Page 58 of Knot Their Starlet

The only way I can survive is by being self-reliant.

“Earth to Andi, you in there somewhere?” Beck’s smile is bright as he waves a hand in front of my face. “You sure do think a lot.”

“Yeah,” I say with a huff of laughter, running my hands through my hair now that the shoot is over.

“Did you hear me earlier? You were so good at directing that shoot!”

“Oh, thanks,” I say, suddenly feeling sheepish under the intensity of his excitement.

“Have you done that kind of stuff before?”

“Not officially like that, no. I um... I mostly do it for my social media or just for fun. I really... I really like it.” My eyes glance to the door of the dressing room as I nervously shift my weight from foot to foot.

“Why’re you saying that like it’s illegal to be good at videography?”

“What? Oh, well...” It’s a good question. But it’s a loaded one.

“My mom, she never liked me doing that kinda stuff,” I answer slowly.

“That’s stupid, why the hell not? You’re great at it.”

I shrug, my fingertips feeling heavy as I grab my bag with my change of clothes.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why she does a lot of stuff. You want to get changed first?”

“Nah, ladies first,” Beck says, bowing comically low and extending an arm towards the changing tent.

Pretty soon, I’m dressed in a basic sweatsuit and ready to head home. This was a long shoot since the campaign is so big. We had to change our wardrobe maybe a dozen times. I’m a fan of jeans, don’t get me wrong, but man, that brand is seriously aimed towards betas and alphas.

The chafing from the harsh denim felt unnecessarily rough against my skin. I know omegas are more sensitive to that sort of thing. It makes sense a big company wouldn’t invest in more omega friendly alternatives since we are more rare, but you’d think if they’re going to hire two omegas to advertise that they’d do their due diligence.

“Looks like we’re going our separate ways now,” Beck says, grinning down at me as we wait for our cars to pull up outside the shoot.

“Looks like we are.”

“I was being serious earlier. You’re a natural at that video stuff. I’ve been on a couple of shoots for my music videos, and the people in charge of those aren’t half as good as you are.”

The sincerity in his words catches me off guard.

“You... you already said that earlier,” I say, my brows drawing down in confusion.

“Yeah, and you didn’t seem to believe me. So this is me making sure you do.”

A large black SUV with tinted windows so dark they’re practically black, stops in front of us. The door opens to reveal Elijah and Leo.

“That’s my ride,” Beck says, his smile bright and blinding. “I’ll be back to pick you up for our date tomorrow night.”

Then he does something that would look absolutely ridiculous on any other man.

He winks.

“Bye, Andi! See you soon!”

“Bye,” I say, blinking up at him, dumbstruck.

I barely have a second to catch my breath before my car pulls up. I think the private car service was something that was put in the contracts for Beck and my fake relationship, because the driver is unfamiliar to me. The car service my mom and Stuart normally charter has a few drivers I’ve gotten familiar with over the years.

Before I have a chance to close the door behind me, Stuart appears there, his expression far darker than it was when we were surrounded by people.