Page 21 of Two For the Show (Trapped On The Tightrope Duet #2)

I throw a blanket over the three of us when I hear my trailer door open. It’s one thing for them all to know we’re naked and cuddling, it’s another to see it. Sure, we’ve all seen each other bare before, but this is different.

I think.

Jude enters my bedroom, holding a few bottles of water and protein bars, followed closely by Dexter and Dario.

Both of them are still in their tiny hot pants, and I can see the pale yellow of the glow-in-the-dark paint swirling on their bodies.

Sweat slicks their hair, and their cheeks are pink from the exertion.

They must have just finished their act.

I forgot how good all of us smell together. I never appreciated it before, but now that my suppressants have worn off, it’s all I can think about. With the two of them so sweaty, I can practically feel the crunch of an apple beneath my teeth.

“You two need to be in an ice bath,” I say, trying to sit up. Quinton holds me tighter.

Dario chuckles. “We did fine without ice baths before you came around, Doc. Matteo said we needed to have a pack meeting?”

“I did. It’s time we seriously discuss what Alex’s being back is going to mean for all of us, and what we’re going to do about her old pack.”

The mention of Tripp, Rich, and Greg has my stomach doing a flip. Dario must notice, because he wedges himself into my nest and wraps himself around my back. “Don’t stress, Alex. We’ll figure it out.”

“Is everything alright, Q?” Jude asks, settling at the end of my bed. “That cut looked bad.”

Quinton grins, his eyes sleepy. “Yeah, I’m good. The good doctor got me all fixed up. You even helped, a little.”

My face heats. “Quinton, don’t you-”

“I got to sniff her panties to help with the pain, and I happened to notice a familiar scent. Perhaps a note of taffy.”

I’ve never seen the showrunner blush, but he does now. He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not?” Dexter asks stiffly from behind Jude. “Because that seems pretty cut and dry.”

I squeeze my eyes tight, throwing my head back. Fine, if this is how they want to start our first pack meeting, we may as well. “It was from a pheromone treatment. If all of you would like to give me jars of your cum, you too can get your scent all over me.”

The room is quiet for a beat before Dario starts to chuckle behind me. It’s contagious, and eventually we’re all laughing.

“You jerked off into a jar?” he asks Jude. “Like, honest to God, jerked off into a jar for her?”

Jude waves dismissively. “I’m her prime Alpha. She asked me to. I want her to get better. ”

Matteo interrupts before the conversation can derail anymore. “Speaking of getting better. Quinton and Alex need to bond for him to get better. But, rightfully so, Alex doesn’t want to rush into this like it’s a medical treatment. I, more than anyone, recognize what a commitment a bond is.”

I still feel bad about bonding Matteo without his consent, even if he had the ability to force my bond out. I never should have put him in that position, and I don’t want to lose control of myself like that again.

My Omega hindbrain decided to take over everything and force the issue, the hussy.

“So, we need a plan to handle her other pack,” Dexter says, sitting down next to Jude. We’re cramped on my full-sized bed, but I can hardly hold myself back from rolling around and covering myself in all of our scents. “Any ideas?”

“What if you go to the media?” Dario asks, stroking a hand down my side. “Call a press conference, say that you left of your own free will, and have settled in with another pack and are happy, and to stop the search.”

As nice of an idea as that is, it’s not going to work. I’ve thought about it myself in the months since I left.

“My FOS is going to be the story they focus on. Rich is also my scent match. It was documented during our registration as a pack. They’ll say I need him to get better.

He could easily force his way in here, even if we managed to find a state where we could register as a pack, given that I have another on file before we went public. And since Tripp and Greg are his pack…”

“They’d be able to come with him,” Jude finishes for me. “And it’s not like we could get rid of them after such a public joining.”

I nod. “Exactly. It would put us where we are now, but they’d also have access to us.

And I have no doubt they’d find a way to push you guys out.

Tripp’s dad is connected. He could pull some strings and get us back to Florida, where he’s governor and Omega rights aren’t as progressive as they are in other states. ”

Quinton makes a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat. “Fucking backwards ass state.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. The state is gerrymandered to hell and back, and there are some wonderful people there,” I say, feeling protective of my home, even if I’m a transplant.

“Okay,” Dario says, ignoring Quinton’s interruption. “It looks like we’re going to have to get creative, then. How can we get them to let Alex go? To drop this narrative that she’s a runaway and let us live our lives?”

