Page 2 of Knot His Reality

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I sit up, helping her to do the same. “I’m guessing you came in to tell me you’re ready for me?”

She nods. “Sadly, yes. I’m glad I came when I did since you’re not even dressed yet.”

I wrinkle my nose as I stare at the offending tux hanging from the closet door. “I hate the penguin suits.”

“You’ve made yourself perfectly clear on the matter, but you still have to wear it.” Bree laughs, pushing to her feet. “I’ll wait in the sitting room while you get dressed. I’m giving you five minutes, then we need to have Mindy do something with that hair of yours.”

Climbing off the bed, I head for the closet, taking a minute to look at my chestnut brown hair and shrug. It really is a mess. I’ve never been someone who worried too much about their looks, but I guess being on TV means I have to look my best. As long as they don’t expect me to be the one doing it, I’m down.

I pull the hanger holding the tuxedo off the door and duck into the closet. There are cameras everywhere in the mansion, including my sitting room and bedroom, but not in the bathroom or closet, which is helpful since I need somewhere to dress. I chose the closet because the thing is massive. With most of the omegas being female, I guess it makes sense for it to be so big, but for me, there’s no reason.

Beyond being forced into the penguin suits, I live in graphic tees and jeans or sweatpants. I’m all about comfort, and that’s what I like to wear. Which is why I keep complaining about the tux. They’re far from comfortable, but at least I don’t have to wear dresses like the other omegas. Especially since they also had to wear heels. No one is ever getting me near heels, that’s for sure.

I know I can’t procrastinate any longer, so I quickly undress and pull on the tux. It looks good on me, but that doesn’t make me any happier to be wearing it. It’s black with a white button-down shirt beneath it and a black tie instead of a bow tie. Thank goodness, because I hate bow ties. On occasion, I have to wear tuxedos for work events, and I’ve yet to master tying a bow tie. Now, a regular tie? I’ve known how to do that since I was a kid.

I grew up in a pack, both me and my older sister, Emilia—who is also an omega. I grew up with two moms—one an alpha and one a beta—and four dads. One of our dads is an omega, one a beta, and two of them are alphas. They love both of us and each other. They tried to have more kids but couldn’t.

I went into the field I did, at least in part, because of this. Watching my parents devastated month after month because neither of my moms were pregnant broke my heart. I don’t think they realized that both Emilia and I figured out what was going on, but picking up on people’s distress is something an omega is good at—even if they haven’t revealed yet.

Our parents had been so happy when we both revealed as omegas. They might not have been able to add too many numbers to the overall population, but they did birth two omegas. I think that helped with some of their sadness. After I went off to college, they started fostering kids who needed parental figures. Some of them only stayed for a few months, while others stayed for years.

It helped heal them—providing for others while never forgetting about the two of us. I love seeing them so happy now.

Looping the tie around my neck, I quickly tie it. I told Bree to feel free to pick out whatever she wants when it comes to tuxes. Because I’m not picking out my own torture device, thank you very much. I did tell her I couldn’t tie bow ties, so here’s hoping she just avoided them altogether.

“Remy? You better be dressed.”

I grin and consider giving her a hard time before deciding against it. I don’t need to add any further stress onto her plate. She has enough of her own.

“Just finished,” I call out as I step out of the closet and into the room.

Standing beside Bree is Mindy, who lifts a brow at me before gesturing for me to sit in one of the chairs they’ve set beside my bed. “Remington, I don’t know how you can let your hair get so crazy. I’m going to have to give you a trim—for your beard, too.”

I bite back a smile and drop into the seat, allowing Mindy to fasten a cape around my neck and shoulders. Seeing the beta so frustrated with me just reminds me of my family. It’s kind of nice.

“While Mindy takes care of your hair, I thought we could go over any last-minute questions you might have,” Bree says as she sits across from me. “I’m sure you have them.”

The sound of the scissors opening and closing as she cuts my hair is the only sound in the room because, just like that, my mind goes completely blank. “Uhhh…I…”

Bree laughs. “We’re going to need to remember that you don’t do well when put on the spot.”

“I wish I did. It’s like everything inside of me freezes up and I forget how to be a human.” I go to shake my head, but Mindy hisses and straightens it.

“Donotmove your head, Remington, or I’m going to end up having to buzz your head.”

I make a face. I don’t have the head to wear my hair that short. Trust me, I tried it once. No one should see my head with no hair.

Focusing on Bree but making sure I don’t move my head, I sigh as the sound of the scissors starts back up. “Remind me how the first week is going to go.”

“Of course. As soon as Mindy is done with your hair, we’ll head outside to meet Reginald. He’s going to do a quick interview with you. It’s basically a getting-to-know-you interview for the audience. Then we’ll walk you to the driveway. Reginald will do his thing while you meet your first set of suitors. As soon as they’ve all arrived, the five of you will head to dinner. You can spend the evening with them if you’d like, but it’s not required. If you need to recharge your battery, you do that. I don’t want you overdoing it.

“Tomorrow, breakfast will be served at eight. Once you’ve finished, the five of you will go on the first date you planned. The second set of suitors will arrive at five o’clock tomorrow night. Just before that, Reginald will do another quick interview with you to see how you think things went. The first day’s suitors will be interviewed by either Tessa or myself. Then you repeat the process until Saturday night when we’ll hold the rose ceremony.”

I barely stop myself from nodding. “Red roses for if I choose someone for my pack and black if I want to send them home. Lavender for a group date and peach for a one-on-one date. A yellow rose if I want them to remain on the show, but I’m not inviting them on a date for that week. A white rose means I’m inviting them to join me in my suite for the night for sex.”

“It doesn’thaveto be for sex, although that’s usually what happens.“ Bree shrugs unapologetically. “It’s what happened for me.”

“And every other omega who’s been on the show.” I roll my eyes. “Probably because we’re all a bunch of horny shits.”

---