I open my eyes and look at his flushed face, he’s staring at me with an intensity, a kind of strange passion and hunger.
"I hope you’re not going to fuck any fans who will definitely cling to your band, you know, the ones they call groupies."
I burst out laughing.
"When you laugh, I feel it inside me," Alex says, shooting a meaningful glance downward at the place where our bodies are still connected.
"You’re the only person who will ever feel that," I say, and I’m dead serious.
"Promise?"
"I promise."
When I drive off with the guys from the band, I look out the window at Alex’s small figure standing by the gate at the end of the driveway.
He lifts his hand and waves at me, and I wave back, then he blows me a kiss and I pretend to catch it and press it to my heart.
A moment later the guys start talking to me about some equipment problems, but I can’t focus.
My thoughts keep drifting back to Alex.
The kind of life my father led for years, always on the road, always performing, it just isn’t a life for me, this tour doesn’t excite me.
My mind keeps drifting to different things, especially my fight that’s four weeks away, and I know that in that first fight I’m supposed to lose, just like Ennio told me to, so I don’t feel that much pressure, but the fact that I’ll be stepping into such a dangerous environment where people die in fights, where there are no sports rules, where there are people like Ennio who have their favorites they’ve bet fortunes on, and even worse ones who want revenge on fighters…
I rub my neck without thinking and notice Malik looking at me.
"Hey, your glands look really swollen," he says, tilting his head.
And yeah, when I run my hand along the spot where my neck meets my shoulders, I feel the swelling rising.
"Maybe you’ll finally join the real men," Malik laughs, nudging me, and Johnny, Decan, and Mike burst out laughing.
They’re all my age and every one of them went through gland maturity months ago, some even earlier. Decan and Mikeare omegas, and Malik and Johnny are alphas. Lionel is the only beta in our band, so he stays quiet with a sour look on his face.
"Better late than never," Malik says, giving me a wink.
Gland maturity is like a second layer of puberty everyone in the ABO society goes through.
Around twelve or thirteen the initial stage begins, when the first sex traits show up, when the growth spurts hit, when the voice drops, and that’s when the first differences between omegas and alphas start to appear.
That’s also when the second level of puberty gradually switches on, unique to our population. The development of the glands allows us to hear AO sounds and produce them, to sense Allure scents that indicate genetic compatibility, it also allows the mating teeth to emerge, although I experienced that early, and so did Alex, and then there’s everything else, omegas can enter into heat and alphas can go into rut and knot.
That second stage of maturity is considered more important in our world than the first one, the one we share with most organisms on this planet.
I don’t keep talking about it with the guys because this kind of stuff always turns into jokes and teasing, and I’m not planning to give them material to run with.
A few hours later we reach the hotel, the same one we’re sharing with The Days, a band that’s famous and loved by young people all over the States.
We’re playing their intro on this tour, and the guys greet us warmly, then we’re assigned to our hotel rooms, and they invite us to a small party in the evening.
I’m not convinced, because I’m not the kind of person who likes parties, but since I’m in this environment now, I have to at least pretend to fit in.
In the evening we show up at the club under the hotel, where Days are hosting their gathering, and Eric is there along witha few people from the music scene. I make conversation, I try to seem relaxed and confident, I’m playing a role. It's a kind of mask I put on whenever I deal with people.
I learned how to show the world a polished face with a smile. I can only take it off around Alex.
At some point two young, attractive omegas approach me.
