Page 54 of Knot Her Reality

“It was great meeting you, Bradley. We’ll keep working on that shyness.” I lean over and brush my lips against his cheek.

“Thank you, Evangeline—for being patient with me and for understanding. I won’t forget that.”

He walks away before I can respond, and I turn my attention back to Reginald and the driveway. Only one more suitor to meet and one more group date before I start making decisions. I’m not looking forward to that part, but I’ll deal with it when the time comes. There’s no point in worrying about it until then.

The final limo pulls into the drive, and I take a deep breath. I’m not going to lie—meeting twenty people, even over five days with an added week between, is exhausting. And I still have another seven weeks on the show. Seven weeks to choose a pack that I’ll spend the rest of my life with. No pressure or anything.

Before the limo has come to a complete stop, the door is opening. As soon as it stops, a man steps out with a smirk on his face. And what a face it is.

The man is only a few inches taller than me, his dirty blond hair longer on top and perfectly styled. His tux hugs his body, though he doesn’t wear a tie, and the top few buttons are open, revealing a hint of his chest. He has a neat beard that’s darker than his hair.

“Hello, Evangeline,” he calls out as he jogs over to me, seemingly unbothered by his fancy clothes. He stops much closer than most people would, and his scent hits me dead in the face—raspberry, pecan, and pralines. An interesting combination, but he’s also entirely too close for someone whose name I don’t know. Unsurprisingly, he’s an alpha. He wouldn’t be the first alpha I’d met who thought that he could do what he wants. Not that I know if that’s the case for this alpha. I remind myself that I have to keep an open mind.

I take a step back, keeping my smile firmly in place. “Hi, there.” I try to keep my voice steady, but I do not approve of him shoving himself into my space with no warning or permission. “Who might you be?”

At least he has the good grace to look abashed. “I guess I should’ve started with that. I might be a little excited. I’m sorry about that. My name is Sterling Palmer. I’m thirty-two, and as I’m sure you can tell from my scent, I’m an alpha and a game designer.”

It definitely makes me feel better that he apologized and seems to know I was uncomfortable. That’s a point in his favor. This is why no one should ever trust their first impressions because they’re often not one hundred percent accurate.

“What kind of games do you design?”

A smile lights up his face as he tells me about the video games he’s worked on. I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I do recognize some of the titles. One of my good friends is really into gaming, and he’s going to be so psyched to find out that I met one of the designers of his favorite games. I know just enough about the games for us to talk until Reginald signals for me to wrap it up.

“It appears to be time for dinner,” I tell him, taking his offered arm when we head to join the others standing with Bree.

My eyes meet Tessa’s as we approach, and I can’t seem to look away. She’s just so beautiful.

“Are you okay, Evangeline?” Sterling asks.

I turn my head to blink up at him, taking a moment to register his words. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just been a long twelve days, and I’m starving.”

As the five of us follow Bree up the walkway, I listen to my suitors chatting around me. I don’t think I fully realized just how tired I really was until right now. I hope I can make it through dinner before I crash.

Once again, I appreciate that no one else has mentioned the fact that we’re meeting a week later. I know that Conrad, Gavin, Natalie, and Ronan hadn’t mentioned it, but I’m surprised that no one did today. I guess I expected more of the suitors to be upset. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely happy they aren’t, but I guess I was expecting more blowback since I’ve had nothing but issues since I arrived on set.

Things might just be turning around for me—thank the gods.

Chapter Sixteen

Evangeline

I’m practically bouncing from foot to foot as Bree laughs at me. “You okay over there, Evie?”

“I’m just really excited about today’s date. Yesterday’s went really well—“

“Oh, trust me, I know just how well it went.“ Bree snickers, laughing louder when I pin her with a glare. “Don’t get mad at me when you’re the one who let the betas get you off in the SUV. Poor Justin and Lucas had to walk across the parking lot and pretend like they didn’t know what you were getting up to in there.”

Rolling my eyes, I go back to finishing up my hair. Today, I’m wearing my hair in a double fishtail crown braid and some mascara. Today’s date is going to require entirely too much sweating for more effort than this. Plus, I look cute. “Whatever, ma’am. I watched your season, so I know all about your patio daddy adventures.”

Glancing at her in the mirror, I see how she blushes and sticks her tongue out at me before ducking her head. “Yeah, okay. You have a point.”

Finished with my hair, I sit beside Bree to pull on my socks and shoes.

“You’re not mad about the whole Tessa thing, are you?” she asks abruptly.

“What?” I glance at her, shaking my head. “Of course not. It’s not like you could’ve told me she was going to be one of my suitors. It would’ve ruined the surprise.”

She hums. “I know, but I also know she took a lot of flak for what happened at the end of last season. We weren’t sure it was a good idea to have her come on as a suitor, but I want my best friend to find love like I did.”

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