Page 40 of Rhythm Of Our Souls (Heartbreak Melody #3)

She hugs me tightly. I have to close my eyes to keep from crying.

Turning my head to the side, I find Liam watching us. I smile, and he gives me one back before shooting me a wink.

This is how I want all my mornings to be, two of my lovers in bed with me. I could get used to this.

“You cheated!” Lulu gasps, eyes wide as she spins around to gape at me.

“I did not.” I laugh, putting another quarter into the machine. “I’m just really, really good at arcade games.”

It’s been a week since Ally’s heat, and I swear that time we spent together brought the Alphas and Omegas closer. They seem to be working a lot more like a pack now.

But Ally and Lulu felt like there was something missing. They’ve been spending all their time with their lovers, so they didn’t take the time to really hang out and spend time with the pack members they’re not in a sexual relationship with.

So, they came up with the idea that Lulu and I should hang out for the day, spend time together, and get to know one another while Gavin and Ally do the same.

We just got done with the concert in Toronto and have stopped in Niagara Falls for the weekend on our way to New York.

The girls picked where they wanted to go, and Lulu decided on this arcade called the Great Canadian Midway. She did good because I’m having a blast.

She, on the other hand, is a bit of a sore loser.

“I call bullshit,” she huffs, crossing her arms. “You win. Every. Time.”

“That I do.” I chuckle, focusing my attention on Pac-Man.

“That’s not right!”

“I’m sorry,” I can’t help but laugh. “Would you like me to lose?”

“No,” she mutters, and then the little shit starts pressing buttons, making me die.

“What the hell?” I burst out laughing.

“Okay, maybe I wanted you to lose.” She grins.

“How about we play some two-player games?"

“Good idea.”

For the next half hour, we play a few rounds of the basketball game, and she wins some of those, gloating like she’s an Olympic medalist or something. It’s cute, so I let her have her fun.

After that, we play Skee-Ball. And that one I killed at.

Then we moved over to some shooting games where Lulu got very into it, screaming at the screen and laughing like a maniac when the zombies died.

My stomach is hurting from laughing so much.

“Okay, I’m hungry,” she declares after our fifth round of zombie killing.

“All that murder will do that to a person,” I tease playfully as we take our crazy pile of tickets to the prize area.

“All this together please,” I tell the attendee.

She takes the pile and feeds it through the reader. “Five thousand,” she informs us, sounding surprised. “What prizes would you like?”

I turn to Lulu, who’s eyeing up a couple of stuffies hanging on the wall. “You choose,” I tell her.

“Really?” She smiles. “Are you sure? These are mostly your tickets.”

“Go for it.” I nod my head towards the prizes.

She lets out an excited noise before trying to decide. “The big pink elephant,” she says.

“Good choice,” the attendee replies. “You still have two thousand points left.”

“Okay...” she says, looking at the choices. Then her eyes land on something, and they go wide. “That.” She points to a ferret stuffie.

When she’s handed the cute stuffy, she turns to me. “Ally loves ferrets.”

“She does?” My brows furrow together. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. She’s always wanted one. But her parents never let her because one of her dads is afraid of them.” She laughs. “So we used to go down to the pet store and play with the ones there every weekend. She grew really attached to one and was devastated when it was sold.”

“Damn, that’s kind of depressing.”

“Yeah,” she sighs. “But maybe this will make up for it. It’s not the real thing, but it’s pretty cute.”

“It is.” I laugh, petting the fake ferret.

We take our winnings and head over to one of the booths, ordering a pizza.

“How are you doing with all these changes?” I ask her as we wait for our food to arrive.

“I’m good.” She smiles. “It’s been a bit of an adjustment, but I like it.

” She shrugs, playing with the wrapper from the straw.

“It happened so fast, I didn’t really get the chance to think about what all this meant until we were already on the road.

But any time there’s a bit of doubt in my mind, someone seems to know exactly what to do to make it go away.

” She chews on her lip, looking down as she smiles.

“Being part of a pack is a lot better than I thought it would be.”

“Did you not want a pack?” I ask, even though she had one with Gavin and Brady before meeting us.

“It’s not that. I just... I grew up being taught that the pack mentality was a sin.

Two lovers only. Only one male and one female.

And they had to be Betas. Everything else was the devil's work.” She snorts, shaking her head.

“After getting away from all of that, it was clear that the only evil going on in this world were people like them and the teachings they follow.” She shrugs, and my heart hurts for her.

