Page 23 of Rhythm Of Our Souls (Heartbreak Melody #3)

Lulu

“Welcome to your home away from home. Don’t worry, we don’t live here the whole time. If we’re in the same city for a few days, we often stay at hotels,” Ally says as we step onto her tour bus.

“Wow.” My eyes widen, taking in the space. Almost everything is modern, luxurious, and black with silver accents; the couch, the floors, the walls, the curtains, the seats... everything.

I’m almost afraid to walk around here with my shoes on.

“Come in, come in. Don’t be shy.” She laughs.

“This is amazing,” I say in awe.

“Thanks.” She grins. “The guys and I had it custom-made.”

“Speaking of your bandmates, where are they?” Gavin asks as Nate, who’s the last one in, closes the door behind him.

Ally leans against the counter, arms crossed. “I talked to them; they’re going to fly into the next city and stay in a hotel for a few days as a new bus gets ready for them.”

“They’re okay with giving up their space for us?” I ask, feeling guilty for putting them out. “We can take the other bus if it helps. We don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not imposing on anyone,” Ally insists. “The guys are completely okay with it. They’re excited for us.”

“That’s nice of them.” I smile. “They seem like good guys.”

“The best. Skyler is just happy Liam is getting his happy ending.” Ally grins over at Liam. “He won’t shut up about you being a lucky bastard and ending up with two Omegas.”

“I know. He won’t stop texting me,” Liam grumbles.

“Are you close with Skyler?” I ask Liam. We didn’t get a chance to talk much about his life last night. I mostly did the talking. I tend to talk a lot, but he didn’t seem to mind. Now I feel bad about not asking more about him.

“Yeah, we’re pretty close.” Liam nods. “He’s my little brother.”

“What!” I blink in surprise. “Really?”

“He’s the reason why Liam got the job working for me,” Ally explains. “The guys and I are really close, and they wanted someone they could trust to help protect me.”

“That’s so sweet of him,” I say.

“Sweet isn’t what I’d call him,” Liam grunts. “More like a pain in my ass.”

“Oh, hush. You adore the fucker.” Nate chuckles.

“Do you have any other siblings?” I ask.

“Two sisters,” he tells me. “One’s our stepsister, but they’re both awesome. They’re going to love you.”

“I can’t wait to meet them.” I smile, wanting to know more about this man. Liam seems like a broody person on the outside, but I know there’s something softer in there.

“So, you're really sure about this bus?” Gavin says. “We can stay on another bus.”

“Nah. It really is okay. Plus, it makes more sense for me to have this bus.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because the backroom is my bedroom. And my nest.”

“Oh.” Shit. Nest. Fuck. I didn’t even think about that. I look up at Gavin and Brady with panic.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asks, sensing my shift in mood.

“I... I didn’t even think about nests...” I shared a bed with the guys, but they converted a walk-in closet into my nest. I packed everything up from it this morning, but I didn't even think about where I’d put everything once I got here. Or if there was even going to be space for me.

“Hey.” Ally walks over to me. “Breathe.”

I blink up at her, feeling stupid for wanting to cry.

“You don’t think I’d forget about you having a space of your own, did you?

” She gives me a grin that makes my stomach flip.

“First off, you're welcome to share mine any time. I normally don’t have anyone in there with me, but it turns out I enjoy having someone sleep next to me.” She looks up at Brady with this look of awe in her eyes.

“It’s nice not to sleep alone.” She blinks down at me.

Alone? Is she really saying she’s been sleeping alone this whole time? What about Liam and Nate? I know they’ve been in a weird spot, but is she telling me they haven’t been at least cuddling with her at night?

I can’t imagine not being between Gavin and Brady. Since I’ve met them, I haven't slept alone.

“I can’t sleep alone,” I admit.

“The bunks are very big, enough for maybe some snuggles, but that’s about it.” She rubs at her arm. “My bed has lots of room, though,” she adds hopefully.

“I’d love to share if you’re okay with it.”

Her face lights up. “We will finally be able to have that sleepover we’ve always wanted.”

My heart pangs and tears spring to my eyes for new reasons. We might have been best friends, did everything together, but sleepovers were something my parents never let me do as a kid.

They were so judgmental of everyone; no one was good enough for me to be able to sleep over at their place.

“I can’t wait,” my voice breaks just a little bit, and I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from having a full-on meltdown.

“Oh!” She snaps her fingers. “I almost forgot. Follow me.”

I follow after her, and she leads us to the bunk beds.

