“Nah, more of a wolf.” Evan shot me a sly wink. “Anyway, ye don’t have to believe me, but Reid’s safe with me. I love him more than life itself, and I’ll do anything to make him happy.”
“He means that quite literally,” I confided in a mock whisper. “Last week he performed karaoke for me because I didn’t believe he was as bad at singing as his ma said he was.”
Evan groaned. “I could’ve told ye that without the need for me to demonstrate.”
“Where would be the fun in that?”
Evan grinned. “Fair. But I draw the line at performing in front of anyone else.”
I pouted. “What if I reallyreallywant you to?”
He wavered before nipping at my lips with a sigh. “Then I’d do it, but only if we gave out earplugs first.”
Evan turned to walk back to his seat and I sighed happily, ogling his taut cheeks. I’d never get enough of eyeing him up.
“Okay, so the boyfriend isn’t a problem,” Bryce said, wiggling a finger in Evan’s direction. “But we’re still watching you. It’s going to take a long time to win us over.”
“Noted.” Evan bowed his head with a smile. “Yer welcome to spend as much time here as ye like. I know Reid would love that.”
“I really would,” I said earnestly. “We’re staying withEvan’s parents at the moment, but they won’t mind any of you coming over. Soon we’ll have our own place—we’re having plans drawn up at the moment. Actually, Cole, that’s something we were hoping you could help with.”
Cole blinked at me in surprise. “Plans? Yer building yer own place?”
“Aye,” Evan said. “Reid’s got a lot of specific ideas.”
“I have.” I nodded.
Cole’s lips twitched. “Ye know I’m a carpenter, not an architect, right?”
“Yes, but I need you to tell me if my ideas are achievable in theory,” I said. “Before I look like a plonker when telling the architect.”
Cole smiled softly. “That I can do.”
“Wait,” Mac said. “What about yer flat?”
I understood his confusion. As the one I’d met first, he’d helped me settle into that place and knew exactly what it represented.
I braced my spine. “I think I need to tell ye exactly what I was going through over Christmas and New Year’s.”
It was difficult to bare my soul. To be honest and open about everything I’d been through. Some of it I couldn’t tell them, like exactly why I was so afraid of my family, but the rest I could. The fear. The anxiety. The depression. The isolation.
They were quiet while I spoke, but I wasn’t blind to how it was affecting them. Mac’s jaw got tenser with every word, while Bryce sank back in his chair. Cole had gone back to pacing, his fingers twitching at his sides.
Honestly, the only reason I was able to get through it was because of Evan. Not just because of the reassuring looks he kept giving me, or the soothing emotions throughthe bond. But the knowledge that I’d survived. That I’d been able to escape that darkness.
We both had.
“I hate that you didn’t tell us all of this.” Bryce’s voice broke. “We could’ve been there for you. Weshould’vebeen there.”
“No.” I took his hands in mine. “You couldn’t have, because I wouldn’t have let ye. My family are dangerous. I couldn’t risk exposing you to them.”
Mac glanced at Evan. “But you could risk him?”
Fuck, how was I going to explain this?
“Evan and the others here, they’re the same as my family,” I said finally. “They share a similar background and skill set. They can take care of themselves.”
“And we can take care of Reid,” Evan added. “That’s why he came to stay here initially. His family attacked and we were able to save him. After that, he decided it would be safer for him to move in temporarily.”
