Page 39 of Follow the Rhythm (Fairview City Omegaverse #2)

I had a strange sense of déjà vu riding the train back to the label office to start work with Ursula. I was listening to The Valkyries at full volume in my headphones, exuding as much “don’t fuck with me” energy as possible.

I’d called Grace over the weekend to talk about the news of the album leaking. I couldn’t talk about it with Kieran and Ellis, so we dissected it together for over an hour.

“It was Ellis,” Grace had said with confidence. “He wants more publicity for his solo album. This keeps him in the spotlight.”

It was what everyone was saying online, on the Velvet Howl subreddit, and in the music press.

But that made no sense. Kieran and Ellis had done everything they could to keep the album from being released.

Why would he suddenly change his mind? Ellis was an asshole, but he wasn’t cruel for no reason.

I refused to listen to the album out of respect for what Kieran had said about it. But the discussion online was all about how dark it was, and everyone speculated that Michael’s overdose wasn’t accidental after all.

It fucking sucked. I wanted to call Kieran and tell him I was sorry for the stress this had to be causing him, but I was also terrified he wouldn’t want to hear from me, not when I had stayed away.

And it was easier to understand what Ellis had meant about leaving things too long. It felt impossible to reopen the door now, even if I wanted to.

A man sidled up to me, bringing my thoughts back to the present.

He gestured for me to take out my headphones.

His grassy scent was almost acrid in my nose.

I clenched my jaw. Despite my resting bitch face and my clear “leave me alone” body language, this Alpha thought his designation entitled him to my attention.

I had doused myself in industrial-strength descenter, but it wasn’t always enough.

“What are you listening to?” he asked with a smarmy smile.

“Music.” I kept my voice as flat as possible.

“What kind of music? You seem super into it.” He stepped even closer and tried to look over my shoulder at my phone.

Normally, I would’ve ignored him, moved away, and just tried to get through the rest of the ride. But my patience snapped. I wasn’t in the fucking mood. I glared at him. “Get out of my space.”

He looked surprised. “Relax, I just want to talk to you.”

The other passengers in the train car shifted uncomfortably, but no one said anything. That was par for the course. Standing up to an Alpha could be a dangerous prospect.

“ I don’t want to talk to you . I want to listen to my music and pretend like you don’t exist.”

His face hardened. “Frigid little bitch. I bet you’re a lousy fuck anyway.”

I laughed sarcastically. “Good thing you’ll never, ever find out.”

He grabbed my upper arm too hard. “Do you always run your mouth like this? I’ve got something that’ll shut you up.”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I said, wrenching out of his grip.

“Get away from her,” a woman’s voice called from behind me. I turned and saw a woman who was wearing a crumpled suit and looked exhausted, but her face was set in a determined look.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” an older black woman said angrily from a seat right across the aisle from where I was standing. “How dare you put your hands on a woman?”

The Alpha’s jaw clenched, and he bared his teeth.

“Leave her alone,” a young woman said. She had bright blue hair and was almost as short as me.

An irrational happiness, completely inappropriate for the potentially dangerous situation, spread in my chest. I grinned at the Alpha. “I’ll only say it one more time. Get out of my space.”

He muttered under his breath but looked nervously around the train car. The first woman was recording him on her phone.

“Bitch,” he said, but he moved away, then got off at the next stop.

I let out a shaky breath as adrenaline left my body.

“You okay, honey?” the older black woman asked.

“Yeah. Thank you,” I said. I looked at the other two women. “Really. Thank you.”

“We gotta have each other’s backs,” the short, young woman said. “Maybe he’ll think twice next time.”

He wouldn’t, but the feeling of support buoyed me as I walked into the Echelon Records building.

“You’re late,” Ursula said when I walked in. She was sitting in a heavily cushioned chair, and there was a cane propped on the desk next to her. Otherwise, there was no sign she was recovering from a pelvis fracture.

“Aw, I missed you too,” I said.

She gave me a good-natured scowl. “Yeah, yeah, Tiny. Let’s get to work.”

We worked on the concept for a few hours. It was so wildly different from the Velvet Howl tour and surprisingly fun. We argued about the merits of different shades of pink and played with lighting designs.

“What would you think about creating some illustrations of the girls?” Ursula asked after a couple of hours. “It would be fun to have some animated versions of their personas, even if we only use them in ancillary content.”

I immediately started picturing the style I’d use. It was an exciting idea. “You think they’d be up for that?”

“You can ask ‘em, we’ll be meeting with them next week. Bring some concepts.”

A little thrill of inspiration ran through me. It felt amazing to be good at something.

We worked through lunch, and around three o’clock, Ursula got tired.

“This fucking hip,” she said, wincing. “I’m fine until I’m not. You okay if we pack up a little early?”

“Of course. Do you need help getting home?”

Ursula scoffed. “From you? You’d break under my weight.” I scowled at her. “I’ll be fine. They cleared me for driving a week ago. See you tomorrow?”

I nodded and watched her walk out, leaning heavily on her cane. I was glad her daughter hadn’t convinced her to retire, but I would watch to make sure she didn’t overdo it. Without her noticing, of course, or she’d tear me a new one.

I considered staying to work on the illustration concepts on the fancy studio computer, but there wasn’t the same energy without Ursula there. And after my encounter that morning, I didn’t want to tempt fate by riding the train home late. Unfortunately, I couldn’t always count on having backup.

The hallway was deserted and quiet. I hummed to myself as I walked to the elevator bank, one of the bright, sparkly Jinx songs we’d listened to for inspiration.

I thought about what I’d have for dinner, and considered asking Austin if they wanted to go out somewhere to celebrate my second first day at work.

The elevator pinged, and a gust of familiar scent rolled out towards me. Strawberry and mint, more tart today than I remembered, but still sweet enough to make my mouth water. In the fraction of a second before I saw him, a whole range of emotions rushed through me. Anticipation, fear, sadness…

When I met his eyes, my inner Omega had finally settled on how I should feel. A fierce wanting made my heart pound.

Kieran looked angry enough to make me hesitate before I stepped into the elevator, but his face softened when he met my eyes.

His hair was pulled into a bun, which emphasized his strong eyebrows, and his beard was longer than when I’d last seen him.

He had his sleeves rolled up, and I unconsciously traced the lines of his tattoos.

I stepped into the tightly enclosed space. His scent was everywhere, and I bit back the instinctive whimper that wanted to escape. My perfume kicked up in response. It seemed my ability to control my reaction to him had disappeared completely. Kieran shifted on his feet.

“Hi,” I squeaked, facing forward.

“Hello,” he said, sounding a little unsure and strangely formal. “How are you?”

“Fine.” I couldn’t look at him. Was he looking at me? I chanced a glance, and he was watching me how I imagined someone would watch a wild horse they wanted to tame but were wary of spooking. I looked away quickly.

The floors ticked by. I was acutely aware that I needed to say something.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “I heard about the album leaking.”

“Not really,” he said with a gusty sigh. “They’re threatening to sue.”

“What? Why?” I turned fully towards him. His eyes flicked down to my lips briefly.

“We don’t technically own the album. So whoever leaked it, they’ve leaked Echelon property.”

“That’s such bullshit,” I said, pissed on his behalf.

He smiled slightly. “That’s the business, love. It’s all just about the money.”

“That makes me want to quit this new tour design contract.” Was the money worth it? I’d always known they were evil corporate fucks, but this seemed especially bad.

“You’re working with Ursula again? Hopefully, your next project will go the full run,” he said, still with that wry half smile.

The elevator dinged. We were in the lobby. That couldn’t be right. I hadn’t figured out how to say all the things that were crowding in my mind yet. I missed you and I’m sorry were currently battling it out for the top spot, but my mouth stayed stubbornly shut.

We walked out into the crowded lobby, through the front doors, and onto the sidewalk together.

Traffic rushed by, and the honking horns were louder than ever.

I couldn’t sort through my thoughts, and I still had no idea what to say to get us back to the place we’d been before I sabotaged everything.

Kieran looked down at me with a sad smile, then tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. My heart leapt at his casual touch.

“It was good to see you, love. I know I should play it cool, but I have missed you. And I don’t know how much longer I’ll be hanging around Fairview once all this is wrapped up. I’ll probably have to sell my flat to afford the legal fees,” he joked darkly.

“Oh. Right. It was good to see you, too.” Panic blossomed in my chest. He was leaving ? Where the hell was he going?

He stood for another long moment, looking at me with a searching expression in his eyes. I took a deep breath, trying to center my thoughts, but it was impossible with the tide of people flowing around us and the cacophony of the city echoing in my brain.

“See ya later, then, love,” he murmured, so quietly I almost couldn’t hear him. He turned to go, and fear rooted me to the spot. I watched him walk away until the crowd swallowed him from sight.

The noises of the city dropped away, until all I could hear was a loud rushing sound and the pounding of my heart. He was slipping out of my grasp, and if I didn’t act now, I would lose him forever.

Before I could rethink it, I took off running. I sprinted down the sidewalk after him, dodging confused tourists and cursing my platform boots.

When I got right behind him and was about to call out, I tripped. I went down hard on my hands and knees, and my yell turned into a yelp. I rolled into the fall, trying to protect my wrists, and landed on my back, looking up at the blue summer sky, framed by the spires of skyscrapers.

“Ow,” I whimpered. My hands and knees burned, but that was nothing compared to my ego. In true Fairview fashion, nobody stopped to help the crazy woman; they just skirted out of my way.

“Are you mad?” Kieran said, his face appearing in my line of sight. He knelt over me with a mix of exasperation and worry on his face. “What the hell were you doing?”

“I was chasing you , obviously.”

Kieran helped me sit up. He was so close to me, I could see the ring of bright green in his eyes. “Bloody hell, Jess, you’re bleeding.”

Scrapes marked my knees and the heels of my hands. I scoffed, “Barely.”

“Do I even want to ask why you were chasing me, wearing these ridiculous shoes?” He flicked the sole of one of my boots.

“I had no choice. You didn’t give me a chance to talk,” I said.

Kieran raised his eyebrows skeptically, but didn’t respond.

“I mean, back there. I have things to say.”

“I’m listening, love.”

“I’m sorry,” I breathed. “I was scared, which isn’t an excuse, but that’s all I’ve got.

” My heart felt as scraped raw as my hands, but if I wanted a second chance, I had to be brave.

“I’ve missed you too, every fucking day.

If you feel differently now, I understand, but I have to tell you…

” I trailed off, fear squeezing the breath from my lungs.

He slid a finger under my chin until I looked at him. His eyes were soft, like he already knew what I was going to say, and that let me take another breath.

“Tell me what, love?” he murmured.

“That I love you, okay? I love you, and I know that’s crazy because we barely know each other, but -”

He cut me off with a kiss, an all-consuming kiss that silenced my fear and indecision. I forgot where we were, the pain in my knees, the people moving past us on the sidewalk, everything that wasn’t the sensuous slide of his tongue or his soft, full lips molding to mine.

“Of course I love you, you wonderfully infuriating woman,” he said, his hand sliding to cradle my jaw.

He smiled, and it transformed his face back into the man I remembered waking up next to those precious few days we’d had together.

I smiled back so wide that my cheeks hurt. “Oh, love, you’ve made me so happy.”

I pressed my hand to his chest to feel the pounding of his heart and knew that I wanted to feel how his heart was beating, at all times, no matter where he was. I wanted him to know how full my heart was of love and wonder that somehow we’d found each other.

I hissed at the twinge of pain from my palm, where the fabric of his shirt abraded my cut.

Kieran captured my hand and pressed a tender kiss to the broken skin. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said. In one movement, he picked me up and cradled me in his arms.

I rolled my eyes. “Is there any point in telling you to put me down?”

“Absolutely not.” He smiled and kissed me again.