“He’s off to the hospital,” she explained, closing her eyes and sucking in a deep breath. “His dad’s on the way there, and I’m about to head over as well. But I wanted to make sure you’re alright, and tell you I’m so, so sorry. I just… I don’t have a clue what he could have been thinking, or why he would do something like this.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “I’m sorry about everything that happened, and… I mean, I didn’t want things to turn out like this.”
“Of course not, I know that,” she said kindly, giving him a comforting little pat on his arm.
I guess no one found it weird that I was still clutching him in my arms like I was about to carry him over the threshold after our wedding, because no one had commented on that yet. Or maybe they did, but they were too polite to say anything. And at any rate, if he wanted to stay there then he could stay forever, as far as I was concerned.
“I, uh, I guess you probably want to take statements from us and everything, right?” I piped up, directing my question at the officer.
“We’ll take them, but we already reviewed the camera footage,” she said.
“Camera?” Jordy repeated, his eyebrows popping up.
“There are security cameras on both sides of the hallway, and one across from my office,” Sandy explained, and when she did, I looked around until I spotted them.
Neither of us had considered that there would be cameras, and that maybe we hadn’t needed to rush into proving we were mates to excuse my behavior. Too late to worry about that now. The universe had found a way to finally push me into acceptingthat I could possibly deserve someone like Jordy Nolan, and there was no going back. Even if we hadn’t exactly had time to bask in our bond yet.
Once Sandy left, after another bout of apologies for Andrew’s behavior and assurances that she would make sure nothing like this would ever happen again, the officer took our statements briefly. It was surreal explaining everything, but at least we weren’t in trouble.
“And when you left the scene?” She wondered, once we’d both finished the part about Andrew going through the wall and getting knocked unconscious.
“Uh…” Jordy hesitated, glancing over at Chester before letting a long-winded, rambling tornado of words tumble out. “Well, I was afraid that maybe Kieran would get in trouble, and I knew that part of why the situation had gotten so escalated was because of his protective mate instincts over me, but we hadn’t exactly gotten around to the part about actually doing it yet, so I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew why, and so we-”
Clearing her throat, the officer raised her palms up to indicate for him to stop. “Understood,” she said quickly, an awkward smile planted on her face. “No need to elaborate, Mr. Nolan.”
“Ah, sorry,” he finished.
I couldn’t help but glance over at Chester, who was staring at Jordy thoughtfully, though he still looked sort of haunted. That was probably because he’d always imagined his kid as an innocent little ray of sunshine and not the kind of person who’d hook up with his stepbrother in a supply closet, even if we’d had a good reason for it.
“Well, if we’re all done here, then we need to get home and get some food in you,” Chester said, eyeing Jordy with more apprehension than I’d ever seen between them. Guilt smackedme again as I realized I was partially to blame for the tension, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
Walking back through the parking lot was agony, only because when we reached my truck and Chester’s car, parked side-by-side right up close to the building, I didn’t know what to say or if he’d want Jordy riding home with him or not.
“Well, uh…” Chester started, scratching at his chin. “I’ll just head out and you two can follow behind me. I need to think. And we’ll talk at home.”
“Dad?” Jordy said. He still sounded just a little out of it, to my displeasure. “Don’t be mad, okay? Everything is good.”
“We’ll talk at home,” he repeated, before opening his driver door. “I love you,” he added, before slipping in and closing it. I wasn’t sure if he meant both of us or not, but I’d take what I could get.
Jordy sighed as I maneuvered him into the passenger seat, setting him down as gently as humanly possible. He clung to me for just an extra second, before finally releasing my shirt. I listened to Chester’s car drive away before I leaned back inside, hovering over my mate. Mine. Finally.
He stared up at me for a few moments before the corner of his pretty mouth perked up and he snorted.
“So that was… not great.”
Groaning lightly, I shifted my gaze up to the roof of the truck. “I’m sorry about how everything happened, Angel. And I’m sorry you don’t feel good.”
“You don’t have to apologize for anything, Kieran,” he said, reaching out for me and pulling me deeper into the truck so he could hook his arms around my neck. He’d been clinging onto me forever now, but I guess he still wasn’t sick of touching me. And I knew I would never get tired of being touched by him. “You did everything right. You were absolutely perfect.”
He tilted his face up for my kiss just as I leaned in for it, like we were a pair of magnets. His soft sigh against my lips felt like a sweet balm washing over me, and I was sure I could never love anything or anyone as much as I loved him. Only the nagging voice in my head that reminded me I needed to get him home and safe and resting could peel me off him.
“How likely do you think it is that my dad’s going to give us some privacy so we can cuddle in my room or something?” He wondered, once I’d gone around to my side and started up the truck. Clearly I wasn’t the only one mourning the fact that we’d barely gotten a chance to really just talk and be with each other and let ourselves feel the changes from our bond.
Scoffing, I gave him an incredulous side-long glance as I pulled out of the parking spot. “Not a fucking chance.”
AT HOME, JORDYwas fed and forced to lay on the couch under Chester’s eagle eye, on the threat he’d drag him to the hospital if he didn’t stay there and not move an inch. Mom had come home as soon as Chester had gotten in touch with her, and she’d cooed and fussed over Jordy since the second she’d walked in the door, putting a cold compress on his head and fluffing the pillows around him. I sat on the floor in front of the couch, watching him closely while we talked.
I was sure Chester had probably told her about what had happened between Jordy and I, but she didn’t bring it up until his levels started to stabilize and he was feeling a little better.
