Page 25 of Two For the Show (Trapped On The Tightrope Duet #2)

Dario’s essence tangles with mine, his joy filling every corner of my weary, battered soul.

And alongside him, I can feel the contentment from Jude and the curiosity from Matteo. Three of my five men are being carried with me forever now, and I thought I’d be more afraid of this.

We had a plan, albeit tentative. There was going to be a proper pack meeting, not one that I would fall asleep during.

We were going to discuss what bonding would look like for our dynamic as a pack, and I was going to suggest we hold off until we at least had a plan on how to deal with Rich, Tripp, and Greg.

But plans have nothing on Omega instincts and a well-timed game of truth or dare, I guess.

Dario’s body is shaking against mine, and not only from the thrill of the bond that now stretches between us. I pull away and swear when I see how blue his lips are.

“Shit! Let’s get you warmed up.” I grab his hand and drag him to his trailer. I’d rather go to mine, because that’s where my nest is, but he needs to get changed, and he has that heated blanket that is to die for.

He stumbles after me, seemingly in a daze. The doctor in me has nothing on the furious Omega screaming at me to take care of him, to make sure my Alpha is okay.

I’m cold, too, but my soaked clothing is inconsequential when compared to his almost entirely bare body that is open to the elements after an ice bath.

We stumble up the stairs to his trailer, and I leave him in the living area as I run to his room.

The heated blanket is tangled in his sheets, and I have to wrestle it free.

Once I get it plugged in, I wrap him tightly in it and turn it on high.

I drag his space heater across the trailer, too, and get that blowing on his feet.

My Alpha looks up at me with a serene smile stretched across his blue lips. “You’re worried about me,” he sings teasingly. “You like me.”

“Of course I’m worried about you!” I say, shaking my head. “It’s like forty degrees outside, and you soaked in a tub of ice water. You’re going to chatter your teeth out of your head!”

He chuckles and pulls the blanket tighter around his body. “You’re mollycoddling me.”

I stop my fussing and stare at the Alpha. “Mollycoddling? What does that even mean?”

“It’s like indulging and being overprotective. It’s from the nineteenth century. Maybe we should call it Alphacoddling.”

“Dario Reynolds, are you a wordsmith?”

“I don’t think that’s what wordsmith means, Doc.

But my mom loved to tell us about the origins of words.

Shakespeare invented over a thousand words that we still use today.

Including courtship.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me before reaching out for me.

When I place my hand in his, he tugs me down onto the couch, wrapping me up in the blanket with him.

“Tell me something else about your mom,” I say softly. “What was she like?”

Dario plays with the ends of my hair as his eyes take on this dreamy, far-off quality.

“She was beautiful. I was so young when she died that the memories are sporadic, but that’s something that has always stuck in my brain.

She was a typical Alpha in a lot of ways.

Tall, with a big personality. But she didn’t outshine Dad.

It was as if she had a way of enhancing everyone around her.

Her hair was thick and long, probably to the middle of her back, and I remember thinking it was made out of gold when I was little.

And I felt so safe in her arms, you know?

But maybe that’s how all kids feel about their moms.”

My heart aches for my own mother. I pushed both her and my father away when Rich came into the picture. I’m still too ashamed to admit that they were right. It’s another thing on the long list of reasons why I’m an idiot, honestly. I’m afraid to face their judgment.

No matter how old I get, I don’t want to disappoint them. And staying with Rich as long as I did is the ultimate disappointment.

I should call them. If only to let them know I’m okay. It feels selfish to hold them at arm’s length when Dario has no choice but to miss his mom.

“She was a terrible singer. And she didn’t limit herself to the shower.

She’d dance around the kitchen while cooking, slide on her socks while cleaning, and belt songs out at the top of her lungs.

Riding in a car with her was almost torture, because we had no way to escape it.

” He leans his head back and looks up at the ceiling.

“I’ve forgotten exactly what she sounded like, though.

I’m sure there is some science behind how and why certain memories stick around while others are lost to time.

It doesn’t really matter, though. Won’t bring her back. ”

I stroke my hand down his arm, trying to pump soothing feelings through our new bond. There is so much pain in his voice, so much loss, that I can hardly stand not to pull him into my arms and rock him.

“She would’ve loved you,” he whispers, gathering me up and curling his body around me. “I may not remember everything about her, but I’m sure of it.”

I bury my face into his neck, enjoying the way his candied apple scent is already starting to take on a chocolate-dipped profile. We stay like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, wordlessly supporting each other through the new bond that purrs in our chests.

