Page 54 of Knot Their Opening Act

“It’s—it’s fine,” I say, and at that exact moment, I notice a spreading dampness between my legs. I’m wearing the sort of jeans that will not be forgiving.

Shit. Shit. Fuck.

Holden sits right beside me with Ash next to him, squeezed in the small space that existed between Caylee and I earlier. My blood feels ten degrees warmer than it did a minute ago.

I pull my top away from my neck and give up on the braid, drawing my tangled hair up into a bun on top of my head. As I tighten the knot and shove the ends into the mess, Holden leans into my ear, making no attempt to hide he’s doing so, and says, “Heat.”

I lean back against my chair and force a smile, looking as unbothered about anything in the world as humanly possible, instead of projecting my off-kilter surprise. I take a long sip of my beer. Without peeling my eyes off Caylee across the table, I whisper softly back.

“Just now.”

“When we walked in, right?”

“When you sat down,” I say.

He looks at his hands in his lap and Ash leans in beside Holden. Caylee’s brows are narrowed and thankfully, Kai and Gareth are having a friendly argument about football, with Ry piping up that if they were real sports fans, they’d follow American football instead.

I lean over toward Ash and Holden, and Caylee stays where she is but she watches us with interest. I swallow like sandpaper lines my throat. “Did you talk to him?”

Holden shakes his head. “We thought you should be there.”

“Well,” I tilt my chin toward my band mates. “I don’t want to in front of them. But he must already know, about the match. Right? That’s what we can agree on given his circumstances?”

They both nod. Great. He knows I’m in heat, and he must know we’re scent matches. When do we stop the charade and question what this means for the rest of the tour?

I squeeze my thighs together even knowing how futile it is as the first flush of slick begins soaking into my jeans. The room feels like a sauna and I find myself wanting to pant. Caylee waggles her finger at my pint and I slide my hands around the cool glass and chug about a quarter of it down. When I set it back, I lock eyes accidentally with Kai, diagonally across the table from me, and he raises his eyebrows in an unreadable expression.

Ash clears his throat and says something at a louder volume to Holden about the last time they played in Leeds, and the two enter a performative conversation as I narrow my brows back at Kai and tilt my head, hoping to send the message that we need to talk.

And I realize: I am conflicted. It’s something of a shock as I lower my eyes to check my lap. Kai really was quite pleasant after I dragged him off to the alley and reamed him out. And not just pleasant but—something like sincere.

I don’t know what this means yet, but I know I don’t want him giving me a pity orgasm.

I take another huge gulp of beer as two servers start bringing the first round of food out and there’s general commotion as everyone swaps around to get the correct plates.

Caylee gives me a nudge with her toe under the table and leans in, covering her mouth to whisper. But before she does I look up at a group of four men and two women entering the back room. They head for a table in the corner but two of the guys look our way and their faces light up.

“Shit. Spotters, eleven o’clock,” says Holden brightly.

“Oh, oh no,” Caylee moans. Holden shuffles his chair closer to me, in what I think is a protective manner, as the two guys who recognized at least someone at this table approach.

“Hey! Shit, Fable on fucking Fire! We’re coming tonight! Can we have a quick photo?”

“My fucking girlfriend couldn’t make it tonight and she’ll piss herself when she hears. One photo, please?” says the second guy. The other people hang back a bit, looking more like typically nervous fans than the ones brave enough to beeline for celebrities minding their own business.

I try to lower myself and shrink into Holden’s side. Ry is nowhere near the size of any Alpha but he puffs his chest up and crosses his arm on the table in front of him, giving me a bit of a cover. I don’t know if my band knows I’m in heat, but they have a pretty respectful attitude toward me which I haven’t been grateful enough for.

I’m pretty sure he’s also trying to push his biceps forward with his hands. Bless.

Kai stands up. Presumably he’s who they recognized, and most want to see anyhow. He turns and holds out a fist to bump with the two forward fans. “All right, mate? Good to see you. Sure, you want a photo with the four of us?” He gestures with a thumb.

“Yeah, great!” The guy with the supposedly absent girlfriend pulls out a phone and hands it to one of their friends, who fiddles with it, getting it ready.

“I’m not going anywhere,” says Holden quietly.

Ash gives him a nudge. “I’m here, Holden, just get up and get this over with.”

With a sigh, Holden stands and Ash immediately slides into his chair beside me. My legs are soaked with sweatandslick now, and my hair at the nape of my neck is curling and wet. The humidity in the room feels thick and my rolling nausea has returned.

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