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“I do,” he chuckled. He shook his head and closed his eyes in defeat. “I’m an idiot. I’m sorry. These are for you.” He held out the flowers and I took them, breathing in their fresh scent. The pain from earlier drained away and I finally met his gaze.
“This is the second time in my life that I’ve gotten flowers. Collin beat you to it by two days.” I smirked up at him. He let out a low growl of annoyance but it was gone as quickly as it came.
“I should have told you that day that I couldn’t believe I finally found you after all these years. That despite how much I told myself I didn’t care, that I did crave this connection, that I wanted somebody that I could talk to every morning, that I went to sleep thinking about. But I was scared.” He glanced down, his fingers tangling nervously in the edges of his flannel shirt. He still had one of his bar rags tucked into his pocket like he just walked straight out of the diner. “Everyone I’ve ever loved, except for Serenity and her parents, have left. Not intentionally, but…”
“The cemetery?” I questioned when he couldn’t get the words out.
This conversation felt way too heavy for the porch, so I took his hand and brought him inside, closing the door behind him. I didn’t stop until we’d reach the kitchen, gesturing for him to take a seat. I sat across from him and waited for Ezra to answer. He looked out the window for a moment, his eyes distant, shadowed, and then he finally answered me.
His voice was haunted, barely more than a whisper like he was fighting off emotions. When his story unfolded I couldn’t fault him for that.
“My mom was a single mom but we never felt like we had anything missing. She treated us like we were her world. She was running the diner with the pack and then when they left right after my sister was born, she kept it going. We did our homework at the counter and ate most meals there. It was a safe enough time that she could send us outside to play on nice days.”
“She sounds amazing,” I said as I took his hand. His eyes wouldn’t even meet mine but I was just glad he was talking.
“My sister was a fiery type like you. She didn’t let me get away with my grumpiness either. She had a formal dance coming up and had gotten herself a date. I told her it was dumb and she told me to shut my stupid mouth.” He let out a broken chuckle.
“You always needed some sunshine in your life, right?” I teased him gently. This time, I earned a half smirk before he ran a hand along his stubble, collecting his thoughts.
“You’re not wrong. They both were like that, calling me out when I was being too much of an ass, teaching me how to have a soft side. I’m afraid I didn’t get enough of that.”
“You’ve still got time to learn,” I reassured him.
“That night, they went dress shopping. She called me and told me how excited she was and thanked me for covering the diner. They were on their way back and it started to snow. It was that kind of snow that’s just fine enough to make the roads slippery but not enough to make it hard to see. They just happened to hit one of those spots and started to spin out. The cop said that they didn’t suffer when they hit the tree, it was instant. By the time my uncle and I were called and arrived on the scene they were in body bags. They wouldn’t even let me see them. The street was stained in blood and bits of metal littered the snow. I just remember dropping to my knees right there, feeling like the whole world was crashing around me.”
“Your whole worlddidcrash around you. I’m so sorry, Ezra.” With the way he was sitting at the counter, I didn’t want to hug him from behind, so I simply climbed on top and scooted until I was in front of him, then wrapped him in a hug.
He rested his forehead against mine, his breathing shaky at first but then getting stronger as he worked past the emotions he’d just relived.
“It was a long time ago, you’d think it wouldn’t be so hard to talk about,” he muttered.
“Grief is not something that you simply stop having to deal with. It gets better sometimes and then there will be those days that are worse. You just learn to live with it and give it space when you need. I’m so sorry, that’s terrible.”
“It was,” he agreed. “But I don’t want to live my life alone. I would never leave you like her pack left her.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” I told him and I meant it. Now that I knew just what was holding him back I had every confidence he was going to try his best to keep this strong.
Our eyes met and he leaned forward. This time, the kiss was laced with salt and sadness, full of desperation for a human connection. We didn’t rush it, I just let him know in my own way that I was here for him.
When he pulled away his smile was a little less strained.
“Can I take you out?”
“Yes. When?”
He smiled like I gave him the world. “I was thinking this weekend. I’ve been working up to this, so I’ve already got something in mind. Do you know how to dance, Ellie?”
“There’s no way that you dance, Ezra.”
He let out an amused chuckle. “You don’t know very much about me Ellie. But you’re going to learn.”
Ellie
The nightlife in Lockwood was much different than the daytime. The streets were fairly empty and the only businesses still open this late were restaurants and the one bar in town. And, of course, the diner.
Dean and I waved as we passed Ezra’s diner and to my surprise he waved back. We had plans this weekend and he’d even been texting me randomly. It seemed my pack was finally coming together.
Dean let out a hum of surprise and pulled me closer. The scent of forest rain filled my senses and I let out a contented sigh. My mates’ scents could calm me and work me up all at the same time. “I guess you’ve got grumpy Ezra to come out of his shell a bit.”