“I’m glad you got away from that.” I read her story on the internet, but you never know how much of it is true or false. I won’t ask her anything she doesn’t willingly offer up. It’s not my life. Not my right.

“Thanks,” she says with a laugh. “Me too. It took a long time to get where I’m at, but I’m happy with how my life turned out.

Could it have been better? Sure. Would I go back and change things if I could, maybe?

But I don’t think about that much. I try to live in the now, enjoy what life has to offer while it’s at my finger tips.

Change used to scare me because I was so used to the unknown being bad or scary and I just wanted to stay still, in some place safe and comfortable.

But after meeting Brady and Gavin, they showed me just how much I was missing.

That if I wanted to live life, I really needed to live it.

It’s the same mentality I have about these changes. It’s scary, but it’s also exciting.”

“It is.” I nod. “And I’m glad you think so.”

“Tell me about yourself,” she asks when the pizza gets dropped off. “Who is Nate Wilder?”

“Me?” I wave her off. “I’m boring. You don’t wanna hear about me.”

“If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have asked.” She narrows her eyes. “Now spill.”

She and Ally are a lot more alike than they realize.

I think that’s why I like Lulu so much. “Well, I’m twenty-nine, almost thirty.

I’ve been working in this industry since my early twenties.

Interned for Dynamite Wave Records for a few years before getting the job as Ally’s manager.

Grew up in a tiny town, a few over from the one you and Ally grew up in, actually. ”

“Really?” Her eyes widen. “Have we ever met before?”

“I don’t think so. But I did know Ally as a kid.” I grin. “Her uncle is my godfather.”

“No way,” she laughs. “Oh my god, you’re THAT Nate?”

“Depends...” I narrow my eyes.

“She had this massive crush on you. When she saw you kissing her cousin, she was wrecked. Never seen her cry so much.”

And now I feel like shit. “Yeah,” I sigh. “Guess, I am that Nate.”

“It’s okay. Don’t feel bad. She was eleven. She moved on and had other crushes.”

“Gee, thanks,” I chuckle.

“The real question is,” she starts, taking us off topic. “What do you think of me? I’m with both of your lovers.” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I laugh. “That doesn’t make you jealous? Doesn’t piss you off?”

“No,” I answer, blowing the straw wrapper in her face, making her giggle.

“Because I see how much they care about you. How much they need you. And I’d never be the one to get in the way of that.

They love me just as much, so that helps.

” I shrug. “What about you? You don’t hate me for being the Beta involved with your lovers? ”

“First off, being a Beta doesn’t matter one way or the other to me, being a good person does,” Lulu says. “And I see how much they love you. It’s the same way for me. I think as long as we respect one another and our relationships, that will help a lot.”

“Agreed.” I nod. “So, besties?” I ask, holding out my hand.

“Besties.” She grins.

The rest of the day with Lulu is fun. We leave and go for a walk through the little town before we have to meet up with everyone else to see Niagara Falls together at night.

I’m glad the girls came up with this idea. I think it was needed.

Lulu and I might not have romantic feelings for one another, but I care about her. She’s kind, loving, and cares about the two people I love. That's all I can ask for.

––––––––

Gavin

“You look ridiculous.” I snort when I see Ally step out of her room. She’s dressed in this whole old lady get up. Literally. Short white wig, glasses, a flowery dress, and a cane.

“Excuse me?” she huffs, crossing her arms. It pushes up what I’m hoping are fake boobs, nearly hitting her face. “I think I look damn fine.” She turns to look in the mirror, fixing her wig. “Yup. Gonna have all the sixty-five-plus men going gaga over me.”

“This seems a little much, doesn’t it? What happened to a good ol’ ball cap and sunglasses?”

“Been there, done that,” she huffs, moving towards the door.

“I wanted to try something new. Plus, I don’t have to worry about what I look like around you.

I’m not trying to get in your pants.” She goes to bend over to grab her shoes and groans.

“Ugh, these tits are too big.” She punches the boobs, trying to get them out of her way before attempting to bend over again, and I have to smother a laugh because this is so damn ridiculous, but also very entertaining.

This is a side of Ally I don’t mind seeing.

I knew she wasn’t your average celebrity after only spending a few days with her.

She’s really down to earth. Funny. And an overall good person.

She doesn’t let her fame and money go to her head.

But this? Never did I expect this from her.

“Be a doll and help a little old lady out and grab my shoes?” she pouts.