I say nothing.I’m not.I never was.
Axel shakes his head and walks to the door.He opens it and turns to look at me.“Get your head out of your ass, Matthias.Maisy needs you, whether she admits it or not.”
It’s a full bear-roar that comes out of my throat as he shuts the door.I shove up from the chair and pace the room, considering Axel’s words.
He might be right, but I’m not going to railroad her into this mating.It’s the one thing I promised myself from the start.Maybe it’s how I got myself into this mess, but I have integrity.I will keep this vow.
For her.
Maisy Maisy Maisy?—
I’m losing control, and I don’t know what to do.
The memory of her innocent New Year’s resolution list scrawled in neat, hopeful writing flashes in my mind:
Glow up
Dr.appointment for PCOS
Plan DD expansion
Set boundaries with Allen
Stand up for yourself!!!You can do it!
Go on a date
My eyes burn as I let out a bitter laugh.Well, my sweet, beautiful mate completed all of them, including standing up for herself.
Good for her.
Maybe I should make a New Year’s resolution list.
I grab a sheet of paper.My fingers have long, curved claws–my bear taking over.It takes me a few tries to get them to retract.Finally, I grab a big, black, permanent marker and hold it in my palm to write.My scrawl fills the whole page, but that’s okay.I only need to write out one thing:
Get Maisy back.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Maisy
After a restless night, I wake up at five am.
Like it’s an ordinary day in an ordinary week, and my biggest problems are getting to the cafe on time to prep before opening.
Like I didn’t just get married last week and have my heart broken in Vegas.
I’ve laid low for a few days, bed-rotting and watching holiday movies with Missy, but now I need to get back to some form of normalcy.So I get up and get ready for work.I can help prep and then hide in the back once Jenny comes in to run the morning shift with one of our part-timers.
Valentine’s day is coming up, and normally I’d be planning all sorts of themed drinks and hauling out our heart-and-daisy-chain decorations to give the cafe’s seating area a pop of red, but this year, I wish I could hit a button and disappear the entire holiday.For everyone.
Maybe I should take Missy up on her offer and move to L.A.I’d have to start over, but working mindless hours might help me forget Matthias.
Who am I kidding?I’ll never forget this.
My time with him was the happiest of my life.What hurts is that it wasn’t real.
I walk down the snowy road to the cafe, crunching the ice beneath my boots.The cold nips at my nose and the tips of my ears.In the pre-dawn dark, the snow seems to glow.
