Page 60 of Knot Her Reality

But not Evangeline—of course not her. She absolutely deserves to know what happened, to know what I did. Luckily, she agreed to wait until I was ready to talk about it. Not that I ever think I’ll be ready for it, but it’s something I know I have to share with her and likely the other suitors. None of the other day five suitors mentioned it, which was a relief. Though, Sterling kind of took the attention away from anyone else with his attitude. It’s alphas like that who give us bad names.

I’m so not looking forward to the interview that I’m about to walk into. I’m sure that Sterling is going to make it all about him. But maybe that means no one will bring up last season because of it? Am I a terrible person for hoping that to be true?

I’ve done things I’m not proud of in my life—last season and the way I hurt Sophia being one of the biggest—but I don’t like to admit when I’m wrong. Who does? It’s embarrassing. Especially to a female alpha. We have to have such a hard exterior to be accepted by the men in the world who don’t think that we’re alpha enough. Then we’re told we’re not feminine enough to attract men to us. There’s no real way for us to win in our society, but it’s especially bad for women like me.

I’ve always known that bisexual women were looked down on, and I’ve heard my fair share of comments on the subject, but I’ve never faced the amount of hate that Evangeline has. Who protests a reality dating show because the omega is bisexual? Who are these people to tell us who we can and can’t love? Fuck them.

Pushing my shoulders back, I know I can’t put this off any longer. I throw open the door to my room, jumping slightly when I see Evander standing there. “Oh. Hey, Evander.”

“I was just coming to grab you. Bree is going a little crazy, worried about there not being enough time before the ceremony or something.” He shrugs as he grins. “Honestly, I’m kind of terrified of her right now, so I offered to come get you.”

Laughing, I step into the hallway and nod toward the game room. “She does that sometimes. She’s a bit of a control freak, though she’s gotten much better since finding her pack. But she’s also running the show by herself for the first time, which I’m sure is stressing her out. She’s usually all bark and no bite, but don’t let her smell your fear.”

He snorts. “I’ll try not to.”

When the pair of us step into the room, Bree’s eyes immediately narrow on me. “You, of all people, should know how important it is to be on time.”

“Oh, I do, and I’m still early. Take a few deep breaths for me, Bree. There’s no reason to get yourself this worked up.” Especially knowing what I know—what she doesn’t want anyone else to know. “Your blood pressure shooting through the roof isn’t good for you.”

Her face softens, her hand going to her stomach, and I shake my head. That’s not the way for her to hide her pregnancy at all. But at least my words had the effect I intended. She clears her throat, jerking her hand away from her stomach as she gestures toward the couches.

“Why doesn’t everyone have a seat so we can get started? I’ll attempt to keep the freakouts to a minimum.”

The couches and loveseats are set up the only way they can be with twenty suitors in the room for interviews. On each side there is a loveseat sandwiched between two couches and another loveseat at the bottom of the U-shape. I probably should’ve gotten here sooner so I could learn everyone’s names because the only people I know are my fellow day-five suitors. That’ll never do.

Evander leads me over to the couch where Bradley is sitting, and I take the center seat.

“Let’s very quickly go around and introduce yourselves. The day one through four suitors already know one another, but it’ll be easier for the day five suitors if we just get it over with. Bradley, if you’d like to start?”

And he does, each of us going around the room giving our name and designation. On the loveseat beside us, Sterling sits by himself. He’s spread out across it, leaving no room for anyone to sit with him even if they wanted to. Douche.

The couch on the other side of him sits three men and a woman. Natalie is sprawled across the laps of Koda—a male omega, what?!?! I can’t believe Bree was able to find someone willing to come on as a suitor—Conrad, and Ronan. On the loveseat in the center are two lovely beta women, Cora and Skylar. On the couch next to them are Gavin, Jagger, and Alejandro. It’s good to see him back. He definitely deserves to find his pack after what he did to make sure Sophia’s pack was complete. On the loveseat sits Viktor and Dustin, and the final couch holds Pack Reyes.

I can’t help running my eyes over their pack. Their head alpha is a female alpha, and I’m so excited to see that. They also already have an omega, so I’m not sure what they’re doing here. Unless they hope to find what Sophia and Chase found last season. Can’t blame them for that if it is the reason.

“Now that everyone knows who everyone else is, let’s get started. It would seem that the day-five suitors had a bit of an interesting date as well. Evangeline just can’t seem to have a boring date, can she?” Bree laughs.

Obviously, we know about the kayak incident, but I wonder what has happened on her other dates.

“That’s because Evangeline doesn’t understand that we can’t all share the same interests as her,” Sterling drawls.

“Or, could it be that you’re too afraid to try new shit?” I throw back at him, brows pinched. This asshole. “You don’t have to be interested in something to give it a try.”

Sterling sits up, eyes narrowing as they meet mine. “And why should I when I already know I’m not going to like it?”

“How about because it’s what the omega, who you’re meant to be winning over, wants you to?” Evander scoffs, not even bothering to look at the other alpha.

“The three of you might not have a problem with dancing on poles like sluts, but that’s not the kind of thing I want to do or ever plan to do.” He shakes his head. “And I won’t be made to feel bad about it.”

Bradley clears his throat, his smile tight as he turns to Bree. “Pole dancing is surprisingly athletic. I think it’s one of the best workouts I’ve ever had. Did I make an ass of myself? Possibly, but it was worth it to see how happy it made Evangeline. She did tell me I surprised her though, so that’s a definite win.”

“I was so bad at it,” I agree, following Bradley’s lead and turning the attention away from Sterling. “But that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of it. Who knew I’d enjoy doing something that I was terrible at?”

“I loved it, too,” Evander adds with a smirk. “But I wasn’t terrible at it, so maybe that’s part of the reason why. And the dirt bikes? I was in heaven. Honestly, it was the perfect date for me.”

Bree smiles, but I can practically see her eye twitching. She wants nothing more than to ream Sterling for being an asshole, but that’s not her job during these interviews. He’s made it perfectly clear what type of man he is, and America will see that when the show airs. We talk a little longer about our first thoughts on Evangeline before Bree pulls in the other suitors as we talk about the upcoming rose ceremony.

I have zero doubt that Evangeline will be sending Sterling packing, but are there any other suitors she’ll send home tonight? While it’s clear that she’s a strong, independent woman, she also seems to have a heart of gold. I get the feeling that she’s the type that likes to give second, and maybe even third, chances.

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