Page 61 of Knot His Reality

Carter reaches for my hand, lifting it to his lips. “It’s been wonderful meeting you, Remington—“

“Remy. Please call me Remy.”

Carter’s smile only grows. “It’s been nice meeting you, Remy. I look forward to getting to know you more outside of the information they provided us.”

“Thank you for being willing to give me a chance,” Riley adds, his fingers stroking along my face. “It means the world to me.”

With those two touches, my body feels like it’s on fire. My cock presses against my pants as I watch the two of them move to join Tessa and Taylor. My perfume scents the air, and I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone, slick is spilling from me.

Sometimes, I really hate being an omega.

No, that’s not true. I love being an omega. I just hate how I can’t hide my reactions to others. Scent blockers and scent cancelers do their best, but there’s only so much that can be done to keep my scent under control.

It would probably be easier if I just learned to accept it.

Turning back toward the driveway, my eyes clash with Reginald’s. My eyes narrow when I notice the stupid smirk he’s wearing.

Would Tylerreallymiss him?

Before I can contemplate that thought too much, I hear the sounds of the final limo arriving.

Damn. I’m about to meet my last suitor.

My stomach flips as my anxiety makes itself known, but I ignore it all as the limo pulls to a stop. When my last suitor exits, a sigh of relief falls from my lips.

Why? I have no idea. Maybe because I know this is the last suitor I’ll have to meet? I can’t say for sure, but the relief is palpable as he steps toward me.

He’s probably around my height with wavy brown hair that’s so dark it’s almost black. His face is scruffy, as if he forgot to shave, but there’s no way that’s not on purpose. His smile reveals even white teeth and puts me at ease.

“Hello,” he calls, lifting a hand to wave as he approaches.

“Hi,” I say with a smile matching his own. “You’re my final suitor.”

He nods. “That I am. Clearly, they saved the best for last. My name is Ian Dávila-Muñoz.”

I take his offered hand as hints of fennel and orange reach me—a beta. It explains why my body relaxes so much in his presence. I’ve heard more than a few assholes talking shit about betas and how they’re nothing special, but let me tell you now, that’s a lie. Betas can help settle both alphas and omegas mood—keeping us calm and relaxed when need be. They’re the caregivers. The ones who make sure we don’t wither away and die when our instincts are screaming at us to do nothing but fuck for days on end during a heat.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Ian. Please call me Remy.” I don’t release his hand, loving the calming energy practically flowing from him to me. “If you’re up for it, I’d love to hear more about you.”

“I guess it’s only fair since you need to get to know me.” Not once does his smile waver as he holds my gaze with his gorgeous hazel eyes. “I’m thirty-five and a beta—which I think you already figured out. I’m a pharmacist, and I come from a big family. My mom was blessed with five children, all male and all betas, but I haven’t heard her complain once. She’s the sole female in my parental pack. I have two alpha fathers, three beta fathers, and a male omega father. I don’t know who I’d be if it wasn’t for their influence on my life. They taught us from day one to help people. To be kind and loving. It’s why my brothers and I chose the careers we did.”

“Oh?” It’s not often I hear about such large families. It definitely gets the gears in my head turning, wondering if they’ll allow me to study their family too. But I push those thoughts away for now. This is about getting to know a suitor and not how they can help my research.

“You really want to hear about my family?” he asks, shrugging when I nod. “Okay, but you asked for it. We’re all two years apart, and I’m the middle child. My oldest brother is a pediatrician. My next brother is a social worker. My brother that’s just under me is a nurse, and my youngest brother is a teacher. While being a pharmacist might not seem as helpful as my brothers’ career choices, it really came from a desire to help people.

“I grew up in a small town in north Tennessee, and there was a shortage of pharmacists in the area for a long time. We were only able to get medications filled once a month, or we had to drive two hours to the city to get it taken care of. I watched what my omega father had to go through when he lost his suppressants. He has a medical condition that requires him to be on them constantly. Going through a heat could kill him.”

I lay my hand on his arm. “That’s horrible. Especially since I know there isn’t a cure for the two conditions he might have. I can’t imagine not being able to get the medication you need to survive. I’m so sorry that he had to go through that.”

Ian squeezes my hand. “He made it through, but it set me on a course I never veered from at fourteen years old. As soon as I graduated, I moved back home and worked there for seven years. By then, there were three other pharmacists in the area, and I decided to move out west. Even the cities seem to be in need of pharmacists now. I’m lucky my job has such a high demand, and I can make sure that people have access to lifesaving medications.”

“I love that,” I say softly. “I hope one day I’ll be able to say my job helped people in need, too.”

“You will,” he assures me. “I might not understand the ins and outs of what you do, but I know it requires people to spend years working on something to find a cause. Then they do everything they can to fix it. Your job is often overlooked on the helping people scale before you have a breakthrough, but when you do have it, they’ll all talk about you.”

I shrug. “That’s assuming I can have a breakthrough, but that’s enough about my work. If I get started talking about it, you’ll never get me to shut up. Tessa and Bree both told me to avoid talking about my work as much as I can, otherwise it’ll be the most boring season ofHeatedever.”

Ian snorts. “I highly doubt that’s what they said.”

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