AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laughed and hugged her briefly before I crossed the hall. The apartment seemed so much bigger empty. But it felt good to stand here, look around, and feel absolutely no sadness.
There were good times in this apartment, and a lot of loneliness. I worried I’d walk in and feel like I was missing something by leaving, but I didn’t.
Wandering to the bedroom, I leaned against the door frame and just looked. The scent of fresh-baked cookies enveloped me. “You okay, blue?”
“Yeah, I am. I thought I might feel… I don’t know. Nostalgic? Guess it just proves how little I had that I don’t feel much about leaving.”
“You had things,” he whispered, pressing his body gently into mine. “You had your grandmother, and you had your friends. Your job. I’m glad you’ll be with us because it’s where you’resupposedto be, sweetheart. But you still had a life. Don’t regret it.”
I leaned back into him, not wanting to say anything further. Would I always regret not telling him? Probably. The rest he was right about. I’d lived life and tried to do it well. It was enough.
They’d really cleared out everything. It looked like it had been cleaned, too. Better than when I’d moved in. One last look in all the rooms, and I was ready. “Should I just… leave the key?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said. “We spoke to the management company. You can leave it on the counter.”
The key they’d borrowed already sat there, and I added mine. I closed the door for the last time. No turning back now.
Roman touched my shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yes.” And it was true. “Let’s go home.”
Jace grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
The early evening air was mild. A tinge of cold heralding the weather would change soon. But right now it was nice. It would be a perfect night for that fire pit.
“Sloane.”
My whole body froze. Asher’s growl tore the air, and suddenly I was surrounded by a wall of Alpha on every side.
I peeked around Asher’s arm, in the space between him and Roman, and saw Craig. He looked rough. Unkempt, tired like he hadn’t slept, beard out of control, eyes feral.
“What do you want, Craig?”
“I want you to talk to me, and I want answers.”
“I think I’ve been pretty clear. What more is there to say?” I pressed my forehead into Asher’s spine, inhaling the scent of leather from his jacket.
“You actually going totalkto me? Or are you going to hide behind your pretty boys?”
Growls rose low, but I reached out and touched them. We needed to keep calm, despite it being the last thing I wanted. Craig was a question mark, and we didn’t know what he would do if we pushed him too far. I tried to step out of the circle, and Roman stopped me. “No.”
“I’m going to stand right in front of you,” I said quietly. “Where you can still touch me. But he’ll never stop if he can’t see me.”
“He’s not going to stop anyway,” Ash said.
Roman’s fingers curled into the loop on the back of my jeans as I stepped in front of him. The others spread out. How Craig was still fucking standing there while they were throwing every bit of Alpha dominance toward him was beyond me.
“Okay,” I said. “Whatever you want to say, go ahead.”
Craig snorted. “Whatever I want to say?You’rethe one who has shit to say, Sloane. One day I have a girlfriend, and the next I’m ghosted, and you’re in bed with another man. I’ve been gracious with you, considering. It’s time for you to stop this.”
I stared at him. “We were friends with benefits, Craig. Six weeks of sex a year ago, and three dates in the last month do not constitute a relationship.”
“You aremine.” He took a step toward me, and Roman’s fingers tightened. All my Alphas tensed, but we didn’t move. “I told you when you called me I wasn’t doing casual again. What the fuck do you think that means?”
Shaking my head, I tried to understand. “You never said that, Craig.”
“Yes, I did.”
