Page 15 of Rocked By the Alpha
What if they actually won the Goddamn award? She couldn’t imagine having to climb up there on the stage and pretend that she hated him when her body very much craved him. She was a good liar, sure, but she wasn’t an actress.
But their pleas had gone unheard. And now there’s an added problem: her heat. It’s not due to start for another three days but already she can feel the temperature of her skin rising and that faint tingle at the back of her neck.
But maybe that isn’t her coming heat at all. Maybe it’s knowing she’s going to see him tonight. Shit, might need to shake his hand and kiss his cheek in front of a live audience of millions.
Her knees shake just thinking about it, about him. Will she be able to control her instincts so close to her heat? All she can think about is that Alpha. It’s consuming her thoughts.
“I think it’s a good idea for us all to have our thank yous prepared,” Natasha continues. “Especially with those assholes fromThe Packhovering about on stage. If I know what I’m saying, I’m going to be less likely to fucking lay into them. And I don’t want to give them that satisfaction.”
“I still can’t believe we might have to go through this,” Tanya muses. “It kind’ve taints the whole thing, doesn’t it? Having to do all the fake smiling and bullshit when they hand us the award.”
“I’m not shaking their hand,” Nat snaps. “They can kiss my ass.”
“Alison will kill you,” Ruby mutters. Can she get away without shaking West’s hand too? If she touches him, it could be game over for her. If he takes her hand in his, she’ll be begging him to pull her off stage and fuck her in the wings.
“Alison can kiss my ass too.”
“Sounds kinky,” Tanya says, taking a sip from a water bottle. They’re staying off the booze until after the ceremony. Ruby’s thankful for it. Nat is less likely to do something erratic if she’s sober.
“Anyway, you two should plan what you’re going to say. You might get a chance for a quick thank you into the microphone,” Natasha says.
“Yeah,” Tanya tilts back her chin so another make-up artist can apply mascara, “I think I’ll just thank my family.”
“Me too,” Ruby says.
“Really?” Nat says, rolling her eyes. “Because they’ve been so supportive.”
Ruby sighs. “Yeah, but if you both thank yours and I don’t thank mine, it’ll look like I’m deliberately getting at them.”
“Well, you will be and it’s nothing more than they deserve.” Nat swipes away Misty’s hand from her face and eyes Ruby. “Will they even be watching?”
The pre-event buzz has been playing on a loop on every news channel for the last 48 hours but her parents probably haven’t noticed. She sent them a text earlier reminding them, but they haven’t responded.
Ruby shrugs.
“You should be thanking yourself, Ruby. It’s your own hard work that’s got you here.”
“We should all be thanking each other.” Ruby grins at her best friend. The best friend who has backed her and been with her every step of the way. “I’m going to have to thank them, it’ll cause too much trouble if I don’t.” She flops back in her chair. “I wish we were just performing instead.”
“Apparently if you win one of the big awards, you’re likely to be asked to perform the following year. Unless you’ve dropped off the radar by then, of course. Ow!” Natasha says, glaring at Misty as the hairdresser tugs another roller free. “But anyway, did you think that speech was okay? I didn’t miss anyone, did I?” She shuffles through her index cards.
“Natasha, it’s great. Not too long, not too short, and sounds genuine. Don’t sweat it.” Tanya crosses her arms over her chest and closes her eyes. “I hope we win. It’ll be such a mega boost for us. And it will be a massive fuck you to those ass wipes.”
“We deserve to win,” Natasha says, flipping a curl out of her eyes. “Our stuff is about a million times better than any of the competition. I mean the lyrics on the Starz track. It doesn’t even make sense. It’s just like, let’s think of a random word to make this song rhyme.”
“I like that song.” Tanya hums it under her breath, her eyes still closed.
A knock sounds on the door and it creaks open.
“Another bouquet of flowers.” says their manager’s assistant, Ryan, his arm full of white roses. It’s the fifth time he’s appeared with flowers in the last hour.
“Who’s this one from?” Natasha asks.
Ryan juggles the flowers in his hands, searching through the stems for a tag. “Erm, oh, it’s from the perfume company.”
“Uh huh. Are you making a note? We need to send thank you cards.”
Tanya groans. “Is that necessary?”
