39. Scarlet #2
“They’re at our house?” I parrot his words back to him.
“Mmhmm.” He looks nervous—as he damn well should. I love him but I’m beyond tired of the coddling and overstepping. I may have gone through something traumatic, but the kid gloves have to freaking go.
Honestly, I don’t know how Nora handled it after her ordeal; she had to deal with Atlas and Ellis.
“Why?” My question cracks through the cab of the truck.
“Well, I thought getting together there would be low stakes. You know? Less pressure?”
“Ellis.” I sigh. “You know I love you, right?” I roll my head against the seatback to look at him.
“Yeah. And I love you too.” He flashes his eyes my way. “I feel a but coming.”
“That’s because there is. Remember the aftermath of everything with Nora? How overbearing y’all were? How y’all babied her?”
“Yeah.” The clueless idiot smirks. “She hated it.”
“She definitely did. I do too.” I look at him expectantly. But somehow, it’s still not clicking.
“What do you mean?” He genuinely looks confused.
I groan his name. “You're a smart man. Intuitive. Emotionally aware. So, how on earth are you this oblivious?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You're doing the same thing to me.”
“What?” he asks again, his brow furrows as he pulls his head back. “No, I'm not.”
“Sunshine, you really are.”
“I'm not.” He’s adamant. As much as I want to keep arguing, the driveway comes into view.
“This conversation isn't over,” I tell him.
“Looking forward to finishing it.”
Honestly, this mini fight is the closest I’ve gotten to our old dynamic. His sharp tongue is one of the things I miss the most.
Inside, Atlas and Nora are on the couch while James rolls around on the rug with Fefe.
“There's a sight for sore eyes.” I drop to my knees in front of them to give them both some loving.
“Bad and badder,” Ellis snorts, stopping just behind me.
“Hey,” Atlas grouses.
At the same time I say, “Fefe is a sweet angel baby, thank you very much.”
Ellis scoops her up into his arms. “Parents, of human and fur alike, are all delusional, aren’t they, Feefs?”
“Says the guy baby-talking a ferret,” Atlas adds, sounding all too amused.
“You look good,” Nora says, ignoring the chaos of the room.
“Thanks.” And she’s right. Physically, I’m almost back to normal, aside from a little lingering yellowness on my throat.
Mentally, I’m very much a work in progress.
She reaches out and squeezes my hand. “It'll get better.”
“I know it will.” McKenna says all I can do is take one day at a time, and lucky me, I’ve had more good days than bad. It also helps that I’m rarely alone. Ellis is a one-man support system, like no other.
Ellis sniffs the air like a dog scenting something on the wind. “What's that heavenly smell?”
Now that he mentions it, something does smell really good.
“Ribs,” Nora says, looking all too pleased.
I gasp, my mouth already watering. “From the Smoke Shack?”
She nods.
“You... you went there?” I ask, a perfect mix of disbelief and pride heavy in my voice. She really is the strongest person I know. She was quite literally snatched from their parking lot, And here she is, returning, quite literally, to the scene of the crime.
Meanwhile, despite nothing bad actually happening there, I have no desire to ever go to The Creek again. I’ll also never eat at Miss Fortune’s, despite never actually stepping a foot in the building.
Hell, I’m struggling with returning to work. Lucky me, even without all of the facts, they’ve been nothing but patient and understanding. Even luckier, Silas and his guys somehow managed to make the whole Clint issue disappear—no investigation, no cops, no chance of anything falling back on Ellis.
She shrugs, trying to downplay what a badass she is. “Just to go. I figured we could face it together, but also at a safe distance.”
I haul myself up off the floor and wrap my arms around my best friend, hugging her tightly to me. “You know,” I whisper, just loud enough for her to hear. “When he had me, I kept thinking to myself what would Nora do? You're the strongest person I know.”
She offers me a watery smile. “Right back at ya.”
“Well,” Atlas says, clearly uncomfortable with the displays of emotion. “If everyone's ready to eat, food's getting cold.”
“It is not,” Nora huffs. “It's all in the oven keeping warm.”
“Still.” He sounds so put out, I can’t help but laugh.
“I know, big guy.” I pat him on the back as I head into the kitchen. “You're allergic to emotion outside of the privacy of your own home.”
He rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”
“Hey,” I say, catching his—and everyone else’s—attention. “While you're here, while we're all together, I think I owe you both an apology.”
All three of them exchange confused looks before Nora finally breaks the perplexed silence. “For what?”
“I mean...” I drag my teeth over my lip. “I kind of ruined your honeymoon, and I'm really—”
“Don’t you dare apologize.” Atlas cuts me off. “You didn't ruin shit, Scarlet. Everything that happened was beyond your control.” The insistence in his voice shocks me, freezing me in place.
Ellis comes up behind me, rubbing his hands over my arms. “He's right, Princess. Nothing that happened was your fault.”
“Thank you, both of you. I mean it.” I swipe furiously beneath my eyes.
Atlas grunts. “Don't mention it.”
But I can't help myself. “That hurt, didn't it?”
“What?”
He's looking at me like I've grown a second head.
“Telling me I didn't ruin your honeymoon.”
Nora’s answering grin is radiant, but Atlas merely rolls his eyes as he turns to Ellis. “How do you fucking deal with her?”
“Dealing with her is the best part of my life.” Ellis tugs me back against his chest, resting his chin on my head. “Now, can we eat? I’m fucking starving.”