AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Getting off my bike, Zoe hands me her helmet before slowly walking down the grassy incline, looking over her shoulder a couple of times to check if I’m following.
I don’t, being true to my word, and lean against a tree as I watch on, giving her what space I safely can.
It’s hard to watch, her knees giving out when she nears their graves, and it takes everything in me to not go to her. Holding myself back, I fight my own emotions as I watch her crawl the rest of the way across the grass, her guttural howls floating to me on the breeze as she reaches their headstones and lies on her front, her arms outstretched as if she’s reaching out to both of them.
“Fuck,” I whisper as a hot tear escapes my fucking eye, and I bat it away like it’s made of molten lava.
I want to go to her. Hold her. But I don’t think I should.
She doesn’t want me near them, and I want to respect that, but fuck, I’m not sure I can keep my word about this.
I hold back for as long as I can, but when she drags herself up, trying to stand and her knees give out again, my feet are moving really fucking fast.
I fall to the ground with her, pulling her into my arms, and she doesn’t even fight me, instead holding on like I’m her lifeline as she falls apart.
I rock her in my arms for so long, letting her expel the heartache, and when she eventually falls quiet, I dare to speak.
“Are you ready to leave yet?”
She nods into my chest, and I stand with her in my arms before making my way back up the hill, to the tree shading my bike.
When I reach it, I maneuver Zoe so she is facing me, wrapping her legs around my waist before mounting my bike, and I sit like that, holding her to my chest with her arms around my neck until she’s ready to let go.
“Sorry,” she mumbles, finally moving back a few inches, and I shake my head.
“No need to be sorry, Princess.”
She doesn’t say anything to that, keeping her head lowered, not daring to look at me.
I allow it for like, a minute or two before I lift her chin with my finger and force her puffy wet eyes to mine.
“If I had known what your dad was up to sooner, I would have tried to stop any of this nightmare from happening.”
She nods. “Your club wouldn’t be broke then.”
I shake my head. “I don’t care about the money, Princess. I care about this.” I press my fingers to the center of her chest. “If I could take away your pain, I would.”
Her head tilts as she studies me. I can see that she wants to believe me, but at the last second, it falls away.
“Is your dad buried here?” she asks, taking me by surprise, and I nod.
“He is.”
“Do you visit him often?”
I swallow the thickness building in my throat as I shake my head. “No, Princess. I haven’t visited him in a long time.”
Her brows dip, the confused expression making her look more adorable than anything else.
“Why haven’t you visited with him?”
I shrug, dragging my gaze from hers and staring out over the cemetery.
“You’re not going to tell me why?” she asks, and even though she’s not angry about that possibility, I can tell she’s at least disappointed.
Turning my gaze back to hers, I lick my lips and tuck some of her wayward strands behind her ear.
“It hurts too much.”
