Chapter 34 #2
A whistle cut through the air and they both fell silent immediately. Mac shot a sheepish smile at Cole. “Sorry.”
Cole was tugging on his earlobe, glaring at our friends. “Ye both know better than that. Let Reid talk.”
I smiled, reaching over to squeeze Cole’s fingers. “Thanks, lovely.”
“Do ye need yer Loops?” Mac asked anxiously, fishing in his pocket for them.
“No.” Cole flashed a reassuring smile at Mac. “So long as the two of ye can keep it below a hundred decibels, I’ll be okay.”
“We will,” Mac said.
“We’ll try,” Bryce added with a sniff. “I make no promises. I might need to do some more yelling.”
I grinned at him. “God, I’ve missed ye.”
Some of his ire melted. “I’ve missed ye too, ye eejit. That’s why I’m so upset.”
“I get that.” I twisted my hands together in my lap.
I should’ve poured myself a drink when I made theirs.
Alcohol might not affect me in the same way now I was bonded to Evan, but anything to take the edge off would’ve been appreciated.
“Believe me, distance from ye all is the last thing I wanted. If there’d been a way around this, I would’ve found it.
To answer your questions, the attack was before Christmas.
Chester is fine, but only because Finn, Evan, and some of their friends were close by and intervened. ”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Evan stand quietly and disappear in the direction of the kitchen.
Bryce’s eyes narrowed as he watched him leave. Then, he was surging forwards, taking both my hands in his. “Reid, are ye in danger right now?”
“No.” I squeezed his fingers lightly. “I’m safe. My family have backed off and I don’t expect them to come back.”
Not anytime soon, anyway.
“I don’t mean that.” Bryce was talking fast, keeping his voice low. “With Evan?”
I frowned. With Evan? Why would I be unsafe here? “What?”
Bryce clicked his tongue impatiently. “Come on, Reid. You hated the bloke, and now you’re living with him?”
“We’re worried about you,” Mac said quietly. “Are ye being abused?”
“What?” The idea was so absurd that I laughed. “No, of course I’m not!”
“Ye don’t have to tell us if ye are,” Cole added. “Just give us a signal and we’ll get you out of here.”
Through the bond, there was a sad ache. Even with them whispering, Evan was hearing all of this. Probably thinking he deserved it too, given our past.
“That’s enough,” I said firmly. “Thank ye for being concerned about me, but you’ve got the situation completely wrong.
I’m in love with Evan. Completely and irrevocably.
He treats me better than anyone ever has before, and if I said I wanted to leave with you tonight, he’d let me walk away without a word. ”
He would. It’d break his heart, but he would.
Good thing we both knew I’d never do that.
I gentled my voice. “Thank ye for offering though, it means the world to me. If I was in that situation, you giving me this lifeline would be everything. But I’m not. Evan’s great, and I know you’ll all love him too.”
“I’m not that great,” Evan rumbled from behind me. “Reid’s just biased.”
He dropped a kiss onto my head before pushing a wine glass into my hand. “Here ye go, sweetheart. Thought you might like this.”
“Thank ye.” I lifted my head to kiss him. He’d hadn’t read my thoughts; the bond didn’t work like that. But he knew me well enough to know that a glass of wine was exactly what I needed. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” he murmured before addressing my friends. “I also want to thank ye for what you just did for Reid. You canna know what it means to me for him to have friends like you.”
Mac winced, carding a hand through his hair. “Shit, man, you weren’t meant to hear that.”
“Do ye have the hearing of a bat?” Bryce asked indignantly.
“Nah, more of a wolf.” Evan shot me a sly wink. “Anyway, ye don’t have to believe me, but Reid’s safe with me. I love him more than life itself, and I’ll do anything to make him happy.”
“He means that quite literally,” I confided in a mock whisper. “Last week he performed karaoke for me because I didn’t believe he was as bad at singing as his ma said he was.”
Evan groaned. “I could’ve told ye that without the need for me to demonstrate.”
“Where would be the fun in that?”
Evan grinned. “Fair. But I draw the line at performing in front of anyone else.”
I pouted. “What if I really really want you to?”
He wavered before nipping at my lips with a sigh. “Then I’d do it, but only if we gave out earplugs first.”
Evan turned to walk back to his seat and I sighed happily, ogling his taut cheeks. I’d never get enough of eyeing him up.
“Okay, so the boyfriend isn’t a problem,” Bryce said, wiggling a finger in Evan’s direction. “But we’re still watching you. It’s going to take a long time to win us over.”
“Noted.” Evan bowed his head with a smile. “Yer welcome to spend as much time here as ye like. I know Reid would love that.”
