Alex’s ex.
My job, which I still need to figure out.
Mrs. Jones being hateful.
Aunt Lyra passing.
Adam’s mother and sister resurfacing.
I feel like I’m being weighed down and maybe Dad is right, maybe I do need to let Alex in more, lean on him, and see if he sticks around and doesn’t break me like Adam nearly did.
I sigh as I switch on the ignition and mumble, “One day at a time,” knowing Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I pull out of my space, ready to go fight for a man I didn’t even see coming, who knocked me off my feet and made me fall in love with him.
***
I pull up in a space near the clubhouse door twenty minutes later and swallow hard as I switch off the ignition and eye the large building.
My head has been swimming the whole ride here. I just—I don’t know but halfway here, a bad feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, like the one I got at school when Mrs. Trivers came to get me. Honestly, if Lyra weren’t inside those walls, I would have turned around with how much the bad feeling was filling me.
I know I need to go inside, but something deep down is holding me back, but what?
Unless it’s because of everything that has happened, and I’m worried about Alex being mad at me for going silent on him even though that was my only way to process everything and come to the conclusion I can’t live without him.
I nod because yeah, it has to be that, surely.
Swallowing the lump in my throat and ignoring my instincts, I climb out of my car and walk towards the door, leaving the groceries in the trunk, since I’m just picking up the kids, and Alex will follow me back to his bike, or at least I hope he will anyhow.
Opening the door, I ignore the bad feeling and the nerves and go inside before I can second-guess myself, the dim lighting making me blink.
“Well, you are a sight for sore eyes, sweetheart,” Ace instantly booms as the door closes behind me, and I give him a lopsided smile.
“Broken anymore hearts, Ace?” I ask as I descend the stairs, “Or gotten an STD?”
The brothers laugh, and he scowls my way and mutters, “I so didn’t want a fricking sister…”
I grin widely as he walks over and takes me into his arms, and I hug him back.
The man is such a liar, he loves me.
“It is good to see you, sweetheart. You’ve been missed,” he admits, and I hum and squeeze him tighter and mutter, “You’re still not out of the doghouse for believing I would hurt Caleb.”
He groans as he drops his head before he pulls back and whines, “I made a mistake,” and I chuckle.
Alex mentioned that after he came to the townhouse with Caleb in tow, knowing I wouldn’t leave that boy on my doorstep, upset. Ace thought I hurt the little boy who had wormed his way into my life.
“Are the kids outside playing?” I confirm, and he sighs, “Yeah, you want me to wrangle them up while you go get my brother, who by the way has been in a foul mood the whole time you’ve been gone without contact, might I add?”
I roll my eyes, “I was still in contact, just with Caleb,” and he smirks at my sass. Shrugging, I admit, “I needed a breather, something he didn’t give me after I was nearly arrested, it was a lot, and then add in my great aunt, whom my daughter is named after, passing away and having to see my parents for the first time in eight years… I just needed time to take a breath so I didn’t make any irrational decisions.”
Ace nods with understanding before he kisses my head and mumbles, “I get it, I do. Alex is in his room grabbing something down the hallway, I’ll get the kids.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, and he pulls back, smiling a boyish smile at me before walking away, and I shake my head.
That man is going to break some woman’s heart one of these days, I can just see it.
Huffing, I walk towards the officer brothers' rooms, hugging Brit on my way, before Doc kisses my cheek, making me smile and I head towards Alex, my heart, but the closer I get to his room, the tighter my stomach gets.
I slow my steps when I hear, “Come on, baby, get hard for me!” before a groaned, “Holly...” echoes, and everything in me tensesas I pick up my speed and storm into Alex’s room, only to freeze in shock at the scene before me and my eyes cloud over.
