Page 16 of Tangled Hearts

I took a deep breath, hating that my mate was hurting, and I wished I could take all her pain away.

6

ORIA

The shower was running as I leaned against the sink trying to think of a way to contact Gray. The hot water was steaming up the mirror as I took my clothes off and stepped into the almost scalding water. My chest ached for Gray, and I was ready to go looking for him myself if Maxton hadn’t followed me out.

My grumpy cat comforted me in ways I desperately needed. He purred against my chest, but it also felt like I had my friend back. I knew I needed to sit down to hash things out with him, but right now, all I wanted was Gray back. Once he was safe, we could talk about whatever we needed.

I scrubbed my body, washed my hair, trying desperately to distract myself from thinking about Gray, but nothing was working. My emotions were too high, and I started to cry. It felt like the weight of the past few weeks had hit me once again and the stress of missing my mate was making everything worse.

“Blondie.” Soren opened the curtain climbing in with me even though he was fully clothed.

I climbed into his lap, holding onto him for dear life. He held me tight, murmured reassurances and rubbed my back. He felt familiar, like his twin, which only made me cry even more. I was worried about the amount of energy it took for me not to let my mind wander. Once I had finally calmed down, nothing but hiccups were left. Soren stood us up. He took off his soggy clothes and washed both of us off in silence with the occasional kiss here and there. Thankfully the water stayed warm until the end and Soren wrapped me up in the fluffiest towel, sitting me on the sink while he dried himself off.

“Don’t give up on us,” Soren said, standing in front of me. “I know life has felt like it won’t get better, but I promise it will.”

He tilted my chin up, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

“It’s always us, Blondie,” he said, against my lips.

I pulled him closer, sealing my lips against his. As much as I wanted it to lead into more, Soren stopped us before we could take it further.

“Come on let's get you dressed. We can watch a movie while we wait for Ryder to come back,” he said.

“Did he leave? Where?” I said, getting off the counter to head into the room to change.

I looked in my bag, grabbed fresh clothes, and dropped my towel to put on my clothes when Soren sighed. Maxton was sitting on the bed watching me, but Soren stepped in between us.

“Oh stop, he’s seen it all,” I said, pulling up my underwear and putting on a dreadful bra. “Plus, I saw him naked the first time we talked.”

My cheeks heated remembering his sculpted body, while I was freaking out that my cat was this hot giant of a man.

“Blondie.” Soren tried to scold me.

“Oh, please,” I said, throwing on more leggings and a large shirt.

I couldn’t help but glance at Maxton who also had pink cheeks, that made him look so adorable. My heart twinged as I looked at him. I hated whatever was happening to us. I hated that he had to suffer because of me, and he was stuck as my pet cat. What I wouldn’t give to remember him because it truly felt like I had known him.

“Oria, where do you think you’re going?” Soren asked, as I put on my shoes and threw up my hair in a messy wet bun.

“Ryder isn't going to leave without me,” I said, while he put on some pants.

“Blondie, he’s gonna be back,” he said, before I hit the stairs. “He’s just making phone calls.”

I glared at him. “You better not be saying that just to get me to stay here because I swear to the goddess, Soren, I will kick you in the nuts.”

Maxton chuckled, