Page 165 of Knot All is Crystal
“It’s hot,”Trina whines. “I closed the shop to be miserable?”
Win wraps their arm around her waist, clicking their tongue. “Shush, my love, we are supporting Mav. Besides, the sun will go down soon.”
Mav has the headlining set at the Electric Music Festival, and I could not be more proud of him.
But I regret coming early. I should’ve tried to slip in right before his set started.
There’s a special partner entrance to these things, right?
Whooping from behind me has my head whipping around. Crystal is on Puck’s shoulders, wearing a tiny bikini top, shorts, and more body glitter than I knew existed. Her blue and green hair is up in little space buns.
She’s proud to show off the back of her neck now, where Puck’s bite has claimed the once blighted spot.
Manny trails behind them, holding cotton candy in one hand and a massive water jug in the other. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s here. This seems like a recipe for a migraine. But when I questioned him and mentioned that no one would be upset if he stayed home, he leveled me with a look that made me want to roll over and show him my belly.
“Happy looks good on you,” Trina says quietly. “I love seeing you smile like that.”
I blush at her words, but I don’t deny them. I am ridiculously happy.
After telling my brother Alan about Kieran, we’ve started working on our relationship. I still haven’t gotten over the hurt that he didn’t even try to take care of me, but I understand him more now. He spent so much of his childhood caring for Mom that he couldn’t bring himself to give up any more time for me.
Do I wish it were different? Hell yeah.
But I’m starting to forgive him.
I thought he was going to puke when I told him I ended up in a pack with Manny, though. He still can’t believe it, even though he’s visited with his wife a few times.
Eventually, we meet up with Mav’s Omega sisters, Tilly and Tabby, and get positioned in the special family area that’s roped off beside the stage.
Manic Mav’s energy is unmatched, and he puts on an incredible show. The crowd is jumping and screaming, lasers are spitting around, and the energy of the night is so contagious that it’s hard not to get into it.
But it’s loud as fuck, and I find myself covering my ears. Manny taps me on the shoulder and hands me a pair of earplugs.
“Good looking out,” I shout, even though I know he can’t hear me.
“Alrightttttt, Lunarcrest!” Maverick croons into his mic. “I’m so fucking stoked to be here! Thank you for supporting me and loving me. Are you ready to go manic?” They go wild at his catchphrase, which he firmly says he’s allowed to use since he does, in fact, have bipolar disorder.
But some people on the internet have issues with it. He says you can’t make everyone happy and that he won’t hide who he is or how it feels to live with the condition.
The set is longer than I expected, and I’m exhausted by the end. As the night wears on, he grabs his mic again. “This is it, Lunarcrest,” he says breathlessly. He’s especially gorgeous tonight, with his hair sticking to his face with sweat, a fishnet shirt over his bare chest where I can see my tattoo peeking through, and a pair of strappy black pants. “I’m almost done. But before I go, there’s something I wanna do.”
And then he takes off his fucking pants.
Why is he taking off his pants?
“Puck, my man, your material is getting old. Here’s something new to make fun of me for!”
Crystal nearly falls off Puck’s shoulders, laughing, and the big Alpha isn’t doing much better. He’s supporting himself on the fence railing, shaking his head at my ridiculous partner.
“Oh, also,” Mav continues. “Crystal, it’s time, yeah?” She starts to hit Puck on the back of the head, and he puts her down. She hops the fence and runs to the stage, where a couple of security guards lift her up. She scrambles over to our Alpha and gives him a big kiss.
He gives her the mic, and she spins to look at us with a massive smile. “Mav and I have been working on something, and we thought where better to unveil it than here, in front of thousands of people who have no idea who we are and don’t give a shit about our pack?”
Manny places a hand on my shoulder, not bothering to try to contain his laughter at the two of them. He leans down to my ear.
“Twenty bucks says whatever it is is going to be mortifying.”
“That feels like an easy bet since Mav is already pantless,” I reply, shaking my head.
