I’m trying to convince myself that I’m not hiding in the bathroom, but I definitely am. It’s been an hour since I ran away from Neil, and I’m not ready to come out. That is, until I hear someone come into Mia’s room. I’m in the attached bathroom. If it’s Neil returning Mia, I don’t want to reveal
He searches my face. My gaze stills on my forehead where some of my hair has come loose from my ponytail. Slowly, gently, he reaches up and brushes back those loose strands. When he’s done, his fingers stay on my face. They trail, feather light, over my cheek and down the column of my neck. Then h
Neil and I run to the baby’s room. Mia’s cries are loud through the monitor, but they are even louder in person. I rush to her crib side and peer down. She threw up on herself. There’s light green goopy vomit down the front of her onesie. Some has spilled over, down onto the crib sheet. “She got
“Yeah.” I hold Mia to me and we start walking. I follow Neil’s lead. I think he might lead me outside where a car would be waiting. Instead, he takes me down, down into an underground garage. Two dozen cars of various sizes and colors line the room. Some look like older models than others, but all
I smell it before I really think about why Mia is likely so upset. It’s thunder storming, Neil’s driving crazy, it’s late and she’s still up and outside. She has any number of reasons to be crying. But that smell. Yeah, that’s definitely poop. And it is pungent. Even in the dark car, lit only
“You have to wait.” She doesn’t look up. “I’m busy.” “I have a sick baby,” I say. I shuffle Mia to the other side, closer to the woman’s line of vision. “She needs to see a doctor.” “Everyone needs to see a doctor,” the woman says. “You have to wait until I’m ready for you to be seen.” Neil’s
The drive back to the Pyramid feels longer – likely, because Neil is driving less like a possessed man and more like a guy who values his own life, as well as the lives of others in his car. The storm has even eased up some. The rain is more like a drizzle now. There’s still lightning but it’s dis
“Neil –” “No, Chloe. It can’t happen, and that’s that.” He huffs out a breath. It sounds frustrated. “I have a girlfriend.” I’m wondering who he’s trying to convince, me or him. But mentioning Angela does give me pause. Not because I’m worried about her at all. She’s given me the green light t
I’m happy because I have four hearts beating alongside mine.“Do you feel it, too?” I ask. “My connection to each of you?”I blink my eyes open once more. I want to see their faces, their reactions.Neil has his hand over his own heart. “It’s strange. It’s like part of you is inside of me.”“Me, too
In the darkness of my mind, I floated, surrounded by the comforting embrace of love. Distantly, I could feel another presence, one that grew stronger and stronger, the more I focused on it: my wolf.As I thought of her, she appeared before me as if I willed her into being. Maybe I did. We are in my
Damn alpha wolves and their heightened senses.“I’ve already made my choice,” I say. “Honestly, I think I made it a long, long time ago.”Archer relaxes marginally. Steven starts to smile.Neil turns to me, worry still on his face. “You say that now, Chloe. But the pull could be strong…”“I don’t ca
The eve of my birthday, I rest in bed and stare at my ceiling. It’s late, near midnight, but I still have my bedside light on.With my feelings shared and grown with Neil, Archer, and Steven, I didn’t expect to spend any night alone, especially the one right before the day that could change everythi
I awake to a sharp knock on my bedroom door. Neil’s arm is still draped over me but some distance had inched between our hot bodies in the night. I’m able to slink out from under his arm without him waking.Naked, I quickly stop by the bathroom to throw on my fluffy bathrobe. Then, after glancing ba
They.Beau glances at me and see my incredulous look. “What do I need to go out every night? Can’t a man just enjoy staying home for a change?”“You can do whatever the hell you want,” I say.“Good, then.” Beau slumps down on the couch. He stretches out, lifting his feet up and into my lap. “Now tel
For the rest of the morning, I desperately try not to think about Neil. Whoever he’s in love with, I won’t be offended by it. The hurt I feel has nothing to do with this new person. She must be great for her to have won Neil’s affections.The hurt is my own loss, my own problem. I let my feelings fo
After Steven and I have cleaned ourselves up with a quick shower, we fall back into bed together, giggling and laughing all the way. My now, Steven has discovered a few of my tickle zones, which he is exploiting. As revenge, I touch the places I now know make him shiver.For a while, nothing seems l
His hands fumbled with the buttons of his own shirt. Such usually steady hands are rendered useless by his nervousness.“Allow me,” I tell him. I lightly bat his hands out of the way before replacing them with mine on his shirt buttons. My times with Neil have served me well. I’m able to undo all th