Page 21 of Two For the Show
In short, she looks just as bad, if not worse, as Quinton does.
“How are we going to get you both better?” Matteo asks, echoing my thoughts. “You need each other, butyou don’t have enough pheromones right now to help her.”
“We’re going to figure it out.” My voice is stern, leaving no room for argument. “We’re not going to fail her again.”
“You didn’t fail me,” Alex murmurs, wiggling his body to lie across Quinton and me more comfortably. “If anything, I failed you. I should’ve trusted you could take care of me.”
“How could you have, though, when the clowns were still here?” Dario climbs onto his knees so he can see her face more clearly. “But we did it. We found them. They’re gone for good. You’re safe here, now.”
She smiles, and though it’s weak, it still makes my chest ache with happiness.
“Yeah, Matteo helped Jude interview everyone to nail it down, and then Dario trailed them. Jude snuck into their trailers and found the masks, then we implemented Dexter’s plan to get the message to you. A real group project,” Quinton tells her, stroking her bangs off her forehead.
“Sounds like it.” Her voice is a little raspy, no doubt from the amount of vomiting she’s been doing, if Matteo’s toilet embraces are anything to go by. She wiggles in my arms, and reluctantly, Quinton and I allow her to slide between us and sit up on her own. She blinks slowly, eyes lingering on each of us.
When she spots Matteo, she rubs her chest and then reaches out to him. He takes her hand and, with a surprising amount of force, she pulls him down to smush her into the couch.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers into his ear. “I’m so sorry I did this to you.”
“I’m not,” he responds, stretching out and lying acrossAlex and Quinton. “I was able to keep track of you. I would’ve known if they got you, and we would’ve found you.”
She hums, her hand rubbing through his hair before dropping down to stroke the bite mark under his ear. After a few quiet moments, she does another sweep of the room.
“Where’s Dexter?”
Chapter 9
I’ve beendrumming for three hours now. With my headphones on, I blow through every song that I enjoy lately, chasing a high that only comes from playing.
It’s been a long time since I used real drums over these electronic ones, and I miss the size and feedback they give, but this has been a good substitute. It’s not like I can fit a drumset in my trailer.
Well, not if I want any chance to move around.
Sweat gathers on my hairline, and if I weren’t noseblind to my scent, I’m sure it would feel like I’m swimming in caramel right now, because it’s been a long time since I’ve worked up a sweat like this.
We caught the clowns. We made a spectacle of running them out of the circus. Why isn’t she here yet?
Wasn’t that all she needed to feel safe here?
Or did the doctor not trust us to be able to protect her from her ex-Alphas?
I shouldn’t care.
I shouldn’t.
But something changed between us during RutGate. Ittook me a couple of days, a kick in the pants from Dario, and distance from her, to process it all, but it did.
I wasn’t saving my virginity or anything. It’s a made-up social construct designed to make people feel like sex is a commodity that must be won. I assumed Dario would find a nice Beta to settle down with, and maybe I would be involved, but probably not, and that’d be that.
Sex never felt like a motivator. I mean, I was attracted to people, sexually. I could see how it would be enjoyable, and the idea of it did not repulse me. But I wasn’t one of those people who felt like I had to pursue that kind of relationship. It was a take-it-or-leave-it thing for me.
But with Alex, I felt nearly feral for her, like I would never be happier than I was when she was wrapped around me, touching me, kissing me.
Addicted.
That’s why Omegas are dangerous.
They come into your life and take it over. It’s precisely what I didn’t want to happen.
