Well, hell, that just about rocked my world. But I couldn’t trust it – not yet.
Overwhelmed, I replied quietly, “This is all just so much to take in. I’m still so worried, and things with you and me…they were always so confusing,” I sighed.
“I get it. You’ll see it with time.” He shrugged as though this were a fact not to be disputed. “And during that time, you and Mad are gonna be under my roof.”
“Uh, what?”
“We’re on a flight day after tomorrow. We can have your shit shipped out. Anything you need in the interim, I’ll buy you. We’ve wasted too much time. Mad needs me and whether or not you know it yet, so do you.”
Apparently, we’d moved into full Alpha territory with a capital A embossed in bright red letters.
“I have a job here!” I huffed. “An apartment. Jill!” I shook my head, rising from the couch to glare down at him. “I can’t just abandon my responsibilities and leave.” I pointed an accusing finger at him. “I’m not that same scared girl you knew. I spent my life under my parents’ thumb, and for the past year, I’ve called the shots. I’ve been in charge of my own destiny,” I shot out. “I’m not going to start taking orders.”
“I hear you, baby,” he allowed with a nod, watching as I stood over him with my hands on my hips, trying hard to not let the endearment turn me to mush. “Judging by all that finger pointin’, this is a sore subject,” he noted wryly. “But if your parents weren’t still pulling the strings, you wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Oh, hell, he was right. Dammit!
“The way I see it, the way to be free of them is to live the life you wanted all along and I’ll be damned if that’s not with me.”
“I have to go to bed,” I blurted. I was in no form to go toe-to-toe with him, though I doubted a little sleep would change that much.
He chuckled, his mood lightening. “All right, baby. I’ll help you get packed up in the morning.” He shrugged as though the subject was closed.
I groaned in frustration at his assumption that he’d win this argument, and stomped off to bed.
Chapter 5
“You’re quiet,” Axel observed as we began our descent into Reno. He’d held Maddox for nearly the entire flight, leaving me my space to gaze out the window and hope like hell I was doing the right thing.
The decision to leave Texas hadn’t been as easy as I would have imagined. Though I never loved the place, I’d created a life there, albeit an isolated one, and it had been Maddox’s only home.
Plus I was downright terrified my parents would carry out their threats, despite Axel’s constant reassurances.
Leaving Jill had been the hardest. She was my closest girlfriend and I owed her so much. The guilt was eating at me. I kept thinking about having to say goodbye to her.
“Your life has been on hold,” she said firmly as we’d both wiped our eyes when I’d taken Mad over to say goodbye. “I’ve always seen that in you. It’s time to start living.”
I nodded and squeezed her hard.
“When that man is in the room, your eyes light up like I’ve never seen,” she grinned. “I see good things.” She gave me an assuring wink.
“We’ll see.” I rolled my eyes. The state of Axel and me was still far from clear. “When Tim goes out of town again, will you come visit?” I asked hopefully.
“Sure,” she agreed with the brittle smile I was used to seeing when her husband was mentioned.
I would make sure she kept that agreement, planning on scraping enough money together to fly her and Mason out.
I was so lost in thought, I didn’t realize Axel had been speaking to me.
“Soph?” he said, his tone concerned as he pulled me from my thoughts.
“I’m fine,” I assured him, popping a pacifier in Mad’s mouth so the landing wouldn’t hurt his ears.
I watched the desert from below, the sun and landscape I’d missed so much welcoming me home.
“What a beautiful little boy!” an older woman cooed as we stood waiting to deplane.
“Thank you,” I responded, holding Mad as Axel gathered up our things. It was still so odd to have someone else help with Mad and with life in general. Axel handled everything with my landlord while I’d dealt with giving notice at work. Axel made my sudden departure as easy as he could on me; though no one could have stopped Dwayne’s temper tantrum and subsequent meltdown.
