Chapter 30 – Damian
Chapter Thirty
Damian
The suite is ridiculous.
I mean, it’s gorgeous.
Completely extravagant in an almost overwhelming way, but it’s beautiful.
Cove will probably hate it, or maybe she’ll love it. It’s hard to tell.
The living room has an open-concept plan that leads into the small kitchen. There isn’t much besides a small fridge, microwave, and kettle, but this place has room service.
The primary bedroom is spacious enough to fit a pack much bigger than ours. The nest, at least, has a more confined feeling that should help her feel safe and secure during her heat, if it does happen to start.
I have no doubt, this place is expensive.
Luckily, Ravvi and I have a pretty substantial inheritance.
My mom had no idea what to do with her income from Ruined Records, so she put half back into her charity while splitting the other half between me and my siblings.
Even without that, I’m sure our advances from the tour could pay for a week in this room.
Then again, I’m not sure how outrageous her medical bills will be from her time in the emergency room.
Whatever the cost, we’ll figure it out.
Ravvi and I spend a while browsing the gift shop to pass the time and end up buying way too much shit.
The living room of the suite looks like a war zone as we try to wrap our courting gifts. They’re super fucking basic, but they’ll have to do.
I do have one idea for a gift I think Cove will actually like, and I text the twins. I could’ve hit up Marcus directly. He’s family, after all. The twins will make sure they don’t forget, so they seem like the safer call.
Cove loves Wicked Truths, and with Marcus and Oakley filling in for us, I think a personalized gift of their autographs would be a nice touch.
“Don’t abandon me when we’re so close to the finish line,” Ravvi says, bumping his shoulder against mine as he rips off a piece of tape.
“Sorry, I was securing another last-minute gift.” I laugh. “What the hell are we going to do about Christmas?”
Ravvi snorts. “Pray she’s so lost to the heat that we can shop the post-holiday sales and make it work?”
“Cheap ass.” I drop my phone and grab one of the blankets to measure out the wrapping paper. Then again, there’s no way we can provide another set of decent gifts from the shop here. I’m going to need to do some internet shopping.
Cove and Declan finally join us a little before noon. We scour the room service menu and order enough food that they probably think they’re serving ten people.
Cove snuggles in Ravvi’s lap, and Declan sits on the other end of the couch, looking quite smug.
Not that I don’t get why.
As soon as I woke up this morning, I could sense him in the bond.
I smile and focus on Clover. My brother stole her away the second she came into the suite, but I’m about to be extra annoying and steal a kiss or two.
Shoving myself off the couch, I head over to the pile of boxes.
“While we wait for the food, we thought you could open a few belated courting gifts. Ravvi and I wrapped them, but they’re from the three of us.
” I grab two of the packages, bringing them over to the love seat Ravvi and Cove are perched on.
Dropping them next to her, I cradle her cheek with my hand.
“I’m so fucking relieved to see you feeling better.
” I bend and give her a quick kiss. My nostrils flare, breathing in her sweet orange scent.
It changed when she bonded me and Ravvi, but it has transformed again.
It now carries notes of Declan’s scent. I smile as I pull back, brushing my thumb over her jaw. “Congratulations on your newest bond.”
“Thank you,” she mumbles, following my lips.
I chuckle, grabbing the top box and handing it over. “Our options were limited…”
She takes the box, smiling up at me. “I didn’t need gifts. I already told Ravvi, but all of you coming on tour, when you weren’t enthusiastic about doing so, is basically the sweetest courting gift I can imagine.”
“Just remember that when everything you open sucks.” I snort, leaning close to peck her lips a final time before heading back to my seat.
Cove puts on an excellent performance, pretending to be excited about opening silly things like throw blankets, pajamas, slippers, and a bath gift set.
“She’s too good for any of us,” Declan says under his breath.
He’s not wrong.
She should be giving us hell for not planning ahead. Courting gifts are an important part of relationship building between alphas and omegas, but we did this whole thing ass-backwards.
We’ll just have to make it up to her once she’s feeling more like herself.
We eat, and I’m finally able to pry Cove away from Ravvi.
Symbolically speaking, of course.
Okay, physically too.
I love the way she snuggles close to my chest as I guide her to the nest. I keep my head tilted down, so I can watch her face as we enter the grandiose primary suite.
Cove’s eyes widen, and I try to take stock of whether she would like something like this.
The house Ravvi and I grew up in is spacious, but there were a ton of us.
I have six dads, so they needed a lot of bedrooms plus a pack suite.
With there only being four of us total, we won’t need nearly as much square footage, at least not starting out.
Damn, I might have to stick it out through another tour or two so we can buy a house Cove can be proud of.
Ehh, it won’t be so bad.
After a long day, I can fall into bed next to my omega rather than climbing into a bunk that feels like a coffin.
