Chapter 32 #2
“You are being fucking ridiculous,” Lark hisses at our friend before turning to me. “Come on, let’s go back. I don’t want to babysit them anymore.”
“Excuse me.” One of the workers comes in through the curtain, her eyes narrowed at us. “You four have to settle down or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“Fine,” Cleo mutters as she downs the rest of her mimosa and puts the flute down so hard, I swear I hear it crack. “Lark, help me get this off.”
Lark looks over at Nicola, who is slumped over in her seat. Her eyes widen with indecision as she looks back over at me.
“It’s okay. Help her. Help them both. But I need to get out of here,” I whisper. “Gus is right outside. He will help you, too.”
Guilt flashes behind her eyes, but I know she’ll feel even worse if she leaves our bodyguard to deal with them alone.
I may need her emotionally, but these two are unpredictable, especially when they’re not sober.
Knowing Lark, she is thinking the same thing, and it’s that honorability of hers that makes me love her so much.
“Help them,” I repeat, watching as Cleo tries to undo her own zipper with little success. “I promise, I’ll be okay.”
Only at my insistence does she finally nod. “I’ll call you later to check in, okay? I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry for doing what I can’t right now.”
I walk through the curtain without another glance, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. The first tear falls when I get out into the autumn wind, the liquid wet and cold on my cheek. Despite that, I can’t blink them back. The floodgates open, and I drown in them.
It takes less than a minute for Remi to open his door.
“Josie!” He greets me with a happy smile, but it falls when he sees my wet-streaked face. “Josie—”
I move into his arms, no longer able to hold myself together.
The walk back to the hotel was brutal. I didn’t want to call a cab in case I was recognized.
That would just be the icing on top, wouldn’t it?
Waking up tomorrow to a headline from an “anonymous source” claiming a taxi driver picked up guitarist Josie Rosewood crying outside of a bridal shop.
God, the chaos that would ensue was enough to pump my legs the three blocks I needed.
Remi pulls us inside and shuts the door, the lock audible as it clicks into place.
His scent is more molasses than marshmallow today.
His shirt is pungent with it, the aroma trying to mellow me with every inhale.
Now that I’m safe in his arms, now that I feel the security that’s been escaping me for the last hour, I let myself fall apart the way my body needs.
There’s a small insecurity present about how ugly my sobs sound, but then there’s just as much reassurance that my scent match won’t care. His arms wrap around me tighter, practically carrying me further into the room as I soak his shirt with my tears.
“What the hell happened?” someone asks, and my head whips up to see dark-blue eyes staring at me with concern all over his face. Cyrus looks anything but happy to see my abrupt arrival, his alpha present as he stalks forward.
“Who the hell do we have to kill?” Malaki asks from the bed, sitting up and alert, his expression the most serious I’ve ever seen it.
All of my scent matches are sitting around the room, lounging around, and I’m suddenly grateful that I had the instinct to march over here.
Taking in their combined aroma and seeing all of their alphas reacting to my dejection is already making it easier to breathe between the cries wracking through me.
“I’m—so—glad—you’re—all—here,” I say between the horrible sounds, overwhelmed by the amount of gratitude going through my body.
Remi sits me down beside Jamie before taking my other side. My beta pulls me into him, his hand immediately finding my hair and stroking it soothingly.
“I thought you went dress shopping with the girls,” Cyrus says, furious.
I glance up at him through wet lashes. “I did, but it was awful. I don’t know what to do anymore. Cleo is—” My lip wobbles, and the scene between us plays out in my mind all over again. “I can’t help her. I… I think I’m starting to realize that nobody can.”
That causes my prime’s face to soften. He moves forward and gets down on his knees in front of me, a delicious burst of the bitterest chocolate reaching my stuffy nose.
He takes my face in his hands. “Whether or not she can be helped isn’t relevant anymore, Omega. This is affecting you, affecting your health. For your own well-being, you can’t be involved with this anymore. You can’t try to help.”
I nod, knowing he’s right, but the defeated feeling still cements in my stomach, holding me down with the weight of it.
“I don’t want to lose my best friend,” I whisper.
Jamie reaches over and wipes away a tear. “Petal, she isn’t acting like a friend right now. You have to be a friend to yourself, first and foremost.”
The words make my heart swell in my chest. I’ve always put my loved ones first, because that’s what felt like the most natural thing in the world.
I know what it’s like when someone doesn’t put you first. My parents, their parents, and Cleo’s family.
Loving someone is choosing them, seeing everything through the good and bad.
But the guys are right. This is past the point of healthy. I can’t be Cleo’s punching bag, even if it’s the only thing she’ll let me be. I have to choose myself.
“Then, I think…” I gnaw at my lip, working the idea over in my head. Lennon is suddenly there, his ginger scent a beautiful, bubbly presence. He takes my lip between his fingers and pulls it away from my teeth, giving me a soft look.
“What do you think, Bubbles?” Malaki asks, his tone gentle yet playful as he comes to stand between Jamie’s spot on the bed. His scent is a roaring campfire, a bitter edge still clinging.
I breathe in deeply and exhale, knowing this is risky but not being able to stop myself. “Can I stay on your bus with you instead?”
There’s a pause, the men taking in my words with surprise.
“Did she just say what I think she said?” Malaki whispers out of the side of his mouth, like he’s afraid any movement will cause everything to explode.
“I think she did,” Remi replies, his eyes wide and glorious as he looks at me like I’m a gift from some heavenly entity. “Are you sure, baby? Do you want to come live with us for the rest of the tour?”
Gosh, I can think of nothing better.
“I think some space between Cleo and me will be good, especially after our fight today, but I also think it would be good for us.”
“I think so, too,” Cyrus agrees. His eyes are on mine, and he almost looks… proud. My omega preens from that look, something sliding into place at long last.
“What about Florence?” Malaki asks the whole group before looking at me. “She’s an omega, will her presence bother you?”
I shake my head. “No, she’s lovely. And I trust all of you.”
“Biology isn’t always that simple though,” Cyrus points out, thinking it over. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe she’ll be okay with taking your bunk on the Vicious bus, or bunking with some of the female roadies on theirs.”
I panic. “I don’t want to kick her off or make her uncomfortable—”
“Florence is tough,” he cuts me off. “She’ll be able to handle her own. Plus, I’m sure she’ll be more excited about us spending more time together than anything.”
“Yeah,” I agree, nothing but warmth flowing through me as I think about the other omega. “She did say she was a hopeless romantic.”
The decision settles between us, and my heart feels so full it could burst. There’s a new peace lingering in the air, like all of our beasts have calmed by the realization that we’ll be in even closer proximity than normal.
It’s relaxing, and my body instantly lets go of all the stress from earlier today.
“And we’re not worried about this looking suspicious?” Malaki asks. “This could get to the press.”
“I don’t care,” I tell them sincerely, loving the way they all feel surrounding me. “We can figure it out in a few stops, but for right now, I want to be somewhere I feel wanted.”
Cyrus’s lips fall over my forehead before he stands. “I will make all the preparations. I’ll make sure to coordinate with Izzy and Tom to get everything settled. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“Yeah, you know what you should worry about right now?” Lennon asks, causing my heart to spike. “You should worry about what we’re eating for dinner. We had been arguing over it for thirty minutes before you showed up.”
I laugh. “Oh my god.”
“We didn’t know if you were coming over or not, so everyone had a different opinion on what you might like if you did show up.”
“And what were the options?” I ask, looking around at them.
“There’s no contemplating anymore, Josie.” Jamie laughs, fiddling with my hair. “Now that you’re here, you can just pick. We’ll eat anything.”
“Anything,” Cyrus affirms as he pulls his phone out. “As long as you’re happy, nothing else matters.”