…
Ty
Talk about fucked up timing. I’m not sure what just went down between the two of them, but one thing hasn’t changed. Angie still doesn’t give my girl the respect she deserves.
I swallow my anger and focus on Jas. She’s all that matters, after all.
“She’s out of line. I’ll talk to her.”
She sucks in a ragged breath and pulls back. “It’s okay.” There’s a resigned note in her voice that I hate. “I finally stood up to her. I can live with that.”
What the fuck is she talking about? But since I don’t want to discuss my mother’s shortcomings with her, I shove it to the back of my mind.
“I know you’ve got to fly back today. But this isn’t the end, Jas. You do what you need to do, and then you come right back here where you belong.”
“I don’t belong here anymore. I haven’t for a long time.”
“You’re not walking out on me again.” It doesn’t sound great like that, but I don’t know how else to say it.
“I’m not walking out on you.” Her voice is soft, and her eyes are so fucking sad I want to smash something. “We had our week, like we agreed. And we’re parting as friends, aren’t we?”
Friends? I don’t want to be her fuckingfriend.
“Are you going to stand there and tell me there’s nothing more between us? Because I won’t believe you.”
She takes my hands, and for some reason I don’t like it. “No. There’s so much between us. But it doesn’t make any difference. Your life is here, and mine’s in Florida.”
The unformed rage pumping through my blood eases, and I squeeze her fingers. “So that’s the only reason? Because of your career?” Hell, that’s not an obstacle. She’s smart. She won’t have any problem passing whatever exams she needs to in order to practice law here.
“No. It’s nothing to do with my work.”
Her dad, then. “Florida’s not the other side of the world. You’ll still see your dad. It won’t be like when you were a kid.”
She closes her eyes for a moment. She must see I’m right. “Itisabout family.” The emphasis doesn’t sit right with me, but I can’t figure out why. “I don’t want to lose what I found. I wouldn’t want anyone to. I used to think he let me down when he left Mom, but he had to do it. It was the only way he could breathe freely.”
There’s a hard knot right in the middle of my chest. The words choke me, but somehow, I push them out. “Are you saying you can’t breathe when you’re with me?”
“Of course not.” We’re still holding hands, but it’s like she’s moving farther away from me with every word.What the hell’s going on inside her head?“It’s notyou, Ty. It’s me. I need to be away fromhere. And I don’t want to come back for good. Ever.”
It’s not you, it’s me.Could she throw any more of a fucking cliché at me?
“Right.” I have the crazy urge to drag her into my arms and never let her go. How can she want to leave after the week we shared? But my pride is all I have left, and I untangle my fingers from hers and fold my arms.Don’t say it.I can’t stop myself. “We’ve had our reunion fuck and now it’s time to move on.”
“It was more than that, and you know it.”
“Do I?” I rake my gaze over her, trying to see her as just some random chick who doesn’t mean anything, but I can’t do it. “So, tell me what it meant to you.”
She folds her arms, a mirror image, but instead of looking tough, she presses all my protective buttons.
Damn it.
“Where do I start?” She gives me a brittle smile. “We needed this week. We needed to sort out our issues like a couple of adults. And I think we did. There’s no need to spoil it by acting like a—” She hesitates for a second, then tilts her chin at me as though she’s angling for a fight. “A Viking Bastard.”
I didn’t expect that, and have no idea what she even means by it. “Yeah? I am a Viking Bastard. Always have been, always will. What’s your point?”
“Thatismy point. The Bastards are as much your family as your mom and dad and sister. Yes, I always knew it. I used to think it didn’t matter that I’d never be first in your life, but guess what? It does matter. I won’t be second to an MC or, let’s be honest, third, after your blood family.”
Where the fuck has this come from? She was never third. Hell, I never categorized her at all. She was always just Jas. My girl.
