Page 151 of Knot Their Omega

“What are you expecting them to do?” Nate Jr. snaps. “To find the?—”

“YES!” Rex yells, silencing any form of argument as he slams his hands on the table in front of him that holds the various papers of our contracts.

The noise doesn’t make me flinch, but I can see the surprise in Kenji, Kai, and even James.

It’s the first time any of us have seen Rex lose his cool.

“You want to use my life to make fucking money? FIND MY OMEGA THEN! You want to trend and enjoy the benefitsof constantly scrutinizing my every move, DO SOMETHING RIGHT BY HELPING ME! All everyone ever did was ‘wish me well.’ Good luck, bro. I hope you find them, my man. Get more popular and maybe the police will get involved. What kind of fuckery is all that?!” he says as his body shakes with rage. “What the fuck would you know? You have an Omega walk straight into your life, and you’re playing checkers. You wouldn’t fucking know what it means to lose them. To want to scavenge the world just to find them again. In fact, why would you care? All you’ve ever cared about is yourself.”

“That’s not true!”

“Oh fuck off,” Rex tosses back. “You don’t give a shit about this band! You have no fucking talent in comparison to everyone else in this damn room!”

He tries to argue, but Rex points at James.

“James has declined twenty various offers from other bands around the world for his guitar skills and expertise in the music industry,” Rex reveals and then points to Kenji. “Do you know how many people have BEGGED Kenji to contact them for solo contracts and long-term commitments because of how fucking badass he is on the drums? Don’t fucking even get me started on his vocals. You know that fucker you like to bring down and label as some lunatic has more talent than you can ever learn, and you’re scared he’ll sweep you away with just one solo chance. That’s why you don’t want him doing any background vocals, let alone getting a single solo on one fucking song. Nobody can take your shine.”

He then points to Kai, determined to get his point across.

“Always calling Kai a mute when he doesn’t even need to be here! He’s not even in the band! Not because he can’t be, but because you keep telling everyone he’s just a follower who comes around like some groupie.”

I see the way those words make Kai frown. Kenji looks just emotionally affected by the revelation.

“Yet, when you’re drunk and fucking girls on the tour bus, Kai can play on the guitar for hours, creating chords and entire songs that some can’t even master on a piano, let alone a fucking guitar!”

James surprisingly points to me.

“And look right here. The Jack of all Spades.”

Shit…

“You have all the talent in the world. The vocals. Able to play any instrument. You take charge like a manager should, but you should be trying to lead this shit. You should be the backup singer or on the front lines pushing Blooming Salvation’s debut to the grandest it can be!” He states all the facts I haven’t heard in a long while. He then points to Nate Jr.

“But no…. you protect this douche. You protect this fucker who thinks he’s the shit against EVERYONE! You know what a bastard he is to his fellow bandmates, and you barely DO anything about it. What kind of pack shit is this? If you saw this fucker kill someone, you’d just brush it under the rug.”

“Just say you’re jealous of my friends being loyal to me,” Nate Jr. huffs, rewarding him with a side glare from me while James laughs.

“Jealous?” he barks. “Of what?” He gestures his hand up and down, acknowledging Nate Jr.’s stature. “Tell me, why should I be jealous of a fake, wannabe artist who’s so desperate for fame that he’s willing to sell out his friends so they can never get ahead?”

“Now you’re just talking smack,” Nate Jr. brushes it off and even rolls his eyes, but James’ words leave me feeling confused.

“What?” I don’t see how Nate would be selling us out to get ahead.

“Oh, so you never noticed, huh?” James declares, grabbing the rest of our attention as he chuckles far too hard. It’s as if he’s been waiting for this grand moment to do this reveal.

“Notice what?” Kenji chips in, his curiosity obvious in his voice.

“Here comes a bunch of bullshi—” Nate Jr. begins, but my warning growl silences him immediately.

“Speak, James,” I order because I’m tired of wasting time.

“I guess you didn’t overhear our fine lead singer selling our entire back catalog for cash last week.”

The way my heart skips a few beats has me feeling uneasy about the sudden news.

“Huh?” Kenji looks confused as he slowly glances over at Kai. “Our catalog? You mean all the songs we’ve been making over the last two years?”

“Yes,” James reveals as he glares at the culprit of this apparent disaster. “The only one he couldn’t add was whatever Kenji was making last week. The day you were in the other studio that’s usually booked two years out. I’m sure he tried, but that studio has different engineering, and apparently, Blair Vesper was signed up to use that studio, so the organizers went over and beyond to ensure everything was encrypted and protected from potential thieves trying to steal the samples.”

---