Page 33 of Follow the Rhythm (Fairview City Omegaverse #2)

T herapy sucked. I wasn’t sure how I’d forgotten just how much it sucked, but all the memories came roaring back after my first session with Dr. Williams. I hated confronting all the dark, shitty parts of myself. But I did it anyway.

“It’s understandable to want to protect yourself,” she’d said after I described the last time I saw Kieran. “But when you’re always on the defensive, everything looks like a threat, even when it's not.”

“So you think I made a mistake? That I should just jump in headfirst with some guy I barely know?” I asked defensively, which annoyed me even more because it proved her point.

“I’m not the arbiter of your choices. But I do think you should consider whether pushing everyone away is making you happier,” she replied patiently.

That wasn’t a hard question to answer. I was miserable.

Every day, I considered calling Kieran and apologizing. And every day I didn’t because what if he had changed his mind, and all of my worst fears were justified?

On top of that, I missed Charlie. His scent was finally fading from my nest, and it made me panicky to think that I’d never get it back.

I wondered if he was already back in L.A.

, whether he was thinking of me. Whether he had resumed his Heatsync side gig.

Whenever that thought popped up, I had to rage clean for a few minutes. My apartment was spotless.

Worst of all, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ellis.

Yes, he was a jerk, and what he’d done had pissed me off, but I still cared about him.

The day he’d held me in the hotel room, letting me cry, had felt like a new beginning, and I couldn’t reconcile that person with the one on the rooftop.

I just wanted my Ellis back, even if he’d never been mine to begin with.

The cherry on top of the shit sundae that my life had become was that my heat was approaching, like a dark cloud on the horizon. And the thought of going through it with a strange Alpha was now intolerable.

Surprisingly, the one bright spot was work.

Ursula called the week after that horrible meeting with the head of the label, offering me another contract, this time helping with the tour design for an all-girl pop group called Jinx.

“I mean, of course I want to do another contract. But you want to work with me again? After all that?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course. You’re smart and talented and forty years younger than me, so you’ll be climbing the scaffolding next time,” she said with a smoky laugh. “See you tomorrow, Tiny.”

Which is why my defenses were weakened when Austin called, asking if I had plans.

“No, just hanging out,” I said distractedly.

I was looking at Jinx’s album art, their previous festival shows, and the social media profiles of their members to get a feel for their vibe.

It was very pink and sparkly and early-2000s - so opposite to what I usually gravitated towards.

I could already tell it would be a fun challenge to work on.

I was playing their debut album in the background and bobbing my head along to the bright, fizzy beats.

“Oh, good. Put on something fancy; you’re my plus one,” Austin said.

“What, are we going to a wedding?” I asked, still a little distracted.

“No, we’re going to a restaurant opening. Remember Maggie?”

The conversation finally had my full attention. “The one who accused me of leaking her personal information to some creepy Alphas? Yeah, sure do.”

“Great, thought you might. Her pack is opening up a restaurant, and I said I’d go, but you know I don’t do well around all these rich people. I need another plebeian for moral support, and to deflect the judgment of my table manners.”

Before I indulged my gut reaction to tell Austin they could fuck all the way off, I remembered my vow to be a better friend to them. “Fine. How fancy is this going to be?”

“Maggie sent me the press release. The restaurant ‘offers a tasting menu that honors the culinary traditions of French cuisine, while reimagining classics through the lens of modern, communal dining.’ So, I don’t know, pretty fancy?”

“Oh no, that’s insufferable,” I groaned.

“I’ll send you the address!” Austin yelled jovially before hanging up.

The restaurant was called En Famille . It was in a trendy part of the city, way downtown, but easy to get to by train, so I doused myself in descenter and made the trek.

Austin looked dapper in a sharply tailored white shirt and navy slacks.

I wore the fanciest, most conservative dress I had: the pencil dress I’d worn to Aunt Natalie’s funeral. It fit my black mood perfectly.

The outside of the restaurant was painted royal blue, and ivy was climbing artfully up the column detailing on the facade. The evening sun glinted off the large windows. It was smaller than I’d expected, and ten times more charming.

Inside, someone had created a French cafe so picturesque, I wasn’t even sure if you’d find its equal in Paris.

