Page 117 of Two For the Show
At the thought of them, our bond lights up with excitement. They know I’m on my way.
Over the past few years, Quinton’s Rot has stayed in remission, and he’s stopped having to self-medicate.
I mean, he still gets high, but that’s because he wants to.
Matteo is cooking more than ever, and he’s even had his dad over a few times. Their relationship is good, but it’s still very surface-level. But he is learning his grandmother’s recipes from his father, which has been incredible for my taste buds.
Quinton was right about the pupusas. I would absolutely use one for a pillow if I could.
Dario and Dexter are playing music together again. They’ve even started doing it for some of the acts in the show. Calvin, in particular, likes when they accompany him.
And Jude has come into his own here. He’s the most incredible showrunner, even if he is starting to take a step back from the public side of his duties. He has begun training Edmund as Carl trained him, and it’s going well.I don’t know how much longer Jude will step onto the stage before he pulls back and moves entirely behind the scenes, but for now, he’s happy with how things are going.
Lost in thought, I turn the corner and smack into a soft body.
“Shit!” Elizabeth, my best friend, says, scrambling to her feet. “Sorry, Alex, I didn’t see you.” When we hired her two years ago, I had no idea we’d end up so close. Now, I can’t imagine not having her in my life.
It’d been a long time since I had a female friend other than Sylvia, much less an Omega one, and it’s been so much fun. Having someone to vent to about our packs is invaluable. And the fact that we work together doesn’t hurt.
I laugh and smooth out my jeans and maroon blouse. “Nope, that was on me. I’m in my head.”
“Ooh, I forgot. It’s your anniversary, right?” Her pretty blue eyes sparkle. “I’m going to need all the details tomorrow. The dirty ones.”
Her unique orange ginger tea scent is almost as familiar as my own now that we spend so much time together.
“I will tell you an appropriate amount of details,” I chuckle, pushing my hair behind my ears. I’m so glad my bangs grew out. “But I’m late, so I gotta run.”
“If you’re already late, do you want me to touch up your makeup or anything before you go?” Liz loves to play around with my hair and do my makeup. It’s not that I don’t know how to do my own, but it’s indulgent and fun to let someone else do it for you.
I shake my head. “No thanks. I did it before I had to run in to stitch up Edmund, again.”
“Oh my God, that kid is always getting hurt. Okay,have fun!” She continues down the hallway to her office, which is only a few doors down from my clinic.
“Quit working!” I shout over my shoulder. “It’s past five!” I don’t stick around to hear her rebuttal.
I still can’t believe we’ve got almost this entire floor of the Pack Palms Hotel and Casino to ourselves. It’s not that we need much, but they put me and the guys up in a suite and have all of the offices our team needs right down the hall.
It’s a very short commute.
My phone pings, and I look down at it and smile. Amiria, Jude’s sister, sent me a photo of our nephew, who his now missing his two front teeth, holding a soccer trophy. As I type out a message and add some emojis, I can’t believe how much everything has changed from my one decision to run away and join the circus.
It turns out, all those years ago, Amiria watched my press conference, completely shocked to see her brother standing behind me. The fact that I could get up there and speak out against my scent match and pack shocked her, and she immediately reached out to Jude to start making her own plan to leave.
She’s been living in Utah, near their parents, for two years now, and though the custody battle was long and drawn out, she managed to get her old pack to sign away their parental rights.
I won’t tell Jude, because he would freak out, but she’s starting to date again. He’d probably be on the first flight out to make some threats in person.
Before I have the chance to open the door to our suite, it flies open, and Quinton fills the frame.
“Oh, thank God you’re here,” he says, clutching his chest dramatically. “Matteo is fretting over the cheesecake, Dexter and Dario are arguing over who gets to sit next toyou at dinner, and Jude may carve a path in the floor for how he’s pacing.”
I kiss my rotten Alpha, only now he’s rotten because he keeps using the Rot as an excuse to get out of chores.
Still.
After three years in remission.
I give him a soft kiss on the lips and follow him into the living area, where it is just as he described. Jude ceases his pacing and whips his head up to stare me down.