Dexter hums softly. “Well, making a spectacle of the clowns worked, right?”

“We got flooded with supportive emails and social media posts,” Jude confirms. “They all appreciated how we stood up for our Omega.”

“Then why don’t we make a spectacle of Alex? Show the world that she’s happy. She’s not sick. That she wants to be here.”

My stomach drops a little. I don’t want to be a spectacle. I want to be a doctor, doing what I love, and falling in love while I’m at it. I don’t want to run. I don’t want to hide.

“Stop.” Matteo’s words are firm. “This is stressing her out. One thing at a time.” I sigh, appreciating his interruption, but knowing I need to push through my discomfort here.

This is important.

Perhaps the most important conversation we may ever have .

“I think I know why they won’t let me go,” I say softly. “I had this dream, but I’m starting to think it was actually a memory.”

We don’t get very far into our conversation once the guys realize that Rich essentially sold me to the others for a job.

Jude stomps out, claiming he needs some air. The twins try to talk over one another, exchanging ideas and insults about the three Alphas, and Matteo has to intervene until they calm down.

Quinton’s gummy kicks in, and though it helps alleviate his pain, he stops contributing anything helpful to the conversation. So I fall asleep on his chest, and when the morning light hits my face, I jolt awake with a start.

“Stop,” Quinton murmurs, stroking a hand down my back. “You’re safe.”

“I fell asleep during the pack meeting!”

“The meeting was over. No one could focus, and it was late. Today’s a travel day. Maybe we can all be in the same trailer and travel together?” The idea of being in a confined space, unable to escape, with all of them, has my stomach doing backflips.

It isn’t that I don’t want to spend time with them. It’s that all of them at once are kind of intense. It’s hard to focus when their attention is on me.

Matteo’s head pops up from the other side of Quinton, and it must be the bond between them because he knows exactly what I need.

“She needs to travel with Jude. He’s the Prime, and she’s getting better, but she’s not fully there yet. Let’s get her in fighting shape before we try to start the war, yeah?”

Quinton clicks his tongue thoughtfully before looking down at me. The softness in his eyes makes me want to please him, to do whatever it takes to make him happy. “ Okay,” he says gently. “But when we get there, we’re going to finish the meeting, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I squeak. “I am starting to feel better. I don’t think it’ll be long before I can start to help you, too.”

“You’re already helping me. Seriously, I’m feeling pretty good. I wouldn’t say no to another pair of your panties, though.”

I’m sitting at the small table off to the side of my living area, doing a puzzle, when a soft knock sounds on my door.

Quinton and Matteo left only about thirty minutes ago, long enough for me to take a shower and throw on some leggings and a t-shirt, so I wonder if maybe they left something behind.

“Come in!” I shout, not wanting to get up.

The door opens slowly, and Jude slides into my trailer through the smallest gap in my door possible. I’ve never seen the chubby Alpha being so delicate, and I struggle to smother my smile.

“You busy?” he asks, before looking down at the table. I’ve barely gotten started on the puzzle, having found it under my bed this morning when I dropped my phone.

“Nope, come sit.”

He pulls out a chair across from me and runs a hand through his hair. “We’re about to head to the next stop. Matteo said you wanted me to travel with you?”

I don’t want to tell him it was Matteo’s idea. I can see the vulnerability in Jude’s eyes, like he doesn’t think I could possibly want this, and I don’t want to inadvertently confirm that fear by saying something stupid.

Because I do want to spend more time with him. I need to know him better. He’s closed off, and we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot.

Instead of running my mouth, I nod and put down the piece I was holding.

“I did. I’m feeling a lot better, and since we’ve got a trek today, I thought it would be good to spend it together.

Maybe…” My face heats. This isn’t how it was supposed to go, is it?

They were all going to woo me, taking me on dates. This doesn’t follow that plan.

But I have a feeling Jude needs almost as much of a push as Dexter. “Maybe we can have our date?” I whisper. “It’s okay if you have somewhere else you need to be.”

“No,” he barks. I freeze. “I mean, I don’t have anywhere else to be. I’d like to be here.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

We stare at each other awkwardly before I push to my feet. “Have you eaten? We should eat before the caravan leaves.”

He shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. But you don’t have to cook for me.”