38. Arlo
Chapter 38
Arlo
November, Atlanta
T onight was a good night. We were all feeling damn fine. Meadow had a pep in her step and had asked to come watch us play. Wearing a pair of leggings and one of Hendrix’s oversized T-shirts, she looked undeniably ours. Her hair was thrown up into one of those buns that looked messy but put together.
Clover had flown in earlier in the day and had immediately dragged Meadow off for some girl time. I had expected her to come back exhausted, because Clover was a whirlwind, but she was excited and raring to go to the show.
I welcomed any opportunity to show off my skills, especially in front of our omega.
“Break a leg,” Meadow told me backstage, planting a quick peck on my cheek. Unsatisfied with such meager affection, I grabbed her waist and pulled her in for a much deeper kiss, reveling in her sweet taste.
She met my movements with glee, her hands fisting in my hair as she pressed against me.
“You guys will have to wait until after the show to fuck.” Phin laughed as he threw his drumsticks in the air and caught them with ease as Clover shook her head.
I pouted. “Well, that’s a damn shame.”
“Don’t worry. As soon as the show is over, we can retreat to the nest,” Meadow assured me, biting her plump bottom lip, tempting me further.
I chuckled. “I don’t know how you think I can make it all the way back to the nest. I’m going to have to drag you into a quiet corner and have my way with you.”
“Ewww!” Clover whined. “You guys have moved into brother territory in my brain, and I don’t need to hear about that. I’m going to go annoy the techs while you do… that .” She shuddered dramatically, stalking away.
“Oh, no…” Meadow grinned up at me, sounding adorably eager.
Would there really be any harm in us being a few minutes late to the show?
“Don’t even think about it!” Beckett said, grabbing me by the back of the neck and pulling me away from Meadow as she laughed, leaning over to kiss Hendrix now that I was no longer within reach.
He smelled like Meadow pussy, and my whole body took notice.
Lucky fucker. I wanted to smell like Meadow pussy.
At least eating her out before a show seemed to be doing wonders for both of them. Her scent was ten times more potent clinging to his skin while he was on stage, and Meadow was satisfied, at least for a little while. She always seemed ready for any of us, and that made it a million times harder to keep my hands to myself.
“I’ll be finding you after the show, princess!” I shouted over the crowd, waiting for her to nod before running onto the stage.
She stood just offstage, clapping as Hendrix hyped up the crowd. Her beaming smile made me excited—if our omega wanted a show, then I was going to give her a show!
The first three songs went off without a hitch, the atmosphere was amazing, and we were all feeling excited. Despite sleeping half the day away, Hendrix was in his element. My eyes kept wandering over to our omega, who was dancing happily in place, watching us with a look I could only describe as adoring.
How the fuck had we gotten so lucky?
“This next song is a little number called Knotty Girl. Have you heard of it?” Hendrix shouted, and the crowds went wild, screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs as we started one of our most popular songs.
From my vantage point, I could only see the back of Hendrix’s head as he moved around, leaning forward and singing to the crowd, putting on one hell of a show.
As he started to sing the second verse, his body swayed, and before I could glance at my bandmates to figure out what was going on, he stilled entirely, stopping singing as his head whipped to the side of the stage for a split second before he dropped the mic like it was on fire and ran offstage.
My head whipped around to see where he had run off to. Did he suddenly have the shits?
He was crouching at the side of the stage, next to Meadow…who was on the floor.
“Meadow!” I shouted, loud enough for my confused bandmates to hear, quickly removing my guitar and practically throwing it down on the stage in my haste to get to her. “What the hell happened?” I asked, kneeling next to Hendrix, who had pulled Meadow into his arms.
Peony reached my nose as Clover dashed over to us, dropping down next to her friend with impressive speed.
“The fuck happened? Meadow? Talk to me, girl,” she said, gently touching her friend’s cheek, subtly checking her breathing.
“I don’t know! One second, she was fine, and the next, she hit the ground like a sack of potatoes! Fuck, Meadow, can you hear me?” Hendrix shook her lightly. Her face was pale, her hand cold to the touch.
“Let’s get her out of here. The smoke machines can’t be good for her right now,” I said.
“I agree,” Clover said, looking between us and her friend with thinly veiled panic on her face.
“Call a fucking ambulance!” Hendrix growled, clutching Meadow to his chest.
“On it,” Beckett replied.
I reached out to feel her pulse through her wrist. “Her heart rate is absolutely insane. We definitely need to get her to a hospital.”
Ellie ran up to us, a frown on her face, settling on her knees. “Let me help.”