The dining room was open and airy thanks to all the windows and delicate white paneling.

Warm pendant lights hung from the ceiling, and sconces with orange, shell-shaped shades dotted the walls.

The dominant feature, though, was the one huge wooden table that stretched the length of the room. It had to have been custom made.

“Welcome to En Famille ,” a young woman said cheerfully from the hostess stand. “You must be Austin. Maggie is expecting you at the bar. Dinner will begin in a few minutes, but feel free to get a cocktail.”

She ticked off something on a clipboard and gestured to the far end of the room where an arched wall led to a smaller, darker room. Presumably, the bar.

“Wow. This is nice,” Austin murmured as we made our way to the back.

I grunted. I wasn’t quite ready to admit it wasn’t the pretentious hellscape I’d expected.

I also didn’t want to see Maggie again. We hadn’t gotten along during her time at the Omega Center, brief as it was, and it culminated in her thinking I’d hated her enough to endanger her life.

Which didn’t reflect well on either of us. But in my defense, Maggie’s positivity and general “go-getter” vibe were super annoying.

The bar area was milling with about twenty people, who were all very attractive and almost certainly very rich.

I recognized Maggie straight away from her wild curly hair.

She was leaning on the bar, smiling mischievously and giggling with a brown-haired man, while a more severe-looking Alpha with a wicked scar stood behind her, his hand resting possessively on her lower back.

“Hey, Mags,” Austin called, drawing her attention. I suppressed the urge to run away.

“Ah, you came!” Maggie said, darting over for a hug. She was tall for an Omega and made me feel positively minuscule in comparison. Her scent was sweet like a ripe peach, but it was less potent than I remembered, tempered by the bond marks with her pack.

After they hugged, Maggie turned to me, her face expectant and friendly, but it fell as soon as she recognized me. She rallied quickly, though. “Oh. Hey, Jess. So happy you could come.”

I forced a smile. “Austin invited me.” Why couldn’t I stop sounding so defensive all the time? Maybe Dr. Williams did have a point.

Maggie’s smile was definitely forced. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. The scarred Alpha appeared over her shoulder, looking down his nose at me.

“Everything alright?” he asked. His green eyes were way too intense, and my inner Omega quailed under his gaze.

Maggie relaxed in his proximity. “Everything’s great. Just catching up with Austin and Jess. You guys should get drinks! We can talk more at dinner.”

Austin and I made a trip to the bar for liquid fortification: a lavender old-fashioned for them and a pink gin and tonic for me.

Someone clinked their glass, and the chatter died around us. A tall, black Alpha, his arm around Maggie, smiled expectantly at the small crowd.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight,” he said in a deep, rumbly voice. “ En Famille has been a labor of love, and it’s a pleasure to finally share the results of all the hard work and sleepless nights.

“En famille means 'with family,' and our goal is to create an elevated family dinner experience for a small group of people. My pack, and especially my wonderful partner, Maggie, encouraged me to pursue this goal.” He smiled down at Maggie. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Everyone clapped politely. I tried not to barf. It was all just so performative .

“Let’s eat!” Maggie exclaimed.

Dinner was delicious, and only a little pretentious. Each time one of the eight courses was served, the head waiter, a young, serious woman, would name the dish first in French, then in English, before we could eat, which annoyed me.

Austin and I sat near Maggie at one end of the long communal table. Two very different men flanked her. One of them I recognized as the guy she’d been giggling with at the bar, while the other was more scowly, or maybe that was just his beard. Maggie introduced them as Ben and Soren, respectively.

“Welcome to the fun side of the table,” Ben said with a grin.

“Lachlan said we have to behave ourselves in front of the investors, so don’t get us in trouble,” Maggie chided good-naturedly.

“Joke’s on him; I love it when he’s all stern.”

I kept quiet and let Austin carry most of the conversation.

But I couldn’t help noticing how Maggie’s pack interacted.

Soren seemed to anticipate everything she needed before she could ask.

Ben was constantly touching her. She shared meaningful glances and small smiles with the other two Alphas, even while they carried on conversations down the table.

It was infuriating.

