Page 82 of Knot All is Crystal
Gage returns to the nest in his jeans, a grimace on his face.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Shit, no, I don’t. And it’s Thursday! I have to work today.” I try to search for my phone, but Emmanuel clings tighter to me.
“It’s six-fifteen.” Gage leans against the door frame.
“Oh, shit,” Maverick whispers. He chews his lip as he looks around the nest with unseeing eyes. Out of nowhere, something is bothering him. I’m unsure where his worry comes from, but I’ve never seen him look so uncomfortable.
Gage notices, too.
“Mav, buddy, you okay?”
Maverick looks stricken as he eyes the Beta. “Oh, uh. I didn’t take my meds last night. I should be fine. I can take one of them in the morning. It just makes me a little groggy. But it’s better than missing them, you know? No one would want to see that.” He chuckles, but it’s humorless.
Before I can speak, Maverick leaps to his feet. “Anyways! Do you have coffee, sugar tits?”
“Not if you call me sugartits, I don’t. No way,” I shout over Gage’s peals of laughter.
“I’ll get there eventually!” Maverick says with a forced cheer. “What about tea? Who wants tea? I’m going to go make something hot and caffeinated for everyone.”
And he’s out the door.
Emmanuel, Gage, and I look at each other with equal expressions of confusion. “Is he okay?” I don’t know who I’m asking, but I need to know.
“He seems a little uncomfortable about missing his meds. I’ll go check on him,” Gage says as he clamors out of my tiny nest.
“You’ve got to get ready for work, mi amor,” Emmanuel says softly.
“I have to be at Prism tonight,” I whisper. “How am I supposed to face Kieran, knowing what I know now?”
“We’re going to figure this out, Crystal. I promise.”
* * *
Tyler tossesa bar rag at my face. “Do not lie to me,” he admonishes sternly. “Something is different.”
I roll my eyes and turn my back to him, arching my back to look at him upside down over the bar. “Nothing is different. I am the same broken bitch you’ve known for years.”
“Ah, yes, broken. You love to say that like you think you’re a toy discarded on the ground. But you’re not. You’re broken in the way Kintsugi pottery is broken.” He grabs the sides of my face, forcing me to stay arched backward, unable to look away from his intense gaze. “Fixed into something stronger, something precious.”
A lump forms in my throat, and my eyes start to water. “And for the pottery so far gone that it cannot be repaired?”
“Then you build a beautiful mosaic with it. Honoring where it came from and celebrating something new.” He kisses my forehead before letting me go with a little shove. “Now, what do you know about our clients for the evening?”
I clear my throat, forcing the emotions down beneath a layer of resilience. “If my outfit is any indication, they’re young and rich.”
In my locker this evening was a tight, red latex catsuit. Though most of my skin is covered, I still feel on display. It’s like a second skin and was a pain in the ass to get on.
The ladies in the pleasure den had to help me cover my entire body with baby powder before I could even get it to move an inch up my body.
My breasts peek out of a heart-shaped cutout on the chest, and the boots I’m wearing could probably kill someone if I stepped on their face.
Tyler whistles as he drags his eyes up my figure. “You’re going to be popular tonight in that getup. Even I want you to step on my balls in that.”
Before I can retort, Puck comes striding through the open door.
“Queenie,” he says sharply. I suppose we’re going to pretend last night didn’t happen.
