Page 43 of Omega Rock

Aiden’s fatigue is washed away from his face with Wes’s words. “That’s quick.”

Wes nods. “Yeah. It was. You’ll be joining Knotty Tour in two weeks for the rest of the run.”

My mouth slides open. “Excuse me?” Knotty Tour is only the largest rock tour in North America. Every summer it stops through all the major cities for two days of shows.

“Yes,” Wes says with a wide gesture of his hands. “Knotty Tour. This is a huge opportunity.”

Leo walks closer. “Aren’t those lineups usually finalized really far in advance? We always knew months before.” There’s also a deeper concern in his eyes and words. I understand immediately. How can we keep Leo safe on such a long, very crowded tour?

Wes bows his head a little. “Well, yes. The lineups are set far in advance. But a band dropped out, I heard about it and pulled some strings. Peoplewantyou all there. Exit Fate is coming out of the gate hot. But two months of touring is no joke. The tour bus is taken care of, but you guys need more songs. Fast.”

So this isn’t really a question of if we want to go. We’re already signed up. We all look at each other, the unspoken question flitting between us.Are we doing this?

“Fuck yeah,” Noah exclaims. “Let’s do it.”

Leo and Aiden nod. They’re old-hats at Knotty Tour, with Designation Outsider and Lost Time having headlined it multiple times in the past.

Wes’s gaze turns to me. “It’s a serious opportunity.”

He doesn’t mean as a chance for the band. He means it’s serious, so don’t fuck it up.

“I know,” I say. “Two weeks then. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

And a heat to fucking soothe.

ChapterThirteen

MIA

To my surprise—whichdoesn’t make sense, because it’s logical—my heat does soothe after having Aiden’s knot. I’m still living through a constant state of feverish cheeks and thrumming veins filled with need, but I’m not shaky or light-headed. Which is good because I really needed to get home to my apartment.

I promised the band I’d see them tomorrow. They’d let me go despite concern for my heat. And I understood, because there’s a solid chance that by tonight I’ll be craving them uncontrollably again. But we have two weeks to get ready for this tour. I need my notebooks, my old unused lyric collections, and more clothes. And maybe some string lights and posters and?—

If I’m going to be staying at Aiden’s while we prepare for Knotty Tour, and while I’m in this heat, I need just morethings. My things. Nesting thing.

I groan, the thought hitting me as I park my car at my apartment building. A nest, taking all of their knots, making it through this second heat without burning up from the inside, it’s all justso muchon top of preparing for Knotty Tour.

Thankfully, Sable is already waiting outside my apartment when I get there. She welcomes me with wide arms that only hug me for a moment before she pulls away. “How are you feeling?”

“Warm,” I admit and urge us on toward my apartment. “I, uh… Feel better after this morning.”

I’d called her on the way here and asked her to meet me. She agreed, but only after I explained why I sounded so happy.

Sable smirks. “I bet. You’re absolutely glowing.”

I can’t help but smile and shake my head a little. “Nothing about Exit Fate seems real to me. And yet it is very, very real.”

Her eyebrows wiggle. “It sure is. I can’t believe you took Aiden Paltier’s knot, girl!” She elbows my side. “Mia, Mia.” She sounds like a proud older sister.

“We really need to focus here,” I say, trying to steer her away from this conversation. Partially because this is embarrassing and mostly because if we keep talking about mybandmates’knots, I’m seriously going to have a problem sooner than later.

“Right, yes, so you can get back to your men,” Sable says.

“Mybandmates.”

She affixes a mock-serious crease to her brow. “Yes, of course.” Then she giggles. “Fucking hell, Mia.”

Yeah. Fucking hell. “I know.”

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