Page 119 of Knot Their Reality

Bree lays her hand on Sophia's arm, raising an eyebrow when Sophia turns to her with ire in her eyes. "Tessa is right, Sophia. I know it's not what you want to hear, but you need to hand out at least one red or black rose. It wouldn't hurt to hand out a few peach, lavender, or white ones as well."

Asher steps forward before Reginald finishes calling his name. He moves gracefully across the stage, looking dashing as always. I can see why both Sophia and Chase find him attractive, but I know it’s personality that drew them both in.

"This is stupid. You're not supposed to force me to do this. I'm supposed to do this at my own rate." Sophia crosses her arms, pushing her tits up.

Chase leans over her shoulder and purrs. "Keep doing that, baby. Your tits look amazing."

"Seriously, Chase?" Sophia throws her hands in the air, but when she sees the grin on his face, her shoulders relax. "Thanks, Chase. Fine, I'll figure something out."

As soon as Tessa and Bree head up to the stage, I turn to Sophia. "Are you okay?"

"I guess. I already know there's someone I need to send home, but I was going to wait until next week when we didn't have so many spectators." She shakes her head. "It'll be fine, but thank you for worrying. Now, let's get up on stage before I get yelled at again."

I try to hide my smirk because she definitely wasn't being yelled at, but she still catches me, narrowing her eyes at me. I shrug, and then we're all moving up the stairs.

"Guests, as you can see, the remaining suitors have lined up behind me, and Sophia and her pack have also joined me on the stage. Tonight ends the fourth week of this season's Heated, which means we've reached the halfway point in the show. We've said goodbye to seven of our suitors already, while four have found their place in Sophia's pack.

"What will happen tonight? Will she choose someone or someones to join her pack? Or will she send someone packing? Will there be dates? An invitation to the bedroom? There's only one way to find out. Sophia, if you'll collect your roses while I explain how tonight's rose ceremony will go?"

Sophia nods, a small smile on her face. I don't think the crowd will know it's forced, but every single one of us on this stage knows. I hate it. "Of course."

"Every week, we choose the order of suitors differently," Reginald continues. "This week, we've allowed the suitors to choose their own order, though they didn't know it at the time. Sophia will stand centerstage and one by one, the suitors will be called in the order they're standing in. We do ask that you remain silent until the end so as to not interrupt the ceremony. Are you ready, Sophia?"

She nods, clutching nine roses in her hand as she moves to the center of the stage. I try to see what she's chosen, and while I can tell she has at least a single rose of every color except red, I’m unable to make out how many of each. I can’t decide if I’m more surprised by the lack of red roses or the fact that she has at least one black rose in her hand.

“Asher, once again, I find myself having to tell you that I’m just not ready for anything more between us, but I’m certainly not ready for you to head home. So tonight, you’ll receive another yellow rose.”

Asher nods his head as he takes the offered rose. “And for another week, I’m happy to still be here to prove to you that I’m not going anywhere and that I’ll wait as long as I have to—even if it’s the rest of my life.”

Chase’s hand comes to his chest as Asher takes his spot in line with the other suitors. There are tears in his eyes, but he’s still smiling. I know he’s rooting for Sophia to choose his pack—hell, we all are at this point—and I love how the pride radiates off of him.

“I know, I get a yellow rose, too.” Carson sounds so disheartened as he comes to a stop in front of Sophia after his name is called. “I understand, and I still hope that one day you’ll change your mind.”

Sophia laughs, pulling a peach rose from the bundle. “I bet you feel like a jackass right now.”

Though we’re all meant to remain quiet, everyone laughs at that—us, the other suitors, the crowd, and even Tessa.

"What? I..." Carson shakes his head as if he can't believe what he's seeing.

"Carson, out of all of you besides Chase, it was you I feel like I connected to the most two years ago. I still don't like what went down, but I need to see if you're still the man I fell for back then. It's hard when all three of you are together, so this week, I want to go on a date with just you. If you want, of course."

"If I want?" Carson scoffs, scooping her into his arms and spinning her around. When he sets her back down, they're both laughing. "Of course I want to go on a date with you. I'll be counting down the days."

Sophia shakes her head as he takes the rose and practically skips back to his spot. She's still smiling when Liam makes his way over.

"Hey, big guy, you hanging in there?"

The corner of Liam's lip curls up in a half-smile as he shakes his head. "I'm doing just fine, brat."

"Of course you are. How could you not with that charming personality of yours." She beams up at him, pulling another yellow rose and offering it to him. "I'm glad you're still here, big guy, but give me some time?"

"Always." Liam leans over and presses a kiss to her cheek as he takes the rose.

She watches him walk away, looking like it's killing her to let him go. See? It really only is a matter of time. Ulf, Gage, and Quinn are the next three to be called up, each of them receiving a lavender rose. Now, she only has three roses left—one peach, one black, and one white. Someone is going home, someone is being invited into the bedroom, and someone is getting a date. I can see the three of them almost visibly sweating bullets.

Jackson makes his way over after his name is called. As soon as he stops in front of her, Sophia glances back at us, Reginald, Tessa, and Bree before shaking her head. She turns back to the line of suitors. "Jace? Ezra? If the two of you will join me, I'd like to do this with all of you at once."

They both glance toward Tessa and Bree, but they're already moving to join Jackson. I can hear Tessa let out a long-suffering sigh behind me, but I ignore it, as do the rest of us. They may have forced Sophia into doing something that she doesn't want to do, but she's going to do it her own way.

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