Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
WESTON
Bella thrashed in my arms, and my eyes popped open, my breath coming in pants to match hers.
“Bella. Baby. Wake up. It’s just a nightmare. Wake up.” She punched out, and I caught her fist, grateful that I had been watching for it.
This wasn’t the first time she had punched out in her sleep, but I still held her close, hoping she wouldn’t hurt herself. I didn’t care if I ended up bruised because of her bad dream, or panic attack, I just cared about her.
“Bella, wake up.”
Her eyes shot open, and she sat up, heaving for breath.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
“Weston? What happened?”
“You were having a nightmare, and it turned into a panic attack. Let me get you some water.”
Her hand shot out and she clutched my forearm, her nails digging in. “No. I’m fine. I just, I haven’t had one of those dreams in a while. I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”
I looked toward the darkened window, and then at the alarm clock at the side of the hotel bed. “No. I was dozing in and out since the alarm goes off soon and, no, I never sleep through it if I can help it.”
“Did I hurt you?” she asked. We were both sitting up at that moment, and she turned slightly to cup my face.
She studied my body, and my cock noticed, standing at attention.
With the day that we had planned, he wasn’t going to get any attention anytime soon, so he was just going to have to deal with it.
“I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me. Are you okay?”
She nodded tightly, and I scowled.
“Don’t lie.”
“I will be okay. How’s that for an answer?”
“I’m not quite sure I believe you.”
“I seriously am okay. It was a weird dream that I’ve had often. But it at least ended a little bit differently.”
“The one on the cliff?”
She nodded, and once again I was reminded of how we had met up after so many years apart. Because she had almost died.
She ran her thumb in between my eyebrows, scowling right back at me. “You’re going to end up with a permanent wrinkle there.”
“I’m a man. It’ll be distinguished.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I’m a woman, therefore I’ll have to go make sure I add extra face creams and retinols to it.”
“It’s okay, I’ll still like you with whatever wrinkles you get.”
I kissed that spot between her eyebrows, knowing that that was as close as I was going to get to telling her I loved her in that moment. It didn’t feel like the right time yet. Or maybe I was just being a chicken shit. That seemed more likely.
I wasn’t ready to tell her because I didn’t have any answers to what it would mean in the end. Just because you loved somebody didn’t mean it was going to work out. Hell, I had loved her the first time, and I had been forced to leave.
But now the kids were grown, and the only thing holding me back was my home.
A home that seemed to be telling me that I was allowed to leave it. That’s what Ms. Patty and the rest had been saying after all. They might like Bella, but they also kept mentioning the fact that I was going to have an empty house.
And yet I couldn’t help but let my mind wander in a million different directions.
And the reason I had had that scowl on my face in the first place.
“I still can’t believe you fell off a cliff.”
She winced. “Do you realize that I haven’t actually told anyone in my family that?”
I froze. “Seriously?”
“I told Blakely because she knows everything. And I was going to tell Kyler one night at a family dinner. But then I told him about William instead, and I glossed over the whole falling off a cliff thing.”
“Well, you’re not allowed to go hiking alone again.”
“I wasn’t even hiking. I was walking a paved path to a tourist destination. You know me. I don’t hike. It was like that one time I fell down a sand dune and I couldn’t get back up without somebody practically dragging me. I don’t hike.”
My lips twitched at her telling me that story.
“Wasn’t it Kyler that dragged you up?”
“Yes, with Sophie doing her best. She was rail thin at that point, and while she was all muscle from dancing, she couldn’t really lift me and drag me through the sand. The younger girls just laughed and laughed, and I still haven’t forgiven them for that.”
“It’s okay, if we ever roll down a sand dune, I’ll carry you up.”
“The way that you can say that so easily tells me you haven’t been to a real sand dune.”
“I haven’t.” I pause. “I haven’t really seen much outside of Colorado.”
“We used to do road trips as a family. Especially when we were younger, and Dad could sometimes come with us. I didn’t realize it back then that he was using that time as a way to get away from his original family.
I still don’t know how he was able to juggle it all.
There had to be some people at work that knew about it, because they had covered for him apparently with work trips.
Maybe his old team that’s no longer there.
And the moms knew about it, so that helps.
But he came with us on some road trips. And we got to see the U.S.
And I’ve been to a few shows of Kyler’s around the country, and when Sophie went on tour, I got to see her in New York, in Chicago. Once in L.A.”
