Page 66 of Knot Their Opening Act

“But have you decided? Are you going to ask her to join your pack? Have you gotten that far in the proceedings yet?” Ash raises a brow, arms crossed and fingers tapping on his bicep.

“Not really,” admits Nico. He looks at me, then Thomas, then Kai. “Are we going to?”

Kai lets out a slow sigh as Steve joins us, placing his wallet back in his back pocket.

“She’s been with the other three. And they seemed to all get on like a house on fire one-on-one. I’m the one standing in the way.”

“Talk to her, Kai. It’s really up to you and her at this point,” I say. “She is a wonderful woman. The past brought us here. And all we can do is offer to make up for the lost time. I love her music. I … I love her. And you want to know what? I always have.”

I thought I would be embarrassed and feel ridiculous admitting this. But at this point it just slides right off of my tongue. Pure, simple fact, without any adornments.I love her.I have since the moment we met, and I first heard her sing and play in a way that transported me, and made certain she would always be in my head. And God, do I regret these three years of hiding it from the guys. Because maybe if I’d been able to feel peace with it, I could’ve saved her a lot of pain, and us, too.

So it’s a jolt to my system when Thomas softly adds, “I do too.” And he looks far away. This is how I know we’re meant to be as a pack—us with her, but also us withus. I think we probably all felt in deep inside, even if we couldn’t put it into words back then.

Nico smiles. “She’s the most gorgeous Omega I’ve ever seen or scented or tasted. We need to make this all up to her.”

“Then it’s down to me,” Kai says. His wrinkled brow contrasts with his hopeful inhale. “Tonight.”

* * *

The roar of the London crowd, night one, is so overpowering I can barely contain my giddy glee. I almost want to do a cartwheel along with Nico on the way off the stage, but I’d undoubtedly break my neck. Give me a ball to kick, a rock face to climb, or a kayak to steer and I’m fine. Flipping my body in a circle without killing someone isn’t on the list.

But the sentiment is there.

During our second song, Kai gave a heartfelt thank-you to “our opening angel, Jez Jacobs,” and I feel like she’s still wearing a blush as we rush into her dressing room (having knocked and been okayed by Caylee, of course) to smother her in a hug.

It feels quite weird, acting this casual with the woman I’ve dreamt about for three years now. But I’ve done more than dreamt, now, and I don’t want to slip back into the void we existed in before this tour, just because her heat seems to have died down.

I don’t want to beno longer needed.I want her to know I’ve wanted her all the time. Maybe we all have.

We throw up a celebratory cheers each with a small glass of bubbly, delivered by Ferny, at the biggest crowd outside a festival that either Fable on Fire or Jez Jacobs has played. They lapped it up. Jez’s set went off—she had fans screaming with her face on their t-shirts, singing every lyric, and I even think a lot of them had started out our fans. It’s the rawness in her songs, like she pours every ounce of honesty into them. And I think everyone can see something remarkable, and relatable, in that.

The minibuses take us and Jez with her bands to the hotel a few streets away, and on the lift ride up, with Jez squarely in the middle of the mirrored elevator, I see Thomas reach out for her hand, and her white-knuckled grip squeeze it. All of us are crammed in here with our rucksacks and totes, and while our revelry has quieted down, we’ve all agreed to have another round of drinks to celebrate the flawless show up in Fable’s suite.

“You sure you guys don’t want to join?” I say to Ry and Gareth. They shake their heads.

“I’m feckin’ exhausted,” Ry says. And I know Gareth’s girlfriend is joining him shortly as she lives in the city and was at the show with a group of friends. But Murray and Shay will join us.

Rooms worked out weirdly this time around. Jez and her bandmates are a few floors down from us, and we ended up with a corner suite. Kai gets a bedroom with an amazing floor-to-ceiling window view of lights rippling on the Thames. In a separate bedroom, the largest room of the suite, Thomas and I each have a king bed. Nico’s got a separate room right next door with an adjoining door, so it’s essentially a 3-bed suite. Not bad for two nights in the Big Smoke.

Nico throws himself back on one of two sofas with a bottle of Riesling in one hand and a glass in the other. He turns to Jez, who’s sitting in the other corner of the sofa, bare feet with glittery blue toenail polish tucked up underneath her.

“How does it feel to have stood in front of all of London and nailed every note?”

He holds up a hand to high-five her, which she smacks with a loud slap. I grin. Girl’s got muscle. Nico turns his palm to his face with a look of horror. The whole thing is red.

“Damn girl, remind me not to get into a scrap with you,” I say.

“I wouldn’t,” says Murray, leaning against the balcony door. “I watched her help the techs move some crates the other day and she can lift.”

Nico laughs. “I like how you say you ‘watched.’”

“Yeah, can’t be injuring these delicate babies.” Murray mimes a drumroll. Jez snorts, and Shay pours her another glass of the rosé she’s drinking.

Noticeably quiet now though is Kai. He sang his heart out tonight, and we all pounded him on the back with gratitude and awe. But he’s barely said a word since then. He’s been sucking down a bag of throat lozenges and drinking only water since then. The fizz in Jez’s dressing room was the only alcohol he’s had, whereas the rest of us are at least on our third glass of wine, or in Shay’s case, cider she brought with her from the bus.

Thomas must really be shit-faced by this point, because he stands up on the coffee table with a tea towel wrapped around his neck, which clearly is a stand-in for Ash’s cowl scarf, and proceeds to do an absolutely spot-on impersonation.

“No alcohol tonight, chaps, or I’ll have your fucking fannies nailed to the wall. I’m not handing you over to Steve in two weeks acting like a bunch of inebriated baboons who can’t keep their fuckin’ avocados on toast down for five minutes.” He jabs a finger in Kai’s direction, swinging his bottle around and nearly bashing Murray on the shoulder. I’m laughing so hard I feel like I’m about to piss myself, doubled over and buzzing.

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