We get to the nest, and I flip the light on, guiding her inside. The ceiling is lower in here, and the majority of the space is taken up by the cabinets lining the wall and a giant mattress, which is accessible by three steps down.
The ceiling around the circular mattress has giant runners with hanging curtains. They can be left open or pulled tight to make the space even smaller.
“Declan brought some of our dirty clothes that he found in the hotel.” I lead Cove closer to the recessed area. “Ravvi and I stashed them around in the pillows and blankets to help it smell familiar. I also slept in here last night. It’s very cozy.”
My face heats.
I’m an alpha who prefers sleeping in a nest than on the luscious mattress in the pack bedroom. She’s going to think I’m trying to steal her nest and kick me out.
Cove twists even farther into me, bringing us chest to chest. She stretches up on her tiptoes and wraps her hand around the back of my neck, pulling me down to meet her.
“I love that you slept in here. I bet your scent really soaked into everything. You’re always welcome in my nest, even if I’m not in it.
” She nips at my lip, melting into me the longer the kiss goes on.
My cock hardens, and I groan as she pulls back, smiling up at me.
“I haven’t showered since before the show the other night, and while I appreciate none of you calling me out for being smelly, I don’t want to risk being gross in the nest. Want to shower with me? ”
“Hell yes.”
The day passes lazily. After a late dinner, I jump on the opportunity to snuggle in the nest with Cove all over again.
I’m completely content.
Nesting might get boring eventually, but I think I could live in here and never feel the need to leave. Well, as long as Cove was with me.
She runs her fingers over my purring chest and asks, “Have you seen our last performance? Is it bad? Everyone has told me not to look…”
I grimace, trying to block my emotions from spilling into the bond.
Only, I’m not sure sugar-coating is the right call.
“It was scary to watch, but Ravvi looked like a total badass. I’m in the background of the cell-phone footage with my mouth hanging open like an idiot, then Declan comes out of nowhere and grabs you both. ”
“Wow,” she whispers. “I remember none of that. My sister told me not to search my name for a few days.”
“That’s good advice. At first, there was some speculation about drugs or if you were drunk, but my dad and McMillan did a press release. They didn’t give any specifics. They just said you had a medical emergency and to please respect our privacy.” I frown.
Damn.
I wonder if she would have preferred to let the rumors swirl.
“Okay, good,” Cove finally says. “I’m sure some people will continue to make assumptions, but I’m glad they shut it down. I don’t want my family having to see that kind of thing, even if they know it isn’t true.”
Once Declan and Ravvi join us, we end up in one big puppy pile around Cove. Since I spent the last few hours with her, I let them have either side of her, but I snuggle close to Ravvi’s back so I can toss an arm over him and touch her.
Freakishly long arms come in handy once in a while.
“I know we’ll be headed back on tour, but at some point, we should probably talk about where we plan to land,” Declan says softly. “Like where we want our home base to be.”
“Anywhere but Maine,” Cove says.
At the same time, Ravvi says, “Not Maine.”
They lose it like they’re in on an inside joke. Honestly, Maine wouldn’t be my first choice, but Colorado is cold too.
“Yeah, I doubt I want to be close enough for your family to drop by unannounced,” Declan says, chuckling. “No offense.”
Hmm. That is a good point.
“None taken,” Cove says earnestly.
“If we’re still consistently putting out music, we’ll need to be in California, Colorado, Florida, or New York,” I point out. “We’ll have to stick close to one of the Ruined Records recording studios.”
“That’s true,” Ravvi says.
“Is that something the three of you plan to do long term?” Declan asks, clearing his throat. “Keep producing more music…”
I stay quiet.
That’s not my call.
“We have to honor out this contract. That locks us in to finish this tour. It also options us into the studio to record another album if there’s enough interest following the tour.
” Cove hums. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable flaking on that commitment.
At the same time, I’m not as enamored with touring as I thought I would be.
I love performing. I also wouldn’t turn it down if the label offered us one of the shorter four- or six-month tour schedules. ”
If that’s true, I’ll call my mom tomorrow morning and get her to butter up my dad.
I push up on my forearm to lean over Ravvi to check Cove’s face. “Are you serious?”
She nods, meeting my eyes. “I don’t want the three of you to be miserable so I can live out my dream. I’m hoping we can find some middle ground where we’re all happy. Although, I don’t know how we’ll stay afloat if we aren’t touring. The tour paychecks are obscene.”
“We could write music for other bands,” I suggest.
“Or we could work at our mom’s charity,” Ravvi says. “They have a budget for paying the musicians who mentor the kids.”
“We have options,” Declan pipes in. “You’re locked in until the end of your contract, and that gives us plenty of time to explore the possibilities.”
“That’s true,” Cove says around a yawn. “No matter where we end up, I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
I smile, falling back against my pillow.
Based on the spillover in the bond, we’re all in agreement about that.