“Your family is damn talented.”
“I know, right? I was decent at field hockey and can sometimes play piano if I really focus on it, but Kyler’s a genius with his guitar, and drums, and just his voice. And Sophia is still a beautiful dancer even though she doesn’t do it professionally anymore.”
“I’m sad I didn’t get to see it.”
“I’ll show you recordings. And maybe sometime when she does her amateur shows at her dance studio for her older kids, we can go watch. It is quite something.”
“Oh yeah? That could be fun.”
She had tensed as she said it, but I couldn’t help but notice that she was talking about a future.
Visiting Denver. That didn’t necessarily mean I’d be leaving Cage Lake forever.
But I wasn’t sure where the two of us were going to end up.
Because from what I could tell, this was her first panic attack in a long while.
Was it because she was back in Denver? Or because of the stress of the wedding?
She had come to Cage Lake for a reason. And when would that reason not be enough for her to stay?
I had a lot of thinking to do. As in planning my entire life once I had an empty nest.
“Again, that furrow between your brows…”
“I’m just thinking about the fact that I can’t fuck you hard into the bed before the alarm goes off.”
She rolled her eyes, and the alarm did indeed go off. She shifted to the side, and I couldn’t help but smack her ass. It was right there in my face.
She let out a little yelp and glared at me over her shoulder. “Really?”
“It was right there.”
“I’m going to spank your ass next time.”
“You’re welcome to. But once you do, I’m going to have to fuck your ass. That’s just the way it goes.”
She froze, and I couldn’t believe I’d said that out loud. “You want to?”
“Are you offering?”
“Stop answering my questions with questions.”
“I’m game for whatever you want. I like having sex with you, Bella. I love it. I like touching you and just being with you. No matter what happens that’s what I like to do.”
She turned slightly, leaned forward, and kissed me gently on the lips.
“Let’s get through this wedding, and then maybe we’ll see if I let you.”
“Well, now I know what I’ll be thinking about for the entire wedding.” I scowled, then looked at my dick.
She winced, and went to pat it, but I held her wrist.
“Don’t. Or you’re going to be late helping your sister get ready for the wedding.”
“And on that note, I’m out.” She smacked a kiss to my lips, and I reached for her as she scurried away to go get ready.
With a sigh, I leaned back on the pillows, cradling my head in my hands.
I was in damn trouble, but then again, I knew I would be from the moment I had seen her on that cliff.
The same cliff that I knew had been in that dream of hers. The one that centered around her dad, and William, and the attacker.
I hated the fact that she was still scared. It didn’t matter that William was still in Wyoming. He had hurt her. And now he kept harassing her. The cops were handling it. But I didn’t know what handling it meant. So that meant I had to be the bigger person and not freak the fuck out.
The shower went on, and I pulled out my phone knowing it would be a few minutes before I got in.
The family text chat had blown up, and my lips twitched.
Sam:
Seriously, this house is amazing.
Sydney:
Do you think we can get a walk-in shower like this?
Lance:
Once you make a million, sure. But you’re going to have to marry someone who’s handy.
Sydney:
I’m handy.
Sam:
And I can learn.
Lance:
Are you two just going to live together? Twin life forever.
Sydney:
If it helps save on a mortgage.
Sam:
Wait, did I say yes to this?
Lance:
I wonder when big brother’s going to wake up.
Sydney:
He’s with Isabella. Give them time.
Sam:
I really like her.
Sydney:
Same. And we wear the same size shoe. That has to mean good things.
Sam:
I also wear the same size shoe as you.
Sydney:
But Isabella has better shoes.
Sam:
I’m not going to argue with that.
Lance:
Weston. For the love of all things Cage, wake up. They’re talking about shoes.
It continued like that for a little while, and I just shook my head before finally answering back.
Me:
Once again. It is six a.m.
Sydney:
We’ve been up since five. We’re excited for this wedding.
Lance:
I still don’t know how we got invited, but have you seen the venue? I like to pretend we’re living the high life. So don’t let Isabella go, okay?”
I rubbed my hand over my chest, trying not to think too hard about that or the fact that Bella was now naked in the shower.
Sam:
Don’t stress him out. We don’t want to startle him.
Sydney:
Yes, you just need to hold out your hand flat so that way he’ll come to you with what you need very, very quietly.
Lance:
You’re not breaking a horse.
Sam:
You might as well be. He’s skittish.
Me: