Chapter 124

Mandy

I'm sick to my stomach with fear and excitement as we pull into the parking lot of the clubhouse. There aren't a lot of vehicles parked, so I'm pretty sure my coming home is low-key; exactly how I wanted it.

"I think the only people here is your family and Caelin." He puts the SUV in park, shutting off the engine.

"Good, I don't know what I would do with a whole group."

"Well, I mean, your family classifies as a whole group," he laughs.

"True, but I'm comfortable with them."

"Hey," he says the word softly. "If at any time you need to leave, whether it's your family or not, you just leave. You don't owe anyone anything."

I pull my lip between my teeth and nod. "Why am I so nervous?"

He grabs my hands, pulling them over the console. "I was nervous to come get you because I didn't know how you'd feel about coming home. I suspect you're nervous because you don't know how they feel about you coming home. It's all the same nervousness. We just gotta get through it."