Page 177 of Knot Their Starlet

Maybe with all five of them, I’ll never feel lonely again.

As we walk up the path to the front door, my steps slow.

I stop at the stoop, before the three stairs up to the front door.

“Everything okay, Starlight?” Beck asks softly.

I don’t answer, my mind working on overdrive as I crouch down.

“I remember—” My voice breaks as I remember the sight of the double doors in front of me. They’re still the same white, with the same golden door knocker.

A flash of my mom dragging me down the steps, her nails digging into my skin, appears in my mind.

My head hurts.

“Give her a second,” Eli murmurs from behind me.

“But—” Beck protests.

“I’m okay,” I say, pushing myself up to my feet and offering them all a reassuring smile. “Sorry, I just—I was a different height when I was here last.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath and I step forward to climb the steps, before I lose my nerve.

The doorbell chimes loud enough for me to hear it from outside.

I wait with bated breath, my heart pounding out of my chest.

And then the door opens.

Edison Wade, my father, blinks down at me with wide, startled eyes.

They’re the same as mine.

“Andi?” he says on an exhale.

Andi. Not Andromeda.

“Yeah,” I say, past the lump in my throat. “Hi.”

The shock in his expression instantly melts away as he breaks out in a bright smile.

I can see my own smile in his.

I’ve stared at myself for various things over the years to be able to tell. He looks like me when I’m actually smiling, not the practiced one my mom made sure I perfected before my first modelling gig as a child.

“You’re actually here!” he says the words with sincere happiness. It catches me off guard.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. I imagined some big, angry alpha, from the way my mom described him. He has a slimmer build, surprising for his designation.

With his black jeans, three-quarter zip-up sweater, and greying hair, he seems like a normal, unassuming guy.

“I—I am,” I say, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans and rocking back on my heels.

“Please, come in,” he says, stepping aside and gesturing inside.

“Are you... sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.” He nods. His dark eyes drift over my shoulder at the guys, his smile never wavering. “Quite the welcome party we have here.”