Gary was hot on her heels, and he didn’t look happy. “She probably just got dizzy.”
The crowds were shouting in displeasure, chanting Hard Knot Life over and over again, demanding we come back and play. All they knew was that the entire band had left the stage, nothing else.
“You guys need to get back out there immediately ,” Gary told us, looking back at the stage entrance.
“Are you fucking kidding?” I snarled. Meadow wasn’t even conscious, and he wanted us to fucking go back onstage and act like everything was normal?
“You guys are overreacting,” Ellie insisted. “I know what I’m doing. It’s just exhaustion. She probably needs more protein in her diet. Leave her with me and do your job.”
Needs more protein?
“I’ll feed you something full of protein in a minute,” Clover grumbled, her eyes never leaving Meadow.
I had never wanted to throttle a woman the way I wanted to throttle Ellie. What sort of professional simply suggested a change in diet when the person who they were meant to be taking care of was passed out on the floor?
“Listen to her,” Gary demanded.
“Shut the fuck up, you geriatric old asshole,” Clover snarled.
Gary spluttered in shock, astounded at Clover’s balls.
I really needed to buy her something shiny for fiercely protecting our omega.
Meadow stirred in Hendrix’s arms, and all our attention was on her, the whole pack hovering close by.
The venue medic jogged over, checking Meadow’s vitals while we waited for the ambulance. Her temperature was elevated, and her heart was still going a mile a minute.
“I don’t know why she’s taken such a bad turn,” said Phin. “She’s been feeling great the last few days, ever since she started drinking Hendrix’s shakes.”
Ellie’s face went white as a sheet. “Y-you’ve been swapping shakes?”
Her fearful tone put every nerve ending in my body on high alert.
Hendrix nodded. He was too absorbed with stroking Meadow’s hair out of her face to realize Ellie’s reactions. “My shakes tasted so much better. You told us they were the same, so I just let Meadow drink mine.”
“Those shakes were for you ,” Ellie said weakly, her frantic gaze flicking between Hendrix and Gary.
By the time the medic was done checking her over, the ambulance had arrived, getting a report from the medic and loading her onto a gurney. Meadow stirred, coming to ever so slightly, but she seemed sluggish.
“We’re taking her to Nashville General,” one of the paramedics told us. “One of you can come in the ambulance, if you want. The others will have to meet us there.”
“I’ll go with her.” Hendrix took Meadow’s hand, kissing her knuckles.
As much as I wanted to be the one to go with her, Hendrix was her bond mate, and we’d all be there soon. We all wanted what was best for Meadow and the baby.
Dear lord, please let the baby be okay.
“I’ll follow you in one of the roadies’ cars,” Clover said.
“You’re coming with us. We’ll be following in one of the SUVs,” I said, and I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye.
Gary had no problem voicing his disagreement, though. “You can’t just leave . You’re in the middle of a concert! Ellie can go with her.”
There was no way in hell we were going to let that happen.
“Not happening,” Phin snapped.
“If you so much as put that woman in the same vehicle as Meadow, she’s the one who will be needing an ambulance!” Clover snarled, shooting daggers at our belligerent manager.
Gary made the mistake of stepping in Hendrix’s path as he started following the paramedics. “I can’t let you go!”
“Move. Or I will fucking move you,” Hendrix snarled as Meadow whimpered.
“I don’t feel good.” She whined softly, closing her eyes.
“Your guys are going to take you to the hospital, babe,” Clover assured her in a calm voice.
“Gary—” Beckett’s voice was deadly. “—cancel the fucking show, and if you don’t get out of our way right now, you’re going to need the hospital too.”
Gary’s eyes widened. It was clear as day we weren’t fucking around. We didn’t know if what Meadow was experiencing was merely exhaustion or something more severe, but every second that Gary and Ellie stopped us from leaving was just another second I wanted to beat the ever-loving shit out of the both of them.
Looking like he was sucking a lemon, Gary stood aside. “You’re fucking paying for this.”
“We have insurance,” I growled.
At least, I thought we did. I didn’t care if Gary wanted to charge us the cost of the entire fucking event—we had money.
Nothing was more important than caring for our omega.
“I’ve got the keys to the SUV,” Beckett said as we went out into the cool night air, completely ignoring Gary rambling behind us.
Would I really get in that much trouble if I give him one good, hard punch to the nose?
Hendrix and Meadow disappeared into the ambulance, rushing away to the hospital while the rest of us piled into the SUV to follow. Beckett slid into the driver’s seat, and the moment the doors were closed, he peeled out of the parking lot.
I knew pregnancy was an insane process, but something about this felt deeply wrong.