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Shit.
Now that he’d seen them, he knew that just explaining why he’d done what he had wouldn’t be enough. He had to help them.
Seemed like he might need to look into some long-term accommodation. He had a feeling he was going to be there for a while.
14
“You’ve done what?”
“I’ve bought a house here.” Cole leaned back in his chair, staring across the large wooden desk at his brother. He’d just had dinner with Joel, Aspen, and those rascally twin boys of theirs. Cole had made a trip into Freestown to buy them every noisy toy he could find.
Joel had scowled at him when he’d seen toy after toy being pulled out of shopping bags. Aspen had grinned at Cole, rolling her eyes as Joel grumbled and groaned about having to get ear plugs and sound-proof their playroom.
Obviously, she knew his brother was full of shit. Especially as he’d gotten on the floor and played most of the night with the boys, making more noise than both of them put together. It had, surprisingly, been one of the best nights of his life.
Now, Aspen was putting the boys to bed, and he’d asked Joel if he could speak with him privately.
“Look, Cole, when I said you had to stick around, I didn’t mean permanently.”
He didn’t sound too pleased at the idea. It kind of hurt, but he knew he deserved that.
Joel ran a hand over his face. “It’s not because of me. Like I told you, so long as you don’t hurt anyone I care about, you and I are good. But this is Julian and Keira’s home, and I worry that if they know you’re sticking around—”
“That I might run them off. I’m not going to do that.”
“You can’t know how they’ll react. You’ve barely seen them since you got here.”
Cole scowled. “Because they’re avoiding me. And you’re letting them hide away here. I’ve spent every day wandering around this town. I’ve managed to talk to them once when they were in the diner. With Jardin Malone.” He spat out the name.
Joel raised his eyebrows. “You sound jealous.”
“They don’t seem that relaxed in his company. When they had lunch together in the diner, it was like they were strangers.”
“They don’t know Jardin well. But he’s a good man, a good Dom. He’ll take care of them.”
Unlike him. He rolled his head from side to side, trying to ease tense muscles. He’d spent so many years trying to deflect his father’s verbal barbs and veiled insults that it was difficult for him not to bristle at every cut, imagined or otherwise.
“If they let him, and from what I saw that wasn’t happening. Julian’s wound so tightly he’s about to burst. He’s so protective of Keira, he’s not going to let anyone else get close. And Keira . . . she looks to him before she even speaks.”
“They’re getting help. They have a therapist. And Jardin.”
Jardin. Fucking Jardin. Damn, he was jealous.
“Why don’t you take them on,” Cole asked. “You’re a Dom. They trust you.”
“Because Jardin knows how to deal with people who have suffered trauma. He’s seen it plenty in his job. And I’m too close to them. They live with me. I resc—”
He cut himse
lf off, and Cole had to bite his lip to keep from snapping at him. What had he been about to say? That he’d rescued them? From what? What trauma had they suffered?
“If things didn’t go well, they’d have nowhere to go. I’m their safe place. I need to maintain that for them.”
Cole tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair. “I’m staying, Joel. My realtor has started the ball rolling on the house. I’m not leaving them.”
“Well, I did ask you to stick around, I guess. But what are you going to do if they ever let you explain and they still don’t want you?”
“I didn’t come here to win them back.”
