Page 70 of Knot All is Crystal
“I’m serious about finding you the perfect pet name, my precious,” Maverick is saying.
“Oh, no, not my precious,” she groans. “No way.”
“Fine,” he whines on an exhale. “Back to the drawing board. Anyways. When am I moving in?”
She drops her mouth open, no doubt to deny, based on the look on her face, when a knock on the door sounds off again. Her body tenses.
“That the Beta?” Maverick says, swinging his head to look at the door.
“Yeah, I’m not expecting anyone else.” Her voice quivers with nerves, making me long to protect her.
I move towards the door. “I’ll get it, introduce myself first,” I say.
But when I open the door, I discover introductions aren’t needed.
“Hiccup?” I say incredulously. “You look just like Alan, wow.”
His mouth falls open. “Emmanuel? What are you… Oh shit.” He ruffles his red hair, reminding me so much of that four-year-old boy who followed Alan and me around the neighborhood. “This is awkward.”
“You’re the Beta Crystal is interested in?” It’s hard to see Gage as anything other than that little kid, almost a little brother, even if I haven’t seen him or Alan in years.
Alan moved out at the age of nineteen, leaving Lunarcrest to attend a small college in a nearby state. Gage was five. I stayed because my parents were still here, and Lunarcrest University is a great school.
Which means I was still in the neighborhood when Gage’s mom died. She was a single mom, which was why I kept babysitting Gage when I could, even through college.
But she got involved in some shady dealings and didn’t come home one day.
Alan came back to see Gage through his grief, but wouldn’t bring Gage home with him. He must have been around ten at this time. Alan said he couldn’t care for a kid and left Gage to be put in foster care.
I haven’t seen him since.
“Uh, yeah, I guess I am,” he says timidly. Though he’s fully grown and covered in beautiful tattoos, he’s still got the same sheepish grin as the kid I remember. “Let’s go in, yeah?”
I step back, letting him pass by me before shutting the door and turning the lock out of habit. He’s giving Crystal a gentle hug when Maverick yelps in surprise.
“Tattoo artist!” He says, then rips off his shirt, pointing at his chest. “Look how well it’s healing!”
Crystal takes a step back, staring at the tattoo of a tarnished crown wrapped in overgrown flowers that covers Maverick’s right pec. “A.. a crown?”
“An abandoned crown, technically,” the other Alpha hums. “One that’s been left behind.”
Gage looks at Maverick, then Crystal, and then bursts into loud, hysterical laughter. “Fucking, of course! Of course! One of your Alphas is my brother’s best friend, and the other is Manic-fucking-Mav, who I just happened to tattoo a few days ago.” He leans over, propping himself up on his knees. “This is wild. Are there cameras? Feels like a prank show.”
“Nah, man, I don’t do prank shows. I’m like, way above them,” Maverick says dismissively.
“Wait. Okay, wait. Start over,” she says in confusion, stepping away from all of us. “You did Maverick’s tattoo?”
“I sure did. Manic Mav sat like a champ for a couple of hours.”
That’s when I realize where I know Maverick from. He was on some cheesy reality TV show about Lunarcrest City as a club DJ.
“Manic Mav?” I wrinkle my nose at the name. “Why did you choose that moniker?”
“Because I’m a DJ, and I have bipolar disorder,” Maverick says with a shrug. “It seemed to fit.”
Crystal’s face flares with heat as she hums, “I should probably tell you I’ve watched the show, huh?”
His face lights up with joy. “You have? Did you like it?”
