Page 8 of Overeager (Extra Credit #1)

Spencer grinned shamelessly. “I’m selfless like that.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest, all faux earnestness. “Tell us, Noah. Tell us of the one who finally stole your heart.”

“Um …” Noah wasn’t sure what to tell. He could talk about Eli’s kind eyes.

How warm they were, even with a stranger.

Or his scent, the way it had caught Noah’s interest immediately, lovely and subtle and perfect.

Or the way Eli had held himself so seriously in the beginning but giggled like a kid when a bit of humor caught him off guard.

But he found himself wanting to keep all that close to his chest for now.

“He’s a teacher,” he said instead.

“Oh yeah?” Chase asked. “What grade?”

“Shit.” Noah shook his head. “I’m such a dick. I didn’t even ask. Maybe elementary school? Or middle school? I could see him being good with older kids. He’s … patient.”

“Okay, tell us the truth.” Spencer dropped his clasped hands, settling them on Noah’s shoulders. “Did you come in five seconds, or did you make it to ten?”

Monday morning came much too soon, and Noah had to fight not to put out grumpy dick vibes as the three of them walked to campus.

Chase and Spencer seemed content enough to start classes back up.

It wasn’t surprising—they were both decent students, and the three of them had all planned similar schedules for the semester, maximizing hang time outside of school and work.

Their first class on Monday was at a reasonable ten a.m., and Noah had made them all eggs after Spencer had nagged at him for long enough.

Plus, it was hard to be miserable when the start of spring semester was always so fucking gorgeous, the Arizona heat lowered to a perfect temperature at the beginning of January, the skies sunny and temperate.

Noah should have been just as stoked as the other two, but he was finding it hard to muster the excitement. Eli hadn’t texted Saturday. Or Sunday, for that matter.

Maybe he wouldn’t text at all.

“Why the fuck are you so gloomy?” Spencer asked, tugging on Noah’s backpack and making it clear Noah had lost the don’t-come-off-as-a-grumpy-dick battle. “Regretting your decision to take Omega Studies?”

Noah gave him a shove toward the side of the path. “No.”

“Why are you taking it, anyway?” Spencer let the momentum of Noah’s shove land him at Chase’s side, slinging an arm around the beta’s shoulders. “Think they messed up your designation?”

Noah wished Spencer was still in shoving distance, but he had to make do with flipping him off.

“It fulfills one of my gen ed requirements, genius. Plus, my folks think all alphas should be required to take it. For a bit of empathy.” He said the last part pointedly, but if Spencer caught it, he brushed it right off.

“Why are you taking it, then?” Spencer gave Chase’s shoulders a little shake, directing his question to the beta.

Chase shrugged, walking easily despite Spencer’s manhandling. “Because I wanted a class with Noah.”

“Ugh. Why are you so cute?” Spencer pinched Chase’s cheek, avoiding his half-hearted answering punch easily, then leaned over to swipe a hand down Noah’s neck in a casual scent marking before veering off in the direction of his own class. “Your funeral, bros! Let’s meet for lunch!”

Noah and Chase both stopped for a moment, staring after his departure. “Is it too late to give him back?” Noah asked.

“Yeah, pretty sure we’re stuck with him.”

It was nonsense anyway, and they both knew it. Their trio had been in the same freshman orientation group, and they’d all just … clicked. Three years later and they were living together by choice, so apparently there was no unclicking to be had.

The two of them kept on toward class, and Chase caught Noah looking at his phone again. “Still no text?”

Noah glared at his phone. “Maybe—maybe I wasn’t any good.”

It hadn’t felt that way at the time. It had felt fucking amazing, the way Eli’s body had taken him in.

The little sounds he’d made, and the way his legs had locked behind Noah’s hips, pulling him in closer.

Noah wanted more of it. He wanted Eli to ride him, to see what it looked like with that small frame grinding down on top of him.

He wanted to fucking taste him, to part Eli’s cheeks and tongue every bit of slick out of him.

He wanted to knot him, to stuff him full and keep him close for hours, pushing him into orgasm after orgasm.

“Dude.”

