewed for another second before swallowing. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Favorite food?"

She paused. "Cereal."

"You're kidding." This girl was mine. It was official so long as her favorite cereal wasn't something stupid like bran flakes. "I fucking love cereal."

"You really like to curse."

"You don't?"

She shrugged again. "Depends on the situation, I guess."

Oh, so I just had to find out what was? Challenge accepted.

"I used to be punished whenever I cursed when I was a kid. I think about it all the time. I'm traumatized so now I can't fucking stop," I explained.

Ella shook her head with a smile. "So your favorite food is cereal too?"

"Followed closely by that slightly more expensive box of mac n cheese you can make on the stove." It also had a similar cheese consistency as our nachos. "Favorite color?"

"Purple, I think."

"Solid. I guess I shouldn't ask you what your favorite book is, right?"

"Or else we would be here all night trying to decide?" She filled in the blank. "Probably."

"I can think of much worse ways to spend my time. Did you always grow up around here?"

Taking a deep breath, Ella shook her head, pursing those pretty pink lips of hers again. "Nope."

"Where are you from?"

"Real small town." She waved her hand as if it was around the corner. "You probably never heard of it."

"Try me."

"Trust me, sometimes I think I've rather never heard of it."

I'd take her word for it even though it took all I had not to pry. "All right then."

"What about you?" she asked.

"About the same," I said, going to go with my usual storyline of being from just about nowhere too before I paused. "Actually, I grew up further northwest. Not as fun as around here or the other places I lived before."

"Where else have you lived?"

"I was bounced around a bit in foster care until I hit high school," I admitted.

She blinked, her forehead creasing as she dropped one of her chips back into the basket in front of her. "Oh. Was it..."'

"Not great. No. I think there are only a few that can give that kind of growing up five out of five stars though."

"I thought..." She trailed off once more.

"What?"

Ella sucked on the inside of her cheek, confusion still clouded her features. "I knew that being in foster care wasn't great. I just sort of thought that they were meant to care for you or help you find a family that would. Right?"

There was only sincerity in her question. "That"s the goal on paper."

"Then what happened?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. I guess if we were going in, we were going all in. "My parents weren't good people."

She nodded, as if she understood.

Maybe she did.

"They were addicts most of my life," I said. "There was rarely food in the house. When I was first placed into foster care and the system, maybe they could've done better by me, get me out, and placed me in a steadier home. My father, though, kept getting clean. He kept coming back for me."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"He kept coming back for me, but he kept getting high not long afterward, Ella. I never managed more than a month or so in his care before I was back in the system and he always promised to come back when he was clean again. I used to wish he wouldn"t. No one could legally adopt me at that rate, or didn't want to," I carefully explained. "Eventually, no one wanted a messed-up beta who kept getting into trouble."

"Oh."

"Sorry, I should"ve probably saved the heavy stuff, huh?"

She shook her head. "No. I get it. I– I didn't have the greatest childhood growing up either. For a while, I didn't think I would ever get out of there."

I studied her as she tipped her hazel gaze down to the table. I knew that hesitation. That look. I didn't say anything as she spoke softly, but clear as day.

"But then I did. I got to come to Prestford and here. Everything is worth it," she whispered.

"Yeah," I said, just as soft so as not to startle her. "You get to be with me now."

I thought for a second. "What's your last name, Ella?"

"Jones," she said. "Ella Jones."

Ella Jones.

She studied me as she lifted her attention to me. "What's your last name, Calvin?"

"Pulling out the full first name already?" I joked. "It's uh..."

I paused, but not long before I found the last name I hadn't used in a long while. Ever since I had been let into the pack nearly five years ago, I hadn't needed to use my original last name. I was in the Prestford pack.

But considering where we were and where Ella worked...

I don"t know why. I wasn't ready to admit it all yet. Right now, I just wanted to talk with her.

"Calvin Lesenfield."

She didn't seem to notice my pause as she took a sip of her lemonade. "Are you really going to teach me how to roller skate, Calvin?"

I groaned at my full name. Cleaning up our space before we headed over to the bench to lace up.

Another song came on over the speakers, loud and peppy.

"You never roller skated?"

She shook her head. "Never."

"Oh, tonight is going to be fun."

"Until I crack my head open."

"I won't let you fall," I promised a minute later, lacing up her skates. "Or at least not more than is bound to happen if you never skated before."

She licked her lips in anticipation.

A minute ago I was about to rip my heart out and put it in front of her. Now already I wanted to bend her back and kiss her.

I needed to behave.

Standing up, I put my hands out for her to take. "Ready, careful now. Just hold onto me."

She watched as I skated backward.

"So, you've skated before."

"The only thing to do in small towns." I led her on. Though unsteady on the greased floorboards, she wasn't doing half bad. "I almost figured after you said that you were from one that you'd be wiping the floor with me.

"Definitely not."

"You're doing great."

She lifted her chin to smile at me. "I am?"

"Hell yeah, way better than my..." I was going to hell. I should tell her now about my pack and how they all once tried to skate to varying degrees of success, but for the first time, I wasn't sure I was ready to let her know. I wasn't ready for her to study me differently. It wasn't out of this world for a beta to be bonded, but it was uncommon in pack life that usually stuck to just alphas creating their little havens. I was just lucky to find myself in the middle of one. "My other friend, Demetri. He's like a bear with no balance."

"He sounds hilarious."

"Only when he doesn't want to be," I confirm. "Okay, now it's your turn to try on your own."

"Don't let go!"

"How else will you learn?"

"I'm going to fall on my ass and you know it," she bared her teeth in concentration.

