Page 55 of Knot His Reality

It’s the best way to avoid miscommunications, that’s for sure.

For the next few hours, we try out six new board games—some are a lot of fun, while others I’d rather never play again.

When we head back to the compound, I hesitate in the entryway.

“I want to say thank you. Today could’ve been a disaster and kind of started as one, but I appreciate that each of you was willing to listen to me about what I needed from you.” I take a moment to meet each of their gazes. “Not everyone is willing to do that, and it means a lot to me that you did. The good news for you all is you only have a little over twenty-four hours before we all come back together again.”

“Thank you for showing me something you love, Remy.” Gracie waves for me to lower my head so she can kiss my cheek. “You helped me discover something I enjoy today, and I’m grateful for that.”

Each of the alphas offers me a thank you as well before they all follow Gracie up the stairs.

I’m so glad today ended better than it began, but damn, I wish I could take a nap.

Chapter Thirteen

Aubrey

Makingmywayupthe stairs, I’m torn. While I’m sad that our date is over, I’m glad we’re one step closer to Remington being finished meeting his suitors.

The two of us clicked right away because of our shared interests, but I know better than to count on that to carry me through the show. While sharing interests with a partner is a plus, it’s not the end-all, be-all.

Sometimes, it can actually be a detriment, as there are people who don’t want to be with someone who’s just like them. It’s a sentiment I understand, and I won’t allow myself to become complacent—especially not this early in the game.

Not that I think this is a game. No, this show could change the rest of my life.

“Are you okay, Aubrey?”

Glancing up, I find Gracie standing at the top of the stairs, watching me.

“Of course,” I tell her with a smile. “I was just thinking about what’s coming now that Remy is meeting his last set of suitors soon. Plus, we’ll be meeting the prior day suitors soon.”

None of us are sharing a room, and our rooms are on the third floor. As far as I could tell last night, none of the other suitors have rooms up here. I haven’t met any of them yet, though I did see a few of them in the living room on the second floor when I was going down the stairs for breakfast.

But that’ll all change tonight.

I’m worried after how badly the four of us struggled to get along at first, what that might mean for meeting the rest of the suitors. What if we have the same issues with them as we did with one another? What a disaster that would be.

“You’re worrying too much,” she says with a small smile. “Everything will happen as it’s meant to. Worrying about it won’t change the outcome. Why borrow trouble when you don’t have to?”

I really like Gracie. She’s so different from anyone else I know, and she makes me feel like I can be myself without being judged.

“I know you’re right, but that doesn’t make it all go away, sadly.” I shake my head, pausing now that we’ve reached our rooms. Hers is across from mine, with an empty room beside me. Nolan’s room shares a wall with mine, and Santiago’s is next to his. There’s another room that’s across from Nolan’s and then two pack suites. As far as I know, no one has been coming or going from the other rooms. “What are you planning to do until we have to meet Bree?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I like to see where life takes me, so I’m not much for making plans. The structure of the show is weird for me because I can’t just go about life like I usually would, but it’s good for things to change from time to time.”

I laugh because she didn’t tell me a damn thing. “So what were you thinking, then?”

“Well, all the suitors are sequestered to the top two floors, right?” She smiles when I nod. “Then there are likely to be at least a few hanging around. Maybe we should see if we can meet a few of them before the interview.”

“You know what? That sounds a lot better than sitting in my room doing nothing. Let’s do that.”

We about-face and head back down the short hallway. I consider knocking on Santiago and Nolan’s doors but decide against it. I’d rather meet the other suitors without them with us. I’m giving Santiago the benefit of doubt after he shared his story, but I’ve already seen how off-putting he can be. As for Nolan, he prefers to sit in the background first, so it would probably be better to let him meet the others on his own.

Tilting my head, I realize there are sounds coming from the game room. We hadn’t stopped to check in there after walking up, too focused on heading to our rooms. I lay my hand on Gracie’s lower back and lead her inside. I stuck my head in the room last night just to see what it looked like, but I hadn’t taken any time to really check it out.

There are more people in here than the amount of noise led me to believe. There are two men sitting on one of the couches in front of the big screen televisions on the wall, playing some kind of first-person shooter game. A man and a woman sit at the bar, eyes roving over the room as they speak quietly, and there are two men and two women gathered around a pool table.

“Oh, new meat!” one of the men playing the video game says before jumping up and hurrying over to us. He has a black fedora sitting on top of his brown hair with waves falling over his forehead and an easy smile on his face.He’s shorter than me by quite a few inches, probably just under six feet, if I had to guess. “Hi, there. I’m Milo, a day one suitor.”

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