AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m your dork though.”
“Yes, you are.” The words come out breathlessly, airy and unlike I’ve ever heard surface from my throat. My heart slams against my ribcage, beating a staccato of desperation and more, pleading with me to voice its cries. So I do. “I love you, Kai Zhao. Please don’t ever leave me.”
“Never.”
Then I slam my lips to his, moaning as he matches my hunger with his own.
In a frenzy of need and desperation, we rip our clothes off, barely able to come up for air as we devour each other. There’s no need to discuss the things we just shared, or the secrets that have been revealed, there’s just an urge to come together. To be as close as two human beings can be.
And we do.
22
“Walker Brooks.” I sit across from him in the small booth, disappointed that there’s not enough room for the guys, so they have to take the table beside me. Gizmo and Snitch, adorned in their little seeing-eye work vests–thanks to Kai’s help–jump up on either side of me and settle in.
“Izabella-” He starts to say, his aura vibrating with caution as he takes in my little entourage.
“Don’t call me that.” It comes out a bit snappier than I intended, so I breathe deeply and try again. “Please, don’t call me that. My dad called me that.”
Nic’s aura pulses with a mixture of surprise and satisfaction. Surprise that he’s just now finding out why I hate that name and satisfaction because I actually let the guys use it. I have no idea when that happened, but I don’t mind. For some reason, it feels right when they use it.
I won’t be telling him that though.
“I’m sorry…” he speaks past his internal wince, the reminder of my father’s absence like a kick to the groin.
“Wicked. Bell, or Wicked. Your choice.” I wave away his apology, stopping to give my order to the waitress as she walks up. “Just coffee for me, please and a plate of bacon for the trash pandas.” When she walks away, I focus once more on the closest friend my father had. Someone he knew his entire life. “I don’t want to waste either of our time, so I’ll get straight to the point. My father was having an affair, who was she? And do you know anything about the car wreck that isn’t public knowledge?”
Panic floods his system and he jolts in his seat, his focus flicking towards the exit as his fight or flight instincts kick in. Although he chooses to stay seated, his aura waivers and twists rapidly.
“Look, Iz-Bell…” he sighs deeply, his slightly southern accented voice strained as he focuses on everything but me. “I don’t think it’s a good idea ta dredge up the past. Your dad was a good man, the best I ever knew, ya should try ta remember him like that.”
“Sorry, Uncle B, but that’s not an option. I’m working on a case right now, and as much as I want to pretend my dad was the only perfect person on the planet, I’ve been enlightened otherwise, and I need to know who she is.” I fold my hands together on the table as the waitress comes over once more and pours me a coffee.
Before I can even react and start making it taste less like burnt sludge, Kai moves towards our table and places a different mug in my hand. I take a sip, moaning at the sweetened goodness and flashing him one of my brightest smiles.
“Thanks, babe.”
“You’re welcome,babe.” He chuckles as Nic grunts at our cutesy display, no doubt wondering what the hell got into us this morning. Especially with how, well, how absolutely sweet I’ve been to Kai. Like the beginning stages of any relationship, I’m seeing hearts and stars behind the darkness of my vision and my heart is all warm and fuzzy. It’s sickening, but I also kind of like it.
“He your boyfriend?” Walker’s focus is on Kai at the table next to us and I grin, more than happy to make someone extra uncomfortable today.
“They all are.” He coughs and struggles to breathe, having been taking a drink of his own coffee when I spoke.
Pride emanates from the table beside me as two out of three of my men puff up in their seats. Nic just sits shell-shocked, as if this is news to him, making me giggle.
It’s true though. I’ve licked them. They’re mine. That’s how it works, right?
Even with the risk of destroying my soul if I ever lose them, I’m done being stupid and trying to push them away. Nic still has some road left to travel between us, but even that feels inevitable. Ezra and Kai? Well…they’ve already taken up residence in my heart with no plans on ever moving. It’s like they’ve found their forever home. I have even started to be able to see through my connection with Kai, so it’s official.
“Well, that’s…uh…nice?” Walker finally manages to get the coffee out of his lungs and speak.
“It is,” I state primly, daring him to judge me. He’d be sorry if he did. “So, who was she? And don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do when it comes to his memory. He was my dad, not yours.”
Uncle B sighs deeply and I hear the shuffling as he runs his hands through his hair and sits back in his seat. “I dunno who she was. I just know that he was seein’ her. Teddy wasn’t exactly forthcoming about her all that much.”
I wince internally at his casual use of my father’s nickname–Teddy, short for Theodore–but refuse to show it on my face. “What do you know then?”
“Ya have ta remember, your ma…she was somethin’ else, ya know? Treated Teddy like shit on a good day. I kept tellin’ him ta leave her, but he wouldn’t. Didn’t wanna risk her takin’ ya away and all that. She threatened it every time he got close ta the door, mind ya.” His aura starts to settle as he speaks, focusing more on the memories that are bringing about his words.
