My stomach dropped. I hadn’t planned to broach the topic so soon—I would have preferred to eat something before I had my dreams dashed—but here we were.
“Are they... mad?” I asked carefully, bracing myself for the worst.
“At you?” She shook her head. “It wasn't your fault, but Zero certainly got an earful this morning.”
“He did?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Bobbitt smacked her lips. “Serves him right, too! He knows better than to change things the day of a show.”
I nodded along while she spoke, not bothering to point out that he swapped my act for one that I had no idea how to perform. If it wasn’t for Syxx, I would have been so screwed. I made a mental note to thank her again when I saw her.
“I take it he’s not here then?” I glanced briefly at his bunk again.
“Nope. Probably still sulking somewhere.” She laughed. “Ya handled the cage like a pro, ya know? Hallow is actually considering letting ya perform in the bike act again...”
“No.” My eyes shot open wide. “No thank you. I-I'd rather not.”
Not only was the cage terrifying, but now I had another pressing reason to avoid it. After last night with Revel, I didn’t want to see him at all. Hopefully, I could make it through the entire day without any awkward moments. If I was extra lucky, I wouldn’t see him at all.
Bobbitt giggled and waved a hand flippantly. “Don't worry. You’re just performing in Zero's act tonight. No more funny business or last-minute swaps either.”
I shifted on the spot, tugging at the hem of my shirt. “S-so... I'm not kicked out?”
She threw her head back and cackled. “Kicked out? For that? Not a chance.” She patted me comfortingly on the shoulder. “Ya did great. Ya handled it well. If anything, Hallow was impressed.”
A heavy weight fell off my shoulders, replaced by relief. “Really?”
She nodded, and her blonde curls bounced. “Yep. I told ya not to worry. Everything is gonna be flawless tonight. You’ll see.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I hoped it would go better than last night, but my stomach growled loud enough for her to hear. We stared at one another before bursting into laughter.
“First thing’s first: breakfast.” She grinned. “Then we’ll worry about tonight.”
That sounded like a fantastic plan.
I hurried to pull on my boots, hastily tying the laces, then I sprinted to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I was eager to find food and settle my rumbling stomach, but I was also excited to spend some time with Bobbitt. It would be a welcome relief from all the testosterone I’d been surrounded by recently, and it was nice to finally have a girlfriend to hang out with.
Before my awakening, I had two best friends who I hung out with every day. I saw them at school, and we’d normally go to each other’s houses afterward. But after I perfumed, I wasn’t allowed to see them anymore. It was too dangerous, according to my mother, especially since we didn’t know how I would react to the suppressants at first.
She wanted to keep me safe and guarded, always. Even if that meant basically keeping me prisoner in my own house.
In the beginning, I talked to them on the phone or texted them every day, but eventually those connections faded. It had been a year since I spoke to either of them, a year since I had any girlfriends to gossip or laugh with. I’d accepted it a long time ago—what else was I supposed to do?—but that didn’t make the disappointment hurt any less.
It seemed silly, but after being alone for so long, the prospect of having a friend to hang out with and confide in had a smile spreading across my face.
When I popped back out of the bathroom, Bobbitt was pulling her hair into a short ponytail. She’d stuck some rhinestones at the corners of her eyes and put on some blue eyeshadow.
Whimsy ran so deep in her veins that she couldn't help herself, and I loved it. She knew who she was, to her core. I might have known what I was—an omega terrified to become some pack’s property—but I was still figuring outwhoI was.
With any luck, spending time with Bobbitt might help me figure it out. At least with her, I could think clearly. It was a stark difference to the alphas in the troupe, or even Daze.
“One of these days, I’m gonna organize this mess,” she huffed, cramming a pile of things back into her cabinet before slamming it shut. It was amazing that everything didn’t come tumbling out when she let go; she had more faith in the magnetlock than I did in my ability to fit in with the circus. “Maybe at our next stop.”
My eyebrows shot up. I’d been so concerned with surviving this weekend that I hadn’t even thought to ask where the next stop was. I knew they—we, I corrected myself—were heading out tomorrow morning, but beyond that I was clueless.
“Where is the sideshow headed after Dallas?” I asked as we hopped off the bus and headed across the lot.
Bobbitt glanced over and shimmied her shoulders at the same time she answered, “Sante Fe!”
