“Absolutely,” I told him.
A few minutes later we slipped quietly out of the estate together, leaving behind fading music and drunken relatives attempting karaoke near the dance floor.
The beach stretched nearly empty this late at night. Waves rolled steadily onto shore beneath moonlight. Seth kicked off his shoes first, and I followed a second later.
Then we started walking slowly, and close enough that our hands brushed every few steps before finally settling together naturally. Seth threaded his fingers through mine.
My wolf sighed happily. For a while neither of us talked much. It didn’t matter though as the silence didn’t feel awkward.
The tide curled over our feet occasionally while we walked near the shoreline, damp sand cool beneath us.
“You know,” Seth said eventually, eyes still on the water, “I thought tonight would feel worse.”
I looked over at him immediately. “Yeah?”
He shrugged one shoulder slightly.
“For a while after we broke up, I kept imagining this day.” A small laugh escaped him. “Which is probably unhealthy behavior now that I’ve said it out loud.”
“That feels pretty normal actually,” I told him.
“Does it?” Seth asked.
“Yeah.”
Seth glanced down briefly at our joined hands before continuing. “It used to bother me more.”
Something about the quiet honesty in his voice tightened my chest.
“You spend five years building a life with someone,” he said quietly, “and then suddenly everyone talks about it like it was just leading to the real thing.”
The waves crashed softly nearby. I didn’t know what to say to that. Honestly, it made me want to fight somebody. Maybe Darryl.
The idea that Seth had somehow been less important because things ended pissed me off. I tightened my grip on his hand slightly before I could stop myself.If Seth belonged to me….
I didn’t dare continue that train of thought, not yet anyway. Seth looked over at me.
“For a while,” he admitted softly, “I thought maybe I’d done something wrong.”
That did it. Something protective and fierce moved low in my chest so suddenly it almost startled me.
“You didn’t,” I said immediately.
Seth blinked. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.” The words came out rougher than I intended.
How could someone spend five years loving Seth and make him feel like he hadn’t been enough afterward? It made no sense to me. Seth stared at me quietly for a second.
Then his expression softened in a way that nearly wrecked me.
“You’re very sweet when you’re defensive,” he murmured.
“I’m not sweet,” I immediately blurted out.
“You absolutely are,” Seth pointed out. “I’m just glad this chapter of my life is over and done with.”
I snorted softly. Seth smiled. Dang it, maybe it was the moonlight or the ocean or the champagne still lingering in my bloodstream, but suddenly I needed to kiss him again.