“Liam and Nate sleep here. But you.” She pauses, pointing to Gavin and Brady.

“Will sleep on this side.” She points to the side with three bunks.

“And this...” She pulls back a curtain on the bottom one to reveal this little hideaway bunk.

My lips part in awe as I look at it. She thought about me.

Where my nest would be. She made sure I wasn’t a guest here, but she made this place ours.

I’m not sure when she had the time to do it, but fuck!

My heart is so damn full I don’t know what to do.

“Can be your space. For your nest. I know it’s not that big, but—”

I’m hit with an overwhelming feeling of love. Grabbing her face, I turn her towards me, tears spilling free. I kiss her, letting her know just how much I appreciate what she’s done. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“Of course." She gives me a dazed smile. “I want you to feel like this is your space too. You're not guests. This will be your home away from home. I mean it. It’s only going to be for a few more months, then we can figure out where to go from there.”

“Okay.” I smile, nodding excitedly.

After we get the grand tour, Nate lets us know we need to get on the road if we’re going to make it to our next destination on time.

The next several hours are spent driving. We pass the time talking and playing games.

It’s honestly perfect. Our packs meld together so effortlessly. It’s almost too good to be true. Every once in a while, I sneak peeks at Ally, as if to check to make sure this is real. That she’s actually here.

She’s sitting next to me, her hand almost always in mine, but it’s still not enough.

Sometimes I catch her watching me. We laugh, and she gives me a wink before going back to talking to whomever.

It’s not until about seven hours in that I start to feel stir-crazy.

“Are we almost there yet?” Ally groans as she stands and stretches. My eyes go to her stomach when that bit of skin shows, her jeans hanging low on her waist.

Brady is sitting on her other side, and I catch him watching as my eyes glance over to him.

He looks at me with heated eyes, letting me know he likes what he sees too, and my stomach flutters with need.

Not one bit of jealousy, only eagerness to have both of them at the same time.

“We’re ten minutes away,” Nate answers, checking his phone.

“I don’t think I’ve asked, but where is your next show?”

Ally grins, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Vegas, baby!”

“Really?” My eyes light up with excitement. “We’re going to Vegas?"

“Yup. Three shows, two weeks, then off to New York. Then, we'll dip into Canada to do a show in Toronto, before heading to Boston. After that, we’ll travel down along the East Coast until finally making our way back to LA.”

“Wow. And how long does that normally take you?”

“Should be what, three months?” Ally asks Nate, and he nods.

“How many shows do you have left?” Gavin asks.

“About seven.”

“If there’s only seven, why three months? Do you space it out so you can enjoy time in between?" Brady asks.

Ally’s eyes flick over to Liam and Nate’s. They all share a look before Liam grumbles. “That‘s something we need to talk about.”

“What’s wrong?” My stomach sinks.

“We set about a week each month for... downtime,” Nate says.

“So, like exploring and stuff?”

“No,” Ally says. “For my heat.”

“Oh.” My eyes widen as I blink. How the hell could I forget about our heat? Shit, I didn't even think about that. I just ended mine a few days ago, so I shouldn't have it again for another month, but I don’t think I want to have it here on the bus.

“We normally book a hotel for that week.” Ally chews on her lip. “The guys use that time to do their own thing, explore, have fun, get into trouble, that kind of thing.” She laughs it off. “These two kind of just stay nearby.”

“Nearby?” Brady frowns, looking at Nate and Liam. “What do you mean by nearby? Shouldn’t they be in there with you?”

“Ah, no.” Ally rubs the back of her head. “I do my heats alone.”

“Why?” I ask, brows furrowed. I look at Liam, then back to her. “Why would you do them alone?”

I did mine alone for years before I started using the pack program at Calling Wood, then met the guys. So it’s not odd to do them alone. But why would she if she didn’t have to?

“I wasn’t really into hiring temp packs.

I don’t trust easily, and I didn’t want to go through something like that with strangers.

And it’s kind of the same thing with heat clinics.

It’s okay. I have like, every toy you can imagine.

I’ve survived.” She smiles, trying to reassure me that it’s not a big deal. But it is.

“Why the fuck haven’t you helped her through them?” Brady growls at Liam, taking the question right out of my brain.

“That‘s none of your fucking business.” Liam snaps back.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Ally says, placing her hand on Brady’s shoulder. I watch him relax at her touch, but it doesn’t do much more. He’s fuming at Liam.

And I’m kind of pissed, too. How could he let her go through something like that alone? It’s not fun. Not at all.

“It wasn’t his job to,” Ally continues.