Knot So Perfect Omega (Omega Match #1)(63)
The security guard or whoever it was jumped out and moved to the back without question as Cal held open the door for me.
“Thank you.” I breathed a sigh of relief as he slammed the door and got back in the back. “Kara is going to lose her shit when I tell her I got a ride from N’Pact.”
IT TURNED out that N’Pact was singing the National Anthem and were late for the pregame rehearsal.
I’d never been more grateful that they were well known for showing up late for events.
They unfortunately did not have any of the guys’ numbers and had only talked to them on social media, which I knew they wouldn’t be checking on a game day or really at all.
I’d just show up unannounced. That was probably for the best because if Brian knew I was coming, he’d try to stop me.
Forty-five minutes before game time, we pulled up to the entertainer and player entrance, and the driver, a nice beta named Jonathan, rolled down his window at the security hut.
The security officer came to the window with his tablet and peered into the car. “You’re late. I have N’Pact plus two. No mention of them bringing anyone else.”
“Last minute change of plans. She’s our VIP guest,” Jonathan explained smoothly. “Is that going to be an issue? If so, we’re going to have to take her all the way back to the Hollywood Hills, and well…”
The security guard glanced at me and sighed before returning to the security hut and grabbing some badges. “She’ll need to stay with you at all times and wear her badge.”
“Got it. Thank you.” Jonathan grabbed the badges that were on lanyards and passed them back to Alvaro, who distributed them as we pulled through the gates and into a parking lot at the back of the stadium.
“You’ll stay by us until we find your pack,” Alvaro directed as he handed me a VIP badge. “If we find out you’ve been lying to us…”
“I’m not.” I put the lanyard around my neck and checked my hands before getting out of the vehicle. They were scraped up, but luckily there had been a first aid kit in the SUV and I’d been able to clean them up. Too bad there wasn’t a spare cell phone.
Payne gave me a withering stare as he shut the back passenger door. “They are going to kick our asses.”
Cal came up beside him, slinging an arm around him. “Why would they do that, Payney boy?”
“She smells like us now.” He grunted and shoved off Cal’s arm.
I lifted the hem of my shirt and sniffed. It was an odd mixture of my scent, theirs, and my own pack’s. It didn’t smell bad in the slightest, but I could see why Payne was a bit concerned.
Glances were exchanged among the members of the band and Alvaro pinched the bridge of his nose, reminding me of Beck. “Let’s go find your pack.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kane
I was in this surreal sort of headspace as we sat in the locker room, waiting for our time to go warm up in the training facility.
Kayla wasn’t answering our calls and texts, and we were on edge. She might have been taking a nap, but that didn’t explain why her phone went straight to voicemail—unless she’d turned it off.
We’d started our day with a delicious spread for breakfast with Kayla then headed to the stadium for a practice and debrief on the schedule for the day. After that, we’d showered and done several interviews, including a segment for one of the sports broadcasts on how Alphaball is played. One would think doing anything before a game would leave us tired, but it only amped us up more for our games.
Brian had been surprisingly quiet since arriving shortly after us. Maybe he’d finally realized his time with us was over. We didn’t make the decision lightly since we’d have to find a new manager and coach.
“I’m going to check the cameras,” Beck muttered from across from me.
We had several cameras around our property, but none in the house. That might need to change if Kayla was going to be staying there by herself often. If she’d let us. The reason we didn’t have any inside in the first place was because we weren’t confident that they wouldn’t be hacked.
“We’re up on the practice field and then will be going straight out into the stadium for the National Anthem.” Brian didn’t look up from his phone he’d been texting away on for the last several minutes.
The four of us stood from where we were lounging around in our small locker room. We had on special edition all royal blue uniforms with our signature pack of gnomes with butcher knives in hands screen printed on the front and last names on the back. The blood-red cleats had our gnome printed on the side with a printed signature. The look would be launching on our Alpha Fit website at the start of the first game.
It had been Rio’s idea to do an exclusive limited run of our championship uniform, and our website tech team was already anticipating a sell-out within minutes of going live.
I grabbed my cell phone and followed my pack out of the locker room, texting Kayla that I couldn’t wait to see her later.
“Did we leave the gate open?” Beck fell into step beside me. “I could have sworn I waited for it to be shut. Am I losing my mind?”
“No, I’m pretty sure you shut it because in my head I was thinking about what a lunatic you were for blocking the car that pulled up behind us while it shut.” I grabbed his phone as we walked down the corridor. “Let me back it up. We left at what? Nine?”