3. Jeremiah

JEREMIAH

Since getting back from the Christening, things had been…weird. Not things, I guess. But me. I was off. Something was going on that had me unsettled, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

I was just a few short months from graduating, so I should have been excited. Perhaps the future was what had me overthinking and second-guessing my life. I even tried going to the local studio a few extra times to get some painting done to see if that cleared my head.

It didn't.

Everywhere I went on campus, the air felt charged. Like there was a force following me, ready to infiltrate my soul, but hiding just beyond my grasp. I did my best to ignore it and focus on my work, but I just couldn't relax.

Normally, I was happy to have a distraction from the daily monotony of school, but I had a paper due in my Police and Prisons class, and the professor was a stickler for grammar. He spent twenty years working as a detective for an organized crime unit, and I was pretty sure he recognized my name. Which meant he watched everything I did and was quick to question just about everything I wrote.

So I had to focus and get every word just right. I fought back the temptation to include some firsthand knowledge I'd learned over the years in my schoolwork, just for giggles. I didn't need the FBI sniffing around right now, though.

I was on my third draft of the twelve-thousand-word essay when a man stepped up to my table and cleared his throat.

It took a second for me to realize he was waiting for me to look up. When I did, he was staring right at me.

I glanced around, making sure he meant me and not someone else. "Um, hello."

The man seemed to relax slightly as he looked down at me with kind eyes and a sexy grin. "Excuse me, but I need to charge my phone for a little while. Do you mind if I sit here and plug in?"

"Hmm?" My brain slowly caught up with my mouth, and I nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm fully charged, so it's all yours." I scooted a few inches to the left so he could reach the outlet beside my leg.

"Thanks." He dropped to his knees and plugged in his charger, brushing the side of my leg with his shoulder and making my breath hitch. "I forgot to charge it last night, and I've been running on fumes all day."

"I hate when that happens…" My mouth was dry, and I had the sudden urge to lick my lips, but I was afraid I'd come off as desperate or pathetic.

Both of which were accurate but still not something I wanted to advertise to this hot stranger. The alpha in front of me was gorgeous, with his quick grin and his auburn hair that curled over the collar of his shirt.

He slid onto the chair across from me, and a paper coffee cup landed on the table in front of him. "Can I buy you a drink for your kindness?"

"Oh, that's not necessary." I shrugged one shoulder and picked up my own phone as something to occupy my hands. "I don't own the outlets, so you're as entitled to use them as anyone else."

"Okay." He chuckled softly at my ramblings but then lifted his cup to take a sip.

Opening up to others on campus was difficult, especially since I was surrounded by criminal justice majors who saw the world as very black and white. Legal and illegal. I knew it didn't work that way. I just watched his mouth until he cocked his head and spoke again.

"I'm Felik Morton. And you are?"

"Jeremiah Ferrini." I realized my hands were sweaty, so I wiped them on my thighs before extending my right arm to him. "Nice to meet you."

As soon as his big alpha hand closed around mine, I thought I might melt into a puddle of slick. There was something about him that woke up the mating instincts in me that had been dormant since…forever. I kinda skipped the horny teenage years and went straight from adolescence to academics, never giving much thought to alphas or sex or any of the other stuff my brothers were doing at my age. Partly because they kept me very protected, but also because I didn't want to.

He nodded toward my open laptop. "You're a student here?"

"Yeah." I cocked my head, only then realizing that maybe he wasn't. "Aren't you?"

Felik rocked his head in a noncommittal way. "I graduated last year, but I'm auditing a few classes while I wait for a job offer. So, yes, but not the kind who has to do actual work."

"Lucky." I exhaled heavily and leaned back in the seat, sliding my feet forward and accidentally brushing against Felik's shoes. "Oh, sorry."

"Don't be." He spread his legs and boxed my feet in with his, holding us ankle to ankle as my dick got hard. "I still owe you for allowing me to sit with you so…how about dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?" I'd never really been flirted with, but I was pretty sure that was what he was doing. "You really don't have to."

"But I really want to." He held my gaze, daring me to say no. His eyes sparkled behind his navy frames.

"Yeah, okay. That sounds nice." Really fucking nice, but I tried to keep my cool. "Like, off campus?"

He grinned again and gently closed his knees around mine. "Off campus sounds good. Any recommendations or do you want me to pick something?"

Alphas generally liked to make decisions, so I figured he was no different. And honestly, I was curious to see what he would come up with. "You can pick something. I'm not picky."

That smirk never left his face as he kept his eyes locked on me. "I'm very picky, but I also have great taste. I'm sure you'll be happy with my choice."

I nodded and swallowed hard, finally licking my lips because they felt like they were about to crack right off my face. "Okay." My palms were getting sweaty again, and I fought the urge to wipe them right in front of him. Geez, it was like I was wholly unprepared to be flirted with and given attention by anyone.

"Is six good?"

"Yeah." My last class was at two, so that still gave me plenty of time to study before and after dinner, assuming it was an early night. "That's perfect."

"Gimme your phone." He held out his hand as I unlocked my phone and handed it to him. He added his information and handed it back. "I sent myself a text. Send me your address, and I'll be there at six."

Holy shit, I was going on a real date with a real alpha who was really fucking gorgeous. Was I dreaming? I didn't think so, but I didn't even care if I was. I just wanted to get through dinner and maybe…a little dessert. "See you then."