AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Less than fifteen minutes later, we pull off the highway and onto a dirt track leading into the hills. I glance at Shane, but he keeps his eyes fixed on the road ahead, seeming to know exactly where he’s going. Finally, we come to a spot near a lake and he stops the car and unclips his seatbelt.
“Where are we?” I ask as I peer out of the window. There is nothing here but the lake and trees.
“Come and see,” he says as he climbs out of the car. He walks around to my side as I’m opening my door and takes my hand. I grab onto it as I step out, wondering what I’m stepping on. It’s so dark out here, I can barely see. He keeps hold of my hand and leads me closer to the water. When we reach it, he stops and looks out at the water with a strange look of contentment on his face. Meanwhile, my blood is thundering in my ears. What the hell is going on here?
“Would you look at that?” he says, nodding toward the lake.
I turn and look. It is a beautiful sight. The water is almost black, but the reflection of the full moon ripples on the surface, illuminating the lake and the surrounding trees.
“It’s beautiful,” I admit.
“It’s yours,” he says softly.
“I’m not sure about that, Shane,” I smile. “As powerful as you are, I’m not sure a lake and the moon are within your gift to give.”
He turns to me, his face full of emotion. “If you’re going to stay with us, then you’ll need this.”
I frown at him, not understanding what he means.
“I know my brothers can be a bit much,” he says.
I raise my eyebrows at him.
“And I know that I can too,” he adds. “I used to come to this spot at least once a week. Just to have some quiet and some space from them and their constant noise. It’s hard being the one who always has to have the answers, Jessie,” he says with a sigh and despite him being a complete asshole at times, my heart aches for him. He puts himself under so much pressure.
“I suppose I get that. But if you give this spot to me, then where will you go?”
He smiles at me. “Wherever you are.” My breath catches in my throat and my pulse quickens. What the hell is happening here? “I realized this morning that I haven’t been to this place for over two months. Not since you came into our lives. You bring us all into balance somehow, Hacker. You take the worst parts of each of us and make them softer and more tolerable. I want you to have a place to run to when you need some space – and some peace. When you need to get away from my brothers, or from me.”
“Shane, you don’t have to do this.”
“I want you to have this place, Jessie,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “Because if I’m going to let you in, I need to know that you will never leave. If you’re going to be one of us, then you always will be. So, this is the place you can run to when we get a bit too much. If only for a little while.”
I blink away the tears. This might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. “Shane, I can’t take this.”
“Yes, you can. And if you’re worried about privacy, I own this land. I’ve always planned to have a cabin built here someday.”
“Wow, that would be incredible. A cabin out here,” I say as I take another look around. “I would love to spend time here with you and your brothers.”
“You would?” he smiles at me.
“Of course,” I whisper.
“I know what you said today, and you had every right to say it, but tell me you didn’t mean it. Jessie. Tell me that I still get to touch you. Tell me that I still get to have all of you.”
“I don’t know, Shane. You made me feel completely worthless. Like I was some whore. You talked about me like I meant nothing to any of you.”
He reaches up and tucks my hair behind my ear. “You mean more to me than you will ever know, Hacker.”
“You expect honesty from me, Shane, but that’s a two-way street. Where is my honesty?”
“I’ve never lied to you,” he frowns at me.
“Maybe. But you have never let me in either. You never tell me what you want from me. You don’t share any of your life with me.”
“What do you want from me, Jessie?” he shakes his head.
“Something real, Shane. Anything real?” I plead with him.
