Wade can’t suppress the smug grin as he stares at Luke on the other side.
They rushed down the steps when the knocking only grew more incessant. Kara’s shirt buttons are lopsided and her hair is mussed. Wade’s half hard, which can’t be difficult to notice if Luke’s scowl is anything to go by.
It absolutely looks like they’ve been fucking in every position imaginable.
That’s right, asshole. She’s with me. She wants to be with me,he thinks, knowing it’s stupid and childish, but his private thoughts are his alone. If he wants to be smug for five seconds, who’s going to stop him?
“What are you doing here? How did you find us?” Kara’s already irritated before Luke opens his mouth.
“I got worried when we arrived at the cottage to find you gone, so I came here straight away to ask Juliet if she’d seen you.”
“We?”
“It was only a few others to ensure your safety, but that’s unnecessary now that you’re here.”
She hadn’t been wrong about him trying to force them out of the blue house. Knowing how close they came to being dragged back to Paradise Falls has Wade enraged. He’d have been shoved in a room alone, and the two of them kept apart, all in a misguided attempt at keeping Kara safe.
Wade is silent, but his anger must be obvious. She slides a hand down his arm to squeeze in reassurance.
“Is that all you came here for? To check on me?” she asks.
“No. I also brought what you asked for.” Luke produces a map with a flourish, opening it to reveal three marked X’s. “These are all sightings of Silas’s group within the last two weeks.”
She grabs the map while his blood pressure skyrockets at the idea of seeing Silas again.
A part of him has shoved revenge to the back burner while focusing on trying to get his shit together. That was always step one. Without it, there could never be a step two, but confronting this particular demon is still throwing him.
“If you need assistance, I can provide you with some on your quest,” Luke offers.
“That won’t be necessary,” Kara replies shortly. “Thank you, but we’ve got it. I would like the bike back, though. Can you ask someone to bring it?”
“I don’t think anyone back home knows how to ride it.”
“Load it into a wagon?”
Luke sighs. “Maybe you can fetch it yourself. That might give us a chance to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she replies.
“Things are obviously progressing here. Wade looks…better. Surely you’re free to allow him back to his own life again and you to yours.”
Oh, Wade wants to sock this guy right on the chin until the bone wobbles.
At one point, he assumed Luke was the better choice. Safer. Capable of giving her the kind of happiness that he couldn’t. Perhaps that’s still true, but everything is changing so quickly that letting her go now would be even more devastating.
“She said there’s nothing to talk about,” Wade growls, knowing he should let her fight her own battles but unable to keep his mouth shut.
“You think this is what’s best for her? Keeping her shackled to you like some sort of nurse? Always on edge? Always wondering what you might do next? If you truly care about her, you’ll set her free.”
“Stop,” Kara snaps, blinking in shock at Luke. “Me and you? Not happening. I’m with Wade. We are together. As together as two people can be. We had sex three times in the last twenty-four hours, and I’m really hoping it’ll happen again later. Just so you have no delusions about where my heart is. It’s here. With him.”
Wade can’t believe she actually said that. It’s entirely false, but she speaks the words naturally and with enough honesty thatfor a moment, he second-guesses if they actually slept together or not. His cheeks flame red even while he can’t help but stand taller. She links their fingers together, staring boldly at Luke, whose mouth hangs open.
“Any questions?” she asks evenly, only to be met with silence. “Okay. I look forward to getting that bike back via wagon if you don’t want to see both of us come get it, and I’m certain you don’t. Thank you for the map.”
She closes the door in his face. Wade has no doubt that this is the last they’ll ever see of Luke.
“I’m so sorry about that,” she begins. “He has no right to say what he did, and I just lost it. I didn’t mean to lie, but he isn’t the type to let it go unless…I’m sorry.”