"Well, then I guess you'll fall on your ass."

"Oh." She stretched out the word as she looked down at her feet, slowly but surely trying to move. She wobbled once, nearly losing her balance. I reached out in case I needed to stop the fall. The sight only caused her eyes to light up with delight. "You'd like that wouldn't you."

"I wouldn't laugh." I put a hand to my heart.

"You totally would."

"Would you laugh at me if I fell?"

She didn't hesitate in her nod. "Absolutely."

"Ha!" I spoke my laughter, watching as she gained more confidence, slowly taking steps forward until she found a somewhat steady glide.

Eventually, she got far enough to run right into me. A few people around us clapped as they watched in pleasant encouragement, though Ella didn"t seem to notice. "I think I'm getting it."

"You'll be cruising around the whole place in no time." I took her hand again, this time coming next to her as we slowly skated. "So, how did I do so far?"

"For the date?"

I nodded.

"I don't have much to go off of," Ella admitted, shyly. "But good. Very good. Though I will admit my bagel last time was pretty amazing."

"The coffee wasn't terrible either. We'll have to go back someday before you head to work," I agreed.

"Who's to say I'm going to go out with you again?" she asked. She reached up to tuck her hair back behind her ear again, like a nervous tick.

"Please." Seriously, I was about to beg her if there was even an ounce of uncertainty in her mind as her eyes scanned me from my skates back up to my eyes. Her gaze sparkled with greens and amber gold. "You can say it."

"Say what?"

"You know you want me," I said. "Come on, just a little bit?"

Unable to hide it even as she turned her face away from me, her smile only got wider.

I wish my packmates could see this. How she lit up for me.

Fuck, I'm so out of my depth now, boys.

Without meaning to, I turned and got a steady whiff of her as she relaxed into a rhythm next to me.

It was light, just a hint of scent on the tip of my tongue like honey. Maybe she was using some kind of topical blocker? I guess it was hard enough to be on a first date without fearing the guy would be all over you.

Still, I wanted a taste.

I ran my nose against her cheek, marking her before I realized that was exactly what I was doing.

It took everything I had not to scream it, the way everyone looked at her. Why shouldn't they though? She was smart and gorgeous and had a killer laugh.

Mine.

"You smell good."

Ella froze. Taking a deep breath, she smiled again. "Thanks. You do too."

I grinned wider. "Really? What do I smell like?"

She looked around as if anyone was listening. They were all swaying to their beat.

"What?" I chuckled. "Tell me."

"You smell like a marshmallow."

"You're kidding."

She shook her head, hair swaying in each direction as she reached out for both of my hands. Leaning in, she took her own very prevalent sniff. "Sweet and soft. Like candied vanilla."

"Are you getting tired?" I asked her after taking another lap around the rink. I dipped my mouth towards her ear.

After a second, she nodded.

"Let's get out of here then, yeah?"

This time when Ella got in the car, she seemed almost relaxed. A small smile held on her lips as she buckled up and leaned back into the passenger seat. Night had taken over the street, street lamps lighting our way back towards campus like beacons. I took each turn as she navigated back to her place, though it didn't look far from where I picked her up.

"You can pull over here wherever you can," she directed.

Carefully, I found a spot to parallel park.

Eyebrows raised, she looked mildly impressed.

"Parking is my only talent," I admitted.

Shaking her head, she unclipped her seatbelt. "Thank you for tonight."

"Did you have fun?"

She nodded.

"Then that's all that matters." I paused the same as she did.

Neither of us wanted to move out of this car, at this moment. Sitting with Ella felt comfortable. Being with her felt like the most natural thing in the world. Being with her was as easy as being out with my pack.

"Can I kiss you?" I asked, my voice more hesitant than I"d ever been before. When I liked something, I took it. I devoured. But for Ella, I"d take my time.

I"d savor her.

She inhaled as if I shocked her to her very core. "Okay."

Leaning over the center console, I wasn't going to let her overthink this.

Sure, the car wasn't the most comfortable place for a first kiss, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity. Not here. Not with her in the soft quiet as cars passed by and the city moved on without us. We were just here.

Just the two of us.

I stared down at her lips and the way a breath gasped out of them before I even made it there.

Eyes fluttering partly shut, Ella leaned in closer to me. Her attention settled on my lips. Reaching one hand up to the side of her cheek, I stroked her soft skin once with my thumb before I let my mouth slip down on top of hers.

She tasted... absolutely amazing.

I was unsure I ever kissed anyone that made me forget everything. She was so sweet. I never wanted it to end.

I gripped the back of her neck and she gasped into my mouth, the perfect reason to dive further, teasing my tongue against hers until she moaned.

Her hand gripped my knee where I turned towards her and I only smiled against her mouth, liking how she was getting more adventurous with her touches, trailing her hands up my stomach and kissing me back as if she'd never been kissed before.

This was it. I was addicted.

Usually, when I went out with someone outside of the pack, it was perfunctory. Liam was right about that. I teased and flirted. I had fun. This wasn't fun.

This was everything.

She met me kiss for kiss. It looked like my little Ella wasn't so timid after all.

My other hand came up to grip her, wanting to pull her onto my lap. Both of us clutched each other, exploring the shape of the other over our clothes.

I don't want this to end.

Her hand brushed over my side as I met for another kiss.

She froze as a shiver rolled up my back at the touch. As if she wasn"t sure, she brushed the same spot, my bite mark, again. Though it wasn't the same as when Liam played with it, but it still sent a jolt of pleasure ricocheting up my spine.

It took me a moment to realize she was shaking with me.

"You... Y-You have a pack."