When dessert arrived - a dark chocolate cremeux served with a cocoa nib tuile and rosewater meringue - I excused myself to the restroom. Soren was feeding Maggie bits off his spoon, and I couldn’t stomach it any longer.

The bathroom was just as beautifully decorated as the rest of the place. I stood at the sink, glaring at my reflection in a gilded mirror.

Was that what being bonded to the right Alphas looked like?

Despite living at the Omega Center for years, I had very little experience with how healthy packs functioned.

I knew Steffi and Andreas were happily bonded, and had been for years, but Steffi could get along with a potted plant, and Andreas’ calm, centered energy seemed unshakeable.

What hope was there for a depressed Omega with abandonment issues?

It was officially time to go. I went to search for Austin and get home before I got really depressed. But dinner had finally broken up, and everyone was milling around again.

Before I could escape, Maggie came to join me at the side of the room. “I need a break; all these scents are still overwhelming. Apparently I’ll get more used to it… right?”

“Yeah, after a couple of years it won’t bother you so much being around strange scents. At least that’s how it was for me.”

Maggie nodded, looking thoughtful. As much as it sucked presenting as an Omega at nineteen, I had to admit presenting in her late twenties probably sucked more.

“Congratulations, by the way,” I said. “Steffi told me you’re officially a detective now. She wouldn’t shut up about it, actually.”

Maggie’s smile was only a little guarded. “Thanks. It wasn’t easy, and I had to transfer precincts, but it’s worth it. Even if there’s a shit ton of paperwork.”

Another awkward silence fell.

“So, how are you? Austin said you moved out of the Omega Center?” she asked carefully.

“Yep. I got my own apartment?. It’s nice to have my own space.”

“You seem different,” she said, a little abruptly.

“Why? Because I’m making polite conversation?” I retorted.

Maggie smiled, like this was an inside joke between us. “I guess, yeah.”

“Well… you seem happy,” I said, almost like an accusation.

Her smile grew wider and turned inward. She looked at the small crowd, and I followed her gaze. Almost as one, her pack members glanced over to smile back, like she’d called out to them.

“Is that the bond?” I asked, giving into my curiosity.

She focused back on me. “What? Oh yeah, they all felt me shoot out a happiness beam.”

“So you know exactly what they’re feeling all the time?”

Maggie took a moment to consider before answering. “It’s not a constant thing. But I can tune into what they’re feeling, and vice versa.” She caught my incredulous look.

“I know it sounds weird, but it feels like the most natural thing in the world. I can’t imagine not having them here.” She placed her hand over her heart.

I wasn’t sure what else showed on my face, but whatever it was made Maggie touch my shoulder gently.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” I tried to stop thinking about Kieran, Charlie, and even Ellis, and wondered what it would be like to know, with complete certainty, that they cared about me as much as I cared about them.

“I need to go meet some people,” Maggie said, patting my shoulder again. “But it was surprisingly okay to see you again.”

I snorted a laugh. “Good luck with everything.”

“Yeah, you too.”

“I saw you being nice to Maggie,” Austin said while we waited for my secure cab outside the restaurant.

“I don’t know about nice .” I needed to reevaluate some things in my life if the bare minimum of polite conversation was counted as nice . “We didn’t start yelling at each other, at least.”

“I never really understood why you hated her so much. Anyway, thanks for coming,” they said as my cab pulled up, giving me a side hug.

I’d figured out pretty quickly that Austin didn’t need me there at dinner, but I appreciated their effort to get me out of the house, even for something so out of my comfort zone. But instead of gloating about knowing their ulterior motives, I just hugged them back. “You’re welcome.”

The whole ride back to my apartment, all I could think about was Maggie’s face as she talked about her pack and held her hand over her heart.

I found myself doing the same because I could feel an absence there. Even with all the people I’d lost over the years, this felt different because it was my choice to push Charlie and Kieran away.

While my cab driver sped down the expressway - the lights of the city on my left and the dark expanse of the bay on my right - I had a very annoying realization: I’d done exactly what Ellis did to me. I’d pushed everyone away because I was too afraid of potential pain to even try to be happy.

My choice wasn’t a show of bravery or strength; it was cowardice, pure and simple.

And I wasn’t a fucking coward.