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“Micah…”
Micah shook his head and held his hand up for silence. Then he padded into the attached bathroom to clean up and find his dignity.
Chapter seven
The sex had beenamazing, of course, even better than August remembered, but it hadn’t solved anything. It hadn’t given him any answers or any sense of closure. If anything, it had left him feeling more confused than ever.
“Stop it,” Micah chastised as he leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom. “Don’t try to make this cheap.”
“Then what is this? Why now?”
“Because I love you,” he answered simply. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you still love me, too.”
He’d never stopped loving the idiot, but he didn’t see how that held relevance to the conversation. “If you love me, then why…?” He couldn’t finish the thought out loud, but he knew Micahwould understand what he couldn’t ask.Why didn’t you want me?
“That’s a long story, and a conversation I’d rather not have naked.” Crossing the room, he grabbed his jeans from the floor and yanked them on. “Get cleaned up and meet me downstairs. I’ll tell you everything you want to know over breakfast, but Ant? Believe me when I say it’s not what you think.” He paused in the doorway and rapped his knuckles against frame. “Oh, Meredith still isn’t home. Should we be worried?”
Micah’s concerned warmed him, especially since he knew the guy only put up with Meredith because of August’s friendship with her. “She’s a big girl.” On the other hand, he hadn’t known her to stay out past midnight since her college days. “I’ll text her.”
He did, too, just a quick, non-intrusive message to ask if her date had gone well. When he didn’t get a response right away, instead of worrying, he grabbed his favorite pair of OSU pajama bottoms and headed to the shower.
The hot water loosened the remaining tension in his neck and shoulders, but he didn’t linger as long as he would have liked. He did take just an extra minute to appreciate the way Meredith’s peppermint shampoo made his scalp tingle, though. Whoever made the stuff was a genius, and August really needed to remember to snag a couple of bottles of the stuff before he left.
Rinsed, dried, and dressed in his black-and-orange plaid, collegiate pajamas, he checked his phone, relieved to find a replyfrom his best friend. Granted, he hadn’t fooled her in the least, and she openly mocked his distress, but at least she wasn’t dead in a gutter somewhere.
The pungent scent of burnt meat floated up the staircase, followed swiftly by the earsplitting wail of the smoke alarm.
“Oh, shit.”
Rolling his eyes, August flew down the stairs, praying the whole way that some part of the kitchen still remained intact. When Micah had mentioned breakfast, he hadn’t thought the man would actually try to cook.
Stopping just long enough to disengage the smoke alarm, he entered the kitchen and had to turn back around to hide his amusement. Micah had his back turned, and he cursed a blue streak while he emptied what appeared to be an entire pound of charred bacon into the trash bin. The meat crunched as it hit the bottom of the pale, and August frowned until he noticed the half-empty egg carton on the counter.
“Just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean anything.” Micah spoke without turning. “I canfeelyou laughing at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you.” Moving to the island, August leaned his elbows on the countertop and batted his lashes. “I was actually wondering how you’ve survived this long. You know, without starving to death or poisoning yourself.”
“Ha, ha, asshole.” Micah deposited the pan into the sink and turned with his arms crossed over his broad, muscular, and very naked chest. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“I guess that depends on what thoughts led you to try to burn down the kitchen.”
Micah glared, but he didn’t comment. “What do you propose we eat?”
“What do most people eat at three in the morning?”
“Taco Bell?” Micah lifted one shoulder in a non-committal way. “I’m usually sleeping at this time.”
Snorting, August grabbed the pastry box Meredith had bribed him with earlier and slid it across the marbled granite. “Here, eat a muffin.”
Micah place his hand on top of the box, but he didn’t open the lid. “Ant, I promised to tell you anything you want to know.” He looked up with weary, heavy-lidded eyes, and the muscles in his forearms corded when he curled his hands into fists. “Just understand…some questions are better left unanswered.”
Hidden truths and untold secrets only bred mistrust and discord. August didn’t know if they had a future together, but logic didn’t paint a hopeful picture. He had his life in Tulsa, while Micah had responsibilities in Indiana.
Micah made him weak. When they were together, he easily forgot about all the old hurt, forgot Micah had ripped his heart into pieces. Wrapped in his mate’s arms, all he remembered was how perfect their life had been and how much he’d loved—how much hestillloved—the man.
If they couldn’t move beyond their past, though, they’d never be able to build a future. “I want to know everything. Why you kicked me out. Why you disappeared for twelve years.” His throat constricted, and his eyes stung at the corners. “I want to know why you’re back now, because I know this isn’t about your dad or the pack. I want the truth, Micah.”
He’d expected August’s answer. He’d even prepared for it. Despite what he thought, however, nothing Micah said from that point forward would be easy to hear. More than likely, August wouldn’t even believe it. Micah knew he wouldn’t if placed in the same position.
