“I’m fine, thanks. I don’t drink,” I said as I tried to move around him. He shifted with me.

“You’re an Omega, right? If I scared you, I can help you calm down.” His smile had changed.

“I’m not an Omega, and I don’t need your fragrance.” I reached for the door. “You smell like alcohol. Please move.”

His arm came up before I could open it properly, his hand catching the door above my shoulder. He didn’t step away as I tried to get out. He basically trapped me there.  I stared at him.

“Don’t lie.” He leaned closer. “You smell like dried citrus.”

He reached for the ends of my hair when the smell hit me almost immediately.

Rotten grapefruit.

It came in waves. Strong, then weaker, then strong again before I could adjust to it. My head started to swim. Every time I thought I could breathe through it, another pulse came.

I gathered my hair with one hand and shoved as much of it as I could inside my jacket. He tried to shut the door, so I quickly put my boot between the door and the door frame. I was not budging. I looked up at him and didn’t say anything 

Another wave rolled over me, stronger this time. My stomach tightened and a strange weakness ran down my legs, forcing me to put more weight against the doorframe. The skin around my nape prickled beneath my hair. I hated that most. 

Then it started to hurt.

The pain spread down the back of my neck in a hot pulse and my gland tightened with it, swollen and sensitive enough that even my hair brushing over it made me flinch. My mouth filled with saliva like I was about to throw up. 

“There it is,” he muttered. “Oh, you’re all sour now.”

He leaned in. I dragged my nails across his cheek. He jerked backward with a curse, one hand flying to his face. The other finally left the door. I pushed it open.

It slammed against the tiled wall hard enough to chip something near the bottom. Several people at the tables closest to the restrooms turned toward us.

I stepped out. Geonsu was still there. 

He had been leaning against the wall farther down, but the bang made him straighten. His eyes landed on me and he immediately started walking over.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as his brows pulled together.

Heat spread unpleasantly through my pelvis and my underwear shifted wet against me when I moved. Slick had started gathering despite everything in me wanting the Alpha as far away as possible. My thighs felt damp where they touched.

My pheromones had gone acrid enough that I could smell myself now. I wanted out of my clothes.

It had been like this since Johan. Fear, attraction, disgust… It didn’t even matter sometimes. An Alpha pushed hard enough and my body answered before I could. 

I swallowed, trying to get myself under control long enough to speak. The restroom door moved behind me. Geonsu looked past my shoulder. 

The man stepped out holding his cheek. Blood had begun collecting beneath the scratches.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” he snapped at me. “Putting your hands on me? You fucking liked it until—”

Geonsu stepped between us. “Back up,” Geonsu said. His voice wasn’t loud. He didn’t touch him either. He simply stood there, completely blocking me from the man’s view.

“He fucking scratched me! Fucking bitch–”

“I said back up.”

A manager hurried toward us before either of them could say anything else. Someone had already called the police. I almost told them not to bother.

I wanted to go home. I wanted a shower, clean clothes and absolutely nothing else added to my night. Filing a complaint meant questions, waiting around and possibly dealing with this again later.

Then another trace of rotten grapefruit reached me. He had known exactly what he was doing with his pheromones. That bothered me more than anything. Maybe I wasn’t the first person he had done it to. I didn’t want to become the reason there was a next one.

So I stayed.

By the time the police finished taking my information and led him away, I was exhausted. One of the officers suggested I get some fresh air, so Geonsu followed me outside. Neither of us spoke until the door shut behind us. The cold helped a little.

“Are you feeling any better?” Geonsu asked. He stayed several steps away from me.

“A little.”

“Do you need anything? Medication, or somewhere to sit?”

“I can’t… sit right now,” I whispered.

His brows pulled together.

“I just want to go home. I want to…” I stopped. “I want to shower,” I finally said. “My pants are sticky. I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.”

His expression changed. He understood. “Okay, okay…” He pulled out his phone. “I can get you a taxi. Or… Is there somebody you want me to call?”

“I– I don’t know. I live in Washington Heights. It’s pretty far,” I mumbled.

“My apartment is closer.”

I looked at him. There went the back of his neck again.

“I live in East Village,” he added quickly. “You could shower there. If you want. I can wait outside, or—” He stopped himself. “Only if you’re comfortable.”

Maybe I should have been more wary of a man I had met properly less than two hours ago, but I wasn’t. He had spent most of those two hours struggling to look me in the eyes, and the moment something actually happened, he had kept his distance unless I needed him closer.

I needed to get clean.

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”