A growl down the passage has us pulling apart. I see Tyler stepping into the lounge area with a scowl on his face.
I shift on my feet and Axel grabs my hand gently. “That’s the other brother right?” He asks.
“Yeah,” I mutter, looking back to where he disappeared.
An hour later we’re sitting down by the lake, stuffing our faces with takeout.
“You staying in the pack house?” I mumble, shoving a few chips in my mouth.
“No way. Your mate will skin me in my sleep if I sleep under the same roof as you,” He chuckles, taking a sip of soda then shaking his head. “Nixon said I could stay at his place. I got that chicks number from the diner, told her to pay me a visit later.” He lifts his eye brows suggestively.
“Never gonna find me crashing in his spare bed again,” I say, whilst pretending to gag.
“Who says I’m gonna fuck her in the spare bed? Nixon’s bed is pretty fucking massive, maybe I’ll tell her to bring a couple friends,” he says, looking away as if deep in thought.
“Argh…” I throw a fry at him, “Nixon is gonna kill you.” He picks up the fry and eats it, while chuckling away.
It turns quiet after that, so I lean back enjoying the view of the lake. Axel turns to look at me with a sad expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I heard about what happened to you. About the crazy fuck that took you.” His expression turns solemn.
“It’s over, Axel. I’m home now.” I try to ease his worry.
“No. It’s not over until we find that fucker and make him pay for what he’s done,” he grits out with a growl.
“Couldn’t agree more.” Tyler’s voice makes both of us jump.
He walks right up to us. Axel stands up tall so they’re chest to chest. Tyler is the same height as Axel, but unlike him, Tyler is more lean whereas Axel is pure bulk.
They stare at each other for a while clearly linking to one another. Then Axel nods his head, looks down at me, rests a hand on my head and links to me, “You gonna be okay here alone with him?”
I nod my head, giving him a small smile. “Goodnight, pretty girl,” he says. Just to piss Tyler off, he leans down and kisses my head eliciting a growl from Tyler who stands close by. I watch Axel disappear through the trees then turn around to see Tyler’s stiff jaw and black eyes staring at the same spot I was moments before, his hands fisted at his sides.
I pat his leg and he quickly shakes his head before looking down to me.
I pat the seat next to me. “Sit.”
I notice his mouth twitch in an almost smile, just the mere thought of almost making him give me one of his breath-taking smiles has my stomach doing flips. He sits down close to me, his arms touching mine and his feet over the ledge of the dock just like mine.
He clears his throat after a few moments. “How was your day?” He says, looking down into the water.
“It was good. Yours?” I say, returning the small talk.
“It was okay,” he mutters. Then it’s quiet again and I just can’t take it. Memories resurface and I let out a little laugh.
“You remember that day we all came down to the lake? Most of the pack were here. It was such a beautiful day, everyone was so freaking happy.” I lift my head and find him smiling; he’s thinking about it.
“I remember how close Talon and I were to drowning a few of our pack mates. You had this little bikini on and all your tattoos were on display. None of the guys from around here had ever seen a girl with as much as ink as you have. They weren’t even shy about their interest in you,” he chuckles. I stare at him with a smile on my face, he double takes when he sees me looking at him.
“What?” He says, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
“I’ve missed hearing that. I love the sound of your laugh.” At hearing this he lets out another chuckle.
“I’ll promise to smile and laugh more often then,” he says. This time its me who giggles.
“Only…” He continues looking at me lovingly. “Only if you smile and laugh more often too.”
“Deal,” I say, lifting my hand to shake on it.
He looks down at it and wraps his much larger, warmer hand around mine gently.
“Deal.”
We continue to chat about the attacks on the South Plains pack and he tells me other stories about my father and how often he usually goes to the rescue of the allied packs. We sit and chat like we’d never stopped being friends, like none of the bad shit that has happened has affected our relationship. I know in the back of my mind that we’re avoiding talking about the shit that needs to be resolved, but I’m enjoying his company too much to bring any of it up.