Chapter 101 Chapter~101~I won't back down.
Chapter 101 Chapter~101~I won't back down.
Harley~
My nut is proving difficult to crack, and he gets a raised eyebrow for his stubbornness. "As long as you have breath, it's not too late, Nick. Someone has to go first."
He has wiped the same spot twice. "Rich said you need to relax. How about while we're here, you get some rest?"
And I thought I was a master of deflection! Whatever he's running from, he believes, is unforgivable. The detective in me has bad news: it's either money or love. "I'm up for a nap."
Nick extends his hand, which I accept, and he pulls me into his chest, holding me close. This is my favorite part; I lay my head on his chest to hear his heartbeat.
"Come on," he rubs his hands down my back.
Once we were inside, he moved me aside and closed the doors. But opens the curtains and pulls up the blinds. Then we settled on the bed, and he wrapped himself around me.
These times when we are completely open to each other are intense. The strength of Nick's love for us overrides anything that he could have done. He's a different man now, if I could only get him to see that.
For a while, we lay together, watching the sunset unfold. Through the door, the sky turns to a bruised palette of vibrant violets and deep amethysts. The colors bleed into one as the sun sinks into the horizon.
With a full belly and a contented soul, I nestled my face into the warm curve of his arm. My eyes were already getting heavy before he rested his hand on my belly. When he slips his hand under the t-shirt, and his fingertips circle my flesh, I'm done.
Sunday morning finds me alone in bed, my eyes open in a haze at Nick's voice coming from the sunporch. I'm smacked across the face by the brilliant morning sun when I raised on my elbow, so I shielded my eyes.
Rae tunes in to our mates. 'Zeek says he's talking to Ruby.'
'Nick called her?'
'Yes.'
'How's it going?'
'Nick just told her he loved her and would see her soon. He's coming back.'
'What should I do?'
'Go back to sleep.'
As a marionette with its strings loosened, I dropped back to my original position. Nick slides in behind me, tucks his face into my hair, and breathes me in deeply. Never having faked sleep before leaves me unprepared. Should I focus on keeping my eyes closed or on regulating my breathing? When I can no longer do either, I wake up, stirring lightly in his arms as I open my eyes.
"Good morning, Amante."
"Morning, Wolfman," I turn in his arms and stick my nose in the middle of his chest.
"How are my girls feeling?" He kissed my forehead.
"We're ok. How long have you been awake?"
"Not long. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, a little."
"There's a great little cafe near here. How about breakfast before we head back?"
"What's got you in such a rush?"
"No rush," he pulls me close, "I'm just ready to get the LA chapter behind us."
"Me too, we need to clean up your room."
"Rich said he'll have everything handled once we're gone," Nick said, glancing at me. "Have you decided on the photos?"
"All of them," I said. "If that's ok?"
From there, the morning was a blur of efficiency: showering, dressing, snapping suitcases shut. Nick loaded the SUV, carefully tucking the eight framed photos into the cargo hold.
Morning sun splintered through the dense canopy, painting streaks of gold across the dashboard. Nick backed down the gravel driveway, and a sharp physical ache tightened my chest. Its heaviness lingered as the pine trees rushed by.
"It's not goodbye, Harley," Nick said, his voice quiet. He found my hand, squeezing it tight beneath his on the center console.
"We can come back."
"I know," I whispered, wiping at my cheeks, hating how silly I sounded. "It's just... it feels like I've lived a lifetime here."
We took a right out of the muted community; the silence in the car was heavy until we hit the small town of Elizabethtown twenty minutes later. We go in and take a corner booth.
Emily's was exactly as Nick described, and it smelled of coffee and maple syrup, and we devoured everything the waitress brought. Nick sat back against the booth and draped his arm behind me. He leaned over and kissed my cheek as the waitress brought the bill. With a half glance, he removed a fifty from his wallet and tossed it on the table. "Do you need to use the restroom?" he asked.
"Of course."
Returning to the car, Nick met me at the door, kissing me before guiding my hand back to his thigh, a familiar anchor. Not long into the drive, the car's interface activated with Rich checking in. Nick took the call.
"Morning, Alpha. How are my patients?"
"They're fine," Nick said, looking at me. "We're on the way back to LA, but you'll see her by Thursday."
He hit the red phone icon on the screen and rested his hand on the wheel. "We might as well get used to it."
"It's ok, he's just doing his job."
"There's something you need to know before we go into my Pack."
Ok, here we go! "You can tell me anything, Nick. I'm right here."
His eyes are straight ahead, his jaw working as if he were grinding the words between his teeth. "A few years ago….I slept with Sean's wife at his birthday party, no less. That's the last time I've been home."
The air seemed to leave my lungs. I'd been hoping for a confession of debt or some old pack rivalry. Something I could fix with a checkbook or mediation. Not this. "Does Sean know?" I asked, my voice sounding thin and bare.
"No," he glanced over at me. "Not yet."
The slow breath I took did nothing to settle my nerves. "I see it now," I murmured. "Why this border feels like a cliff edge to you. But we're crossing it together."
"You'd still stand with me?" Nick's voice cracked as a tremor ran through his hand. "After hearing that?"
"You're my mate. My place isn't behind you, Nick; it's beside you. We all stumble, yes, this is a mountain of a mistake, but you didn't climb it alone. You didn't force her, did you?"
"No," he whispered, the memory clearly a jagged shard in his mind. "It's all a haze of whiskey and stupidity, but it was mutual."
"Then you aren't the only one carrying the weight, and you shouldn't be the only one to face the fallout. "