“Gloating doesn’t look good on you,” Quinton says dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dario leans forward and ruffles the other Alpha’s hair. “Aw, Q, don’t be jealous. Your time is coming.”

“Dario!” I hiss, bumping him with my shoulder. “Be nice. Bonding order has no bearing on our relationships.”

He blows me a sarcastic kiss. “So you say. See ya later, Doc. I’ve got a brother to torment.” He skips away, leaving me standing with my hands on my hips in the dress tent.

“You know that, right, Quinton?” I ask hesitantly. “It’s not that I care about Dario or Jude more.”

He takes a few steps across the grass and wraps his hand around the back of my neck. “I’m jealous as fuck, Alex, but I’m not worried that you don’t care about me. I am, however, worried that Dario is going to distract you through the bond when I try to take you on our date.”

“Oh, you have our date planned?” I ask, placing my hands on his chest. “What do you have up your sleeve?”

“Not a card. Magic tricks are more your thing,” he teases. My face heats at the memory of my awful card tricks from when we played truth or dare after a performance. “But we’d better hurry, or we’re going to be late.”

“Now?” I yelp as he grabs my hand and begins dragging me toward his trailer. “Don’t I get a little warning so I can get cleaned up?”

“Nah,” he says dismissively. “You showered and brushed your teeth today. That’s clean enough for me.”

We climb the stairs to his trailer, and I realize that I’ve never been here before. I’ve always gone to Matteo’s. “Do you ever sleep here?” I ask as he pulls me through the door. “I feel like you’re always at Matteo’s place.”

“That’s because he is.” The Beta’s voice greets me as I cross the threshold. “But I often kick him out so I can have some time to myself.”

Quinton gives Matteo a peck on the cheek. “It will shock you to know that sometimes I can be a lot for our poor Beta.”

Matteo swats him on the ass with a kitchen towel. I am sure I am staring at them both with hearts in my eyes. I love watching them interact, and the affection that Matteo is pouring into our bond as he teases Quinton is so sweet it almost makes my teeth ache.

Quinton pulls his phone out of his pocket and pokes around the screen for a moment, and then music fills the space from a small speaker. The singer has a unique voice and a simple guitar backing. He holds his hand out to me and bows exaggeratedly, like we are in a regency drama.

“May I have this dance? ”

“How could I say no to you?” I tease, placing my hand in his. He pulls me close, and we begin to sway, no formal steps between us.

The Alpha pulls me tightly against him, his slim hips fitting between mine perfectly, and ducks his head to my ear. “Matteo is making us dinner,” he says softly. “And then he’s going to draw you.”

“Draw me?” My voice is so high-pitched it’s nearly a squeak. “What do you mean?”

“You left him smelling like a French patisserie, so it’s only fair that he draws you like one of his French girls.” Matteo snorts a laugh from the kitchen.

“I know that reference, but never saw the movie,” I admit. “It seemed too sad. Everyone goes on and on about how it’s some sweeping romance, but without a happily ever after, it’s not a romance.”

He spins me out and then pulls me down with him onto the couch. “Ah, but it’s not actually a romance, is it?”

“What is it if not a romance?” Matteo asks as he stirs something that smells delicious. Tomato sauce?

“It’s a love story, sure. But it’s also a romantic disaster.”

“Romantic disaster sounds like my life,” I mutter, wiggling into Quinton’s embrace.

The Alpha turns his head to kiss me on the hair.

“I’ll make you a promise right here, right now, Alex.

” His voice is uncharacteristically serious, and I straighten my back.

When we lock eyes, I see nothing but genuine, earnest affection in his.

“I can’t rewrite the first act of your story, but the second will be an actual sweeping romance.

With no question about the happily ever after. ”

His words wrap around my heart and pull me down, leaving me no doubt he’ll do everything in his power to fulfill that promise.

I still worry about what is going to happen when Rich, Greg, and Tripp catch up with us, because that part of my life is sure to come barrelling into this one at some point, but if Quinton Black has anything to say about it, we’re going to live happily ever after.

He traces my jaw with his fingertips before leaning down and kissing me with a gentleness that has my belly doing flips.

The kiss is everything I used to dream about when I was a young Omega in my bedroom, watching the movies that told me that there was a prince out there waiting for me.

That one day he’d come in and sweep me off my feet, whisking me away to a happily ever after that would go down in history.

I have spent my life waiting for that prince.

No one told me he’d be chronically ill, a sword swallower, and always a little bit stoned.

But he is a prince all the same.