Page 114 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

“I’ll be back soon,” I murmured.

I leaned in to kiss her, but at the last second, I brushed my lips against her cheek. Kirsten might not be ready for me to give her a proper kiss. Might not even want that. There was no way to be sure, and I did not want to push too far, too fast. Nonetheless, this weird, anxious energy between us hurt.

As I left, I swore to myself that I’d do whatever was necessary to break that tension. To get things back to the way they used to be.

Chapter 5

Kirsten

Harley waited a full three seconds after the door closed behind Jace to turn to me. “Spill it,” she said. “What’s really going on here? You and Mr. Alpha Wolf are being weird around each other.”

We hadn’t had time to discuss everything that had gone down prior to my kidnapping. I sank onto a stool by the bar and took a second to compose my thoughts.

Harley took the seat opposite me. “I thought you and this dude were all hot and heavy?”

“We were.” I sighed. “We had a fight.” I rolled my eyes. “More than a fight. We basically broke up.”

Harley’s eyes widened, and she waved at the surroundings. “Um, I don’t know if you know this, but people don’t typically move in together after they break up.”

“Don’t be an asshole. I know. It’s weird.”

I filled her in on everything that had happened. The scene at the auditorium, Eren’s appearance, the way the crowd reacted, Jace not going to bat for me, the whole thing.

“I even gave him a cure for his curse, and he threw the damn thing against the wall,” I finished. “It was not a good time, and I just needed to get away for a while. Honestly, I don’t think I’d have left forever. Too much was happening too fast, and I needed a week, maybe two, to think things over.”

“And getting kidnapped and almost molested by a psycho gave you a change of heart?”

Glaring at her, I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“So you guys are, what? Working it out?”

“I have no clue what we’re doing,” I admitted. “After I escaped Eren, I wanted nothing more than to see Jace. The moment I saw him, I ran right into his arms. And I knew then that I was finally safe. We had a moment in the car on the way home, too, a real connection, but then some of the awkwardness started to seep back in.”

“No shit,” Harley said. “That excuse of a hug before he left was embarrassing as hell to watch. You kind of left the big guy hanging for a second there.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “I’d hoped it wasn’t noticeable.”

“You failed. And if I noticed, he definitely did.”

“Shit.”

“Let’s rewind,” Harley said. “Where’s your head at? Do you actually want a relationship with Jace?”

I almost said, “Of course!” But after reflecting on it a little longer, I realized the real answer was as ambiguous as my feelings.

“I’m not sure.”

Harley nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. You haven’t had the best of luck with guys. I get it.”

That was putting it mildly. My whole life had been one disappointing guy after another, beginning with my own father.

“I’m worried that if I jump back into this, something will go wrong,” I said. “Some of the trust we had is broken. If I did try again and it didn’t work out, I’m not sure how I would handle that. I have to figure out if I can truly trust Jace. But I’m kinda stuck. I don’t want to get close to him again until I trust him, but I need to get close to him to find out if I do trust him.” I snorted. “It all sounds so dumb when I say it out loud.”

“Here’s my thought,” Harley said. “Give him another chance.”

“Really?” My eyebrows shot up. “Like that?” I snapped my fingers. “Go right back to him like nothing happened? That doesn’t sound like the Harley I know.”

Harley grinned and shrugged, nodding toward the door Jace had walked out of a few minutes before. “There’s something about that guy… I don’t know. I have a feeling about him. I’m pretty sure he’s a great guy who’ll take really good care of my friend. I can’t explain it better than that.”

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