Page 27 of Knot Gonna Give You Up

“Well, we met in college. I needed a roommate for my rental house, and Simon needed to find off-campus housing. When he walked in the door of the small home I was renting, I knew he was meant to be there.”

A smile appears on my face. “Sounds like destiny.”

Simon huffs a small laugh, “Yeah, I think it was.”

“Since then, we’ve been pretty inseparable. He’s the Alpha to my Beta. The wind to my sails. The chocolate to my peanut butter.” Vic waxes on poetically.

“Oh my god, stop.” Simon grins at him.

“Well, you know the basics about us, how about you? What are your basics?” Vic turns to me.

I shrug, “Not much to tell, honestly. I’m the youngest sibling in my family, and I live farthest away from them. I needed to be able to go out on my own, so when my parents declared they were moving across the country to be closer to my scattered siblings, they said I could keep the house and stay here. So, I did. My siblings are all Alphas and Betas, but my mom is an Omega, so I know a little about their designation. She did have a Pack and seemed incredibly happy. I’m excited to talk with you guys about being Pack, hopefully we feel like a cohesive group, you know?”

Vic nods, “Well, it sounds like we just need time to get to know each other then.”

“Yeah, don’t want to Pack up with a serial killer,” Simon mutters with a small smirk.

“Is that the standard? I think I should be okay then. Unless you count tastebuds because I can’t cook,” I quip.

Simon chuckles, and we talk about our adult lives, what we each do for a living, and touch on families. Turns out that they just moved to town a month or two ago, and Simon opened the coffee shop where I met them. He’s the owner of a really successful shop back where they moved from, so he decided to open another one here in Blackford. I love hearing about his passion for coffee and his vision for the new cafe.

Victor works for a business with several buildings in the country. So when an opening came up to move here, he jumpedat it. He’s been enjoying the city so far, even if his job isn’t his passion. He’s just happy it pays the bills. I work as a CEO for a larger corporation, and while I don’t always love my job, I do enjoy working with people on business needs. Being the CEO enabled me to be able to take Ray in. I hired another person to help with in-person office needs while I work mostly remotely.

“Why did you jump at the chance to move here? There had to be better locations offered,” I ask.

Victor blushes a little, and a smile comes over his face. “Uh, my other best friend lives in the city. We met in high school, and even though she moved around a lot, we kept in touch. The opportunity to move here, where she is, came up and I grabbed it immediately.”

My mind latches onto what Victor’s saying and connects a dot. I’m not sure if it’s right, but what if… “What’s your friend’s name?”

“Josie,” Vic says, looking a bit confused.

I smile a little, “I just had an Omega, I’m interested in, tell me her friend moved to town. Her name is also Josie.”

Vic looks excited, “What are the odds? Does she have red hair, tall, smells like a cinnamon dessert?”

“Man, I have spent weeks hunting for cinnamon desserts just to try and recreate that scent,” I confess.

Vic and Simon look at each other for a moment. Vic is smiling and hopeful, but Simon seems doubtful. Vic bites his lip and looks back at me.

“She’s actually my Match.”

That was the last thing I expected him to say. My mind grinds to a halt for a moment before it gets moving again, and I laugh loudly, causing other tables to look at us. My hands slap down on the table, giddiness running through me.

“Are youserious?” I ask.

Vic and Simon just look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. I’m pretty sure I have. This significantly increases my chances with Josie. My suspicion that she could be my Match is all but confirmed now. Clearly, I’d need to touch her to confirm, but it’s like a weight is off my shoulders.

“Sorry,” I say, calming myself, “Sorry, I just… I’m so fucking relieved to hear that.”

Simon frowns, “What do you mean?”

“Do you remember when we met? I told you I had been shopping? I was buying her a blanket from a local Omega store. I’ve been hoping we were a Match, her scent almost brings me to my knees. If you’re a Match and we have a Pack Pull, then that just increases my chances with her,” I explain.

“What do you mean by that?” Simon asks, surprisingly aggressive.

I hold my hands up, “Just that I hope she takes a chance on me, and accepts me. If she’s Matched to you guys and we’re Pack, she could be my Match as well.”

Simon eyes me up and down for a moment before relaxing back in his seat, satisfied that I’m not planning anything creepy or nefarious.

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