Page 37 of Knot Only For One Night

I didn’t have dirty laundry today. I should have brought some clean clothes so I could at least appear like I belong at WPC Landromat.

But no.

Instead, I’ve just planted my ass on this black bench in front of WPC Landromat day after day and tapped my heel nervously for over an hour. Waiting on the wisp of a chance he’d come back.

I don’t even have his name. Just a scent and what he looks like. That was enough to have me practically stalking the man.

I came here with a backpack full of not laundry but a gift. A gift. Ugh. My face heats with embarrassment. My omega pushed me to get the potential… person… a gift.

For a man I hardly met.

Gosh, this is so stupid.

I just… I need to see him one more time. Smell him again. I need some clarity, and my omega wouldn’t settle without it.

So I’ll wait right here. Hoping the tattooed biker comes to the local laundromat. Now that I think about it, last time he was here I don't remember seeing any laundry on him. His bike couldn’t carry a load of laundry.

Maybe he was here to meet someone? Another girl!?

My gut turns at the thought so I push it away. Shaking my head, I focus on what I do know about the man. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Gosh, this is a phenomenally bad idea.

Neven would probably be upset at my desperateness, but I swear this isn’t the same as Mike. His jaw was so swollen when I saw him on campus this morning, though I probably didn’t feel as guilty about it as I should have.

They didn’t have to wire his jaw, it seems. His mouth opened in shock when he saw me across campus but he quickly winced and ran in the opposite direction.

It’s been about a week since that horrid date.

I haven’t had any more heat flare-ups since that weekend so I’m hoping my heat isn’t as close as I thought it was.

I need a plan in case I don’t find… whoever the hell my omega is looking for. Can Neven and Reed handle me? Am I asking for too much?

My heat hasn’t even gotten here yet and it’s already causing such stress in my life! Such disruption! I bury my face in my hands. Maybe I should have just picked a Pack at the Omega Center and Co.

“Why are you stalking me?” A voice snaps me out of my spiraling, and I flinch, looking for the source. What I find are deep brown eyes, almost covered by familiar brown wavy hair. Not enough to hide them fully from me, though, thank god. Cinnamon wafts under my nose, and I smile as the man glares at me.

I should be nervous. He’s covered in tattoos, a head taller than me, and scariest of all seems to be mad at me.

But all I want is to scoot closer to him.

I look up at this alluring stranger, laser-focused. “Hi.”

He scrunches his eyebrows. The stranger sits on the bench, incredibly close to me, our legs almost touching. His body is turned toward me, his hand resting on the back of the bench and I blush at how close he is to me. He wears a simple black t-shirt and jeans, his leather jacket draped over his lap.

“Answer my question.”

“I’m Esper. What’s your name?”

“Why are you always here on this bench?”

I’ve only been here twice before, but he’d only know that if… he saw me too.

“You saw me?” My heart aches as I realize he never approached me.

“Of course I saw you. You’ve been sitting on this bench using your bag as an armrest, wearing this bright maroon hoody that stands out like a damn beacon nearly every day this week.”

So he didn’t just see me. He noticed me. It lights a flicker of hope in my chest. “I didn’t catch your name…”