AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ham placed two beers in front of us and Blizzard picked his up, throwing back half of it before he answered. I knew then that he wasn’t going to tell me, but it was something important, something that had his mind working overtime. “He’s helping me out.”
“Blizzard…”
He shook his head, grabbing my hand and pulling my body between his spread legs. “Don’t overthink this shit.”
“This is about Jay, isn’t it?”
He stared directly into my eyes, but neither confirmed nor denied my question. I wanted to protest, to tell him to stay safe and not do anything stupid, but I couldn’t bring the words to my mouth. I wanted Jayla in our lives. I couldn’t imagine things without her.
“She’s not going anywhere,” he said simply, watching my eyes for my reaction.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded slowly. “Okay.”
He raised a brow as he brought his drink to his lips. “Okay?”
“We promised we would trust each other if this was going to work,” I answered quietly. Blizzard’s hand tightened on my waist.
We’d been through a lot of shit. I’d done some shitty things, put the club in a bad place and hurt them. Hell, I’d almost gotten Chelsea killed because of my lies. I was lucky to be here with them now, I was grateful to have their trust and their love back after how much I’d screwed up.
It’d taken a long time for both Blizzard and me to realize that we needed to work through shit together. I’d hurt them, but I’d also risked my own life in order to make it right. Blizzard’s grudge he’d held against me for hurting the people he cared about was put to the side when he saw the real me—the me that my father had done everything possible to squash and eradicate.
There was no denying the fact that there was something between us, there always had been. I’d always felt like Blizzard saw the real me from the start, that when I was with him, I never needed to pretend. We’d learned quickly that we needed to put everything else aside and start new, start from a place where there was trust and honesty, and forget the past that kept taunting us and stopping us from moving forward.
I’d made mistakes, but so had he. Neither of us were perfect, and the fact that we’d been able to overcome so many hurdles and still come together and be happy, was a testament to our strength. We were stronger together.
“That we did,” he agreed, his eyes boring into mine. “I hate seeing you so upset about this shit. I hate seeing that look of pain in your eyes when you think about someone taking Jay away from us. But it also feels good to see how you truly feel.”
I brushed my fingers through his short hair. “What do you mean?”
He huffed. “You have this tendency to throw up a strong face.”
A shiver went through my body. He was right. I was practiced at hiding a lot of my emotions. It was something I’d done for so long in order to protect myself from my father and to hide who I really was when I was doing his dirty work. When I’d finally escaped him, I continued to do it, but this time it was because I felt like it made me stronger. If I looked stronger on the outside, maybe I would feel stronger too.
I’d gotten good at pretending to be something I wasn’t, but the strange thing was, that with Blizzard, I didn’t feel like I had to do that anymore. Because he was strong for the both of us. He allowed me time to heal, time to realize that I didn’t need to pretend when I was hurt, or when I was scared. Because I knew he was there to catch me. I wasn’t on my own any longer.
“I’ve got this, Rose,” Blizzard whispered as he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’ve got this. Trust me.”
“I do.” My response was instant. I did trust him. I trusted him to do what was right, to protect us, to do what it took to keep our family together.
“I fucking love you,” he growled, pulling my lips to his. His kiss was soft, reassuring and sensitive, making my body melt against his.
I was lucky. I knew I was. I’d found a family within these walls. Walls that I’d once set out to destroy. They could have turned their backs, looked the other way and watched me tear myself to shreds over what I had done. But instead, they took me in, they built me back up and they showed me more love than I could have ever known existed. That’s what love was.
“I love you, too.”