Noah came out of his horny fog to find Chase staring at him. “What?”

“Are you—?” Chase wrinkled his nose with a cough. “Your pheromones, man.”

“Oh fuck.” Noah reined them in again with a bit of effort, wincing. “Sorry.”

“No worries.” Chase gave another awkward cough. “I can barely smell it,” he lied. “Just thought you might not want to rock up to the lecture hall putting out sex signals for all to scent.”

Noah shoved his phone back in his pocket, irritated with himself. He wasn’t some newly presented alpha, letting his rampant pheromones run wild like that. “What’s wrong with me?”

“You’ve got a crush.” Chase shrugged, turning the brim of his cap backward. “Happens to the best of us.”

“Doesn’t happen to you,” Noah pointed out.

Chase wasn’t a virgin, but Noah had never seen him falling hard for anyone either.

The beta was kind of … reserved. It probably would have been good for him to have a crush, actually.

He’d been sort of subdued since leaving the lacrosse team last year.

Chase claimed he didn’t regret it, and Noah had a feeling that was at least partially true, but he still seemed off.

“That’s cause I’m— Oof .”

Noah caught Chase’s arm as the beta stumbled, having run straight into a broad chest. The man he’d run into was an alpha for sure.

And probably a professor, based on how he was dressed, in a tight button-down and slacks.

He had a sheaf of handouts in his hands, half of which had dropped to the ground when Chase had crashed into him.

And Chase was just staring at him, wide-eyed.

Noah stepped forward. “Sorry, man,” he said. “I’ll grab—” He stopped when the alpha professor sent a piercing look his way, a rush of dark, heavy pheromones freezing Noah in place.

Holy shit. That was some intense stuff, even for another alpha.

It was Chase who unfroze first, kneeling and grabbing the papers, handing them back to the professor. “Here you are, sir.”

The alpha took them from him, locking eyes with Chase. “There’s a good boy,” he murmured, his voice a deep rumble. Or at least, that was what Noah thought he’d said, but that would have been, like, way inappropriate, wouldn’t it? The alpha nodded. “Carry on, then.”

And after one last, lingering glance at Chase, he swept past them, heading into the math and sciences building.

Noah shivered, tucking his thumbs into the straps of his backpack. “Who the fuck was that?”

“Professor Burke,” Chase told him, his eyes still on the retreating alpha. “He teaches statistics. I had him last semester.”

“How the fuck did you survive? He’s terrifying.”

Chase shrugged. His cheeks were red—maybe he was embarrassed he’d crashed into the guy and sent his papers flying. “If you’re polite, he’s actually pretty chill.”

“His pheromones are—” Noah let out a heavy breath. “Just be glad you’re a beta.”

“Yeah.” Chase laughed, tugging Noah forward again. “Sure.”

They headed into their building, finding a pair of seats a few rows back. The class was structured so that they had a weekly lecture and then split into discussion groups led by TAs twice a week. It was a large lecture hall, and it still looked like it was going to be mostly full.

Noah was mostly looking forward to the class, despite his general grumpiness. He’d heard good things about Professor Miller—the omega professor had positive reviews on the school forums, and his lectures were supposed to be interesting.

Had Eli ever taken a class like this as an undergrad?

Noah grinned for maybe the first time that day, leaning down to dig his laptop out of his backpack.

He could totally see it, Eli shaking his finger at any presumptuous alphas in his discussion group.

“Alphas shouldn’t knot omegas they’ve just met! ”

And maybe thinking about Eli had Noah imagining things, because he could swear he smelled that tart, refreshing scent, standing out even amid all the random, innocuous pheromones in the lecture hall.

Meanwhile, the cacophony of murmuring students had hushed, meaning the professor had probably arrived.

Noah sat back up, his laptop in hand, and immediately choked on his own spit.

Because there, at the podium, was Eli. His Eli.

“Hello, everyone.” Eli was dressed in light-colored slacks and a crewneck sweater. He looked ridiculously cute, small in stature but self-possessed, those warm eyes sweeping over the auditorium. “I’m Professor Miller. I’ll be teaching you Omega Studies this semester.”