Page 4 of Knot Just for Show

“She did overstep, for sure—but you kind of left her no choice.”

I whirl around to face Cosmo, my unexpected second-bestest-bestie and bonded packmate of Daphne. I know Daphne’s pregnant andhis omega, but a teensy part of me feels betrayed that I can’t have a single person on my side here.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I put my face in my hands and allow Cosmo to guide me to the couch where Daphne folds me in her arms, holding me against her even though I refuse to soften in her embrace.

“Ursula, you haven’t even tried to get out there, and you’re clearly miserable! Something had to be done,” Daphne soothes.

Out of the corner of my peripheral vision, I see Agnes roll her eyes.

“I understand that you’re miffed that we went behind your back, sure I can get that. But how are you going to tell me that now that you’re faced with the prospect of meeting some incredible men—without all the extraneous superficial bullshit—you’re not the least bit excited?”

Agnes’ cavalier attitude about betraying my trust has already got me miffed, but it’s the subtext of the rest of her argument that reallypisses me off.

I’m no Daphne Dale. I’ve always been thebig girl—called ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ long before anyone might refer to me as ‘curvy’ or ‘thicc’. No matter what the words, they are always spoken with the undertone of taboo—of disapproval.

The quiet part that Agnes is refusing to say out loud:maybe you’ll have better luck when suitors get to know you and your sparkling personality before they actually see you;is like a knife in the back.

As if Daphne can read my thoughts, she nuzzles my neck affectionately, my Pistachio-Rose-Saffron scent mixing with her Peony-Apricot-Honey. The familiar intermingling of perfumes begins to calm me, even if there’s no beta involved.

“Hey, don’t think about it like that.” Daphne’s words are meant to be a balm, but coming from the most perfect of movie stars? It still stings.

“So, what? I’m just supposed to resign myself to the fact that I’ve got to put my entire life on hold for forty days or whatever, to film this garbage?” I grumble, grudgingly allowing my head to rest on Daphne’s shoulder.

Cammy and Lotte squeal with delight.

“Yes, that’s the general idea,” Agnes grunts affirmatively.

I sit upright, gnashing anxiously on my wad of strawberry bubblegum—hands fidgeting in my lap.

“And… I’ll have to be on camera like—the entire time?” My heart pounds as I contemplate the prospect of beingwatchedby an entire camera crew 24/7—so that anyone with access to a major streaming service can watch me potentially embarrass myself once the show airs.

I blow a bubble, inflating the pink, fruity sphere larger than I usually dare—my mind elsewhere.

Daphne nods gravely.

“At the end of the day, you can sayno La-la,” she sighs.

“But I hope you sayyes.”

Just as I’m worried my head is about to explode, my strawberry bubble unexpectedly pops—pink sticky gum explodes all over my face and clings to a good portion of my hair.

Oh boy… What an auspicious omen.

Chapter Two

Ursula

Between the two of us, Julian and I are able to snip away the last of the snarling raven curls that had been claimed by my strawberry-bubblegum-snafu, leaving me with a chic (albeit unexpected) curly French bob.

Daphne and the twins had looked as if they were about to faint when I hacked out some of the biggest stickiest pieces so I could get back to focusing on having Daphne premiere ready without making the mess worse. Julian talked them down—insisting he would help me turn it into something actually stylish once we had a free moment.

“Honestly Ursula,” Julian stands back to appreciate our handiwork. “I think it really suits you—you were getting swallowed by it before.” He beams.

“Yeah, I mean–that was kind of intentional,” I grumble, scrunching my bouncy curls in the hand mirror’s reflection.

“I liked that I couldhidebehind it,” I grouse, pinching my shoulders toward my ears—my neck suddenly feeling exposed,naked.

Julian rolls his eyes at my self deprication.

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