“I really would,” I said earnestly. “We’re staying with Evan’s parents at the moment, but they won’t mind any of you coming over. Soon we’ll have our own place—we’re having plans drawn up at the moment. Actually, Cole, that’s something we were hoping you could help with.”
Cole blinked at me in surprise. “Plans? Yer building yer own place?”
“Aye,” Evan said. “Reid’s got a lot of specific ideas.”
“I have.” I nodded.
Cole’s lips twitched. “Ye know I’m a carpenter, not an architect, right?”
“Yes, but I need you to tell me if my ideas are achievable in theory,” I said. “Before I look like a plonker when telling the architect.”
Cole smiled softly. “That I can do.”
“Wait,” Mac said. “What about yer flat?”
I understood his confusion. As the one I’d met first, he’d helped me settle into that place and knew exactly what it represented.
I braced my spine. “I think I need to tell ye exactly what I was going through over Christmas and New Year’s.”
It was difficult to bare my soul. To be honest and open about everything I’d been through. Some of it I couldn’t tell them, like exactly why I was so afraid of my family, but the rest I could. The fear. The anxiety. The depression. The isolation.
They were quiet while I spoke, but I wasn’t blind to how it was affecting them. Mac’s jaw got tenser with every word, while Bryce sank back in his chair. Cole had gone back to pacing, his fingers twitching at his sides.
Honestly, the only reason I was able to get through it was because of Evan. Not just because of the reassuring looks he kept giving me, or the soothing emotions through the bond. But the knowledge that I’d survived. That I’d been able to escape that darkness.
We both had.
“I hate that you didn’t tell us all of this.” Bryce’s voice broke. “We could’ve been there for you. We should’ve been there.”
“No.” I took his hands in mine. “You couldn’t have, because I wouldn’t have let ye. My family are dangerous. I couldn’t risk exposing you to them.”
Mac glanced at Evan. “But you could risk him?”
Fuck, how was I going to explain this?
“Evan and the others here, they’re the same as my family,” I said finally. “They share a similar background and skill set. They can take care of themselves.”
“And we can take care of Reid,” Evan added. “That’s why he came to stay here initially. His family attacked and we were able to save him. After that, he decided it would be safer for him to move in temporarily.”
“Then I fell in love with Evan and decided to make it permanent,” I said, smiling at him, the male who’d kept me safe, just as I’d once asked.
“My family cropped up again a couple of months ago, and it was only a few days ago that we found out they don’t plan on doing so again anytime soon.
That’s why I reached out when I did. I didn’t want to risk putting you on their radar by contacting you earlier. ”
“I don’t understand,” Mac said slowly. “Why do I feel like yer not being completely honest with us?”
“Mac’s right.” Bryce turned to glare at Evan. “What kind of ‘skills’ do you have? Are you, like, the mafia or something?”
“Or something,” Evan said vaguely.
“I’m not being completely honest.” I sighed. “But it’s not for any nefarious reason or because I don’t want to share this with you. It’s to keep you all safe.”
“That implies that you’re not safe,” Cole muttered. “Because you have this knowledge.”
God, this was so frustrating. Maybe it had been the wrong decision to not allow them into the supe world. But they didn’t have any ties to it, nor were any of them mated to a supe. There could be huge repercussions both for them and the clan if anyone found out they knew.
“All I ask is that you trust me when I say that I’m safer now than I’ve ever been before,” I said eventually.
“I’m safe, and I’m happy. The only thing missing in my life is you three.
I know that’s my fault, and if ye want nothing more to do with me or to change how our friendship looks going forward, then obviously I’ll accept that. ”
It’d kill me to do so, but I would.
“Don’t be an eejit.” Bryce nudged my foot with his. “Course we want things to go back to normal, ye daft sod.”
Mac and Cole nodded in agreement, and tears welled up in my eyes. “Really?”
“Really,” Mac said, Cole finally taking a seat again. “We’ve missed ye. It’s not been the same without you.”
I hesitated before speaking. “I can’t go back to normal completely. I don’t think I’m ready to meet anywhere other than here and work.”
Bryce turned to glare at Evan. “Why?”
“Not because of me,” he said quickly, holding up his hands. “Reid is free to go wherever and do whatever he pleases.”
“This is because of me,” I said quietly. “My anxiety. I’m seeing a therapist, but it’s going to take a while before I’m back to where I once was.”
“That’s okay,” Cole said. “I’m glad yer seeing someone. Are ye finding it helpful?”
I thought about my sessions with Dr. Tyler. About how each one exposed an old wound, but in doing so allowed it to heal properly. “Yeah. I really am.”
Mac shot Cole a pointed look, which went ignored.