Page 16 of Knot Going Down

Strong. Steady.

Without hesitation, he lifts me off the ground like I weigh nothing at all. I press my face into his shoulder as he carries me through the crowd, his voice low and soothing near my ear, though I can’t make out the words. The noise fades, step by step, until we’re out of the stadium.

He doesn’t let go right away. He holds me, breathing slow and solid like he’s trying to lend me his calm.

And for the first time in minutes, I let myself breathe, too.

“Beautiful girl.” Lucas sets me down, but his hands frame my face, aligning our eyes. “Breathe with me.”

He takes slow, deliberate breaths. I do my best to do the same.

“Good,docinho. Just like that.”

“W-what'sdocinho?” I stutter out through sharp inhales.

“A sweet treat.” A gentle smile curls his lips. “Like you.” He places a palm flat over my heart, a grounding weight with just the right amount of pressure. “You are doing so well.”

Over several minutes, my breath slows along with my heart.

“Sorry,” I whisper, feeling bad for disrupting his evening. He shouldn’t have to be out here with me. He should be enjoying himself with everyone else. A man like Lucas probably loves being at the center of the action. “I’m okay. You can go back in.I’m just gonna…” I look around. “I think I’ll pack. My flight goes out tomorrow, and I should check on Ava. I’m worried about her. She was supposed to come and didn’t make it, and I’m not sure?—”

“Shhh. I am right where I want to be. Let me take you back to the village.”

I should protest, but I’m exhausted, overstimulated, and near tears. It sounds nice to have someone with me, to not be alone.

“Okay,” I say weakly.

Lucas flashes me a gorgeous smile. The kind of smile that has my heart speeding up again, but for a completely different reason. He brushes his lips against my cheek. It’s an innocent kiss. The kind friends give each other in Europe—probably in Brazil, too. But he doesn’t pull away, leaving our faces close, our breaths mingling.

My eyes catch with his when he pulls back. My tongue flits across my bottom lip, my mouth suddenly way too dry, and his gaze drops to follow the movement. He kisses my other cheek, but this time right at the corner of my lips. Every nerve seems to spark to life.

I want him to kiss me. Does he want to kiss me? I think maybe, but I’ve never been good at reading those signs. Maybe that’s one of the things I like about Declan. He’s so direct, I never have to guess at what he wants.

Declan.

What would he think of me kissing Lucas? He doesn’t seem like the kind of alpha who likes to share. Everything I’ve seen of him so far suggests he’s more the possessive type. Declan and I aren’t anything official. We haven’t hadthe talk, and I don’t date alphas, so it can’t continue past the Olympics. He knows that.

Lucas, on the other hand, is more the kind of guy I could see myself with long term. A fellow beta. Safe. Sweet.

If he didn’t live on a different continent.

I awkwardly pat his chest, then step to the side. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“It is my pleasure.” He offers me the crook of his elbow like some kind of old-fashioned gentleman. “Allow me to walk you home?”

I place my hand on his arm. “I’d like that.”

10

AVA

This is all Meggie Harper’s fault. If I hadn’t agreed to drive her and her pack to the rental house I got and never used, I wouldn’t be in this situation.

The tiny room I share with Emily suddenly feels too small. Claustrophobic. I want to smash the cardboard beds to pieces and stomp out everything that’s happened in the past twelve hours. No, I want to punch something. Someone.

Secret liar Meggie Harper who thought she could fly under the radar as an unbonded omega at the frickin’ Olympics where you can’t go five feet without running into a pair of walking biceps and a fuck-ready alpha. So what happens? She goes into heat! Her first heat!

Directing the getaway car for her and her doting crew of eager erections to a safe place for a heat-induced sex marathon was something I could have gone my whole life without doing. And now look at the mess it got me in.