It would besoeasy just to let Kane take me away. I could pack up my stuff and get the hell out of Timber’s house before he even has a chance to ask why. Though from his drunk confession and the tension that’s hung around us since then, I think he knows as well. Which just makes all this even worse.
Kane slides his hand out of my pants and strokes my back again, sending flutters of happiness through me.
When our gazes meet, I’m sure we both understand that we can’t go into it any further. My pussy will end up leading the conversation, and it’ll get us nowhere.
I haven’t said no, but I’m not ready to say yes.
The number of people I’ve axed from my life because I was done with them is stupid. I can’t just leave Timber cut and dry. And not just because I want a final look at his pecs before I go.
I want the kind of calm I feel lying against Kane’s chest, and I can’t find that if I keep hiding from Timber.
Even though Kane and I are floating in the silence, our breaths are in time, soft smiles on our faces as we lie together, I need to put a wrench in this happiness. If I get too comfortable now, it’ll be harder to say goodbye later.
I want my life to be low-key, and two hockey players aren’t the answer, especially when I’m flying high one day and plunging the next as I deal with my feelings for them both.
“I’m going to leave Timber’s house,” I say, and Kane freezes. “I’ll talk to Marilyn about quitting, and I’ll be gone before my heat starts. I don’t have much more time, and there’s only so far I can push it with the suppressants.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve only taken it this far because he can’t scent me. That’s way worse, because it makes it easier to get away with.”
“Isn’t telling him the better option, though? If you leave now, he’s always going to think you’re Luke. Why not give him a chance to get to know you as Ollie?”
I shake my head. “Do you know about his ex-wife?”
Kane pauses, and it’s obvious from the way he sighs that he knows. “Yeah, he told me the whole story.”
“You saw how he responded in the restaurant, and you don’t know what he’s like at home. You haven’t seen him when…” I bite my lip, heat flowing through me again as I remember his face as he came right in front of the stove, and I absolutely lost it.
“What are you going to do after you leave his house?”
My heart sinks. Luke keeps insisting that as soon as he’s better, it’s going to be easy, but we both know it’ll be anything but.
We have to face it, and we’ll get through it as we did with everything. Our grit, determination, and Luke’s positivity were the things that kept us running. We’ve already talked to Noa about crashing on the floor of her store at night. We could take everything from there.
I thought Kane might try to convince me to stay with Timber until his hand tightens on my cheek.
“Come and live with me,” he says hurriedly. “Both of you. I can set you up comfortably, hire nurses for Luke, and make sure you’re both taken care of.”
My first instinct is to say no. I don’t want any handouts or sympathy when we’re the ones who put ourselves in this situation. I even said to myself, I won’t ask them for anything. I’m not a gold digger; I refuse to be like Timber’s ex-wife.
The offer of nurses and care for Luke is a different story.
“I promise I won’t see it as anything else,” he says as he wraps his arms around me. “I won’t have any expectations of you, and I’ll even stop asking you to be in a pack. Though the idea of you being in my house is driving me wild.” He wiggles as he grips me tighter, like he’s so excited he can’t hold it back. It’s so disarmingly cute that I almost fall for it. Almost.
“You can see it as a friend lending a hand.” His earnest expression morphs into a grin. “A friend who just buried that hand in his friend’s pussy.”
“You can’t help yourself, can you?” I snort, but it breaks the tension.
“I’ll be away half the time at games, so you’ll have free run of the house. You can even scent mark every room if you want to stake a claim.” He chuckles before trailing off into a sigh. “You won’t need to worry about Timber. If you’re really that scared of him finding out, I won’t tell him.”
Leaving Timber’s house to move straight into Kane’s feels off. As if I’m leaving TimberforKane.
“I need to think about it. It’s too big a decision to make when I’m so horny that I’m a traffic risk.”
“Let me take you home then,” he says, shuffling around. My legs spread as he sits up, and his cock presses against my mound as I force back my groan.
He looks way too excited for a simple car ride. I can basically see his tail wagging as he grips my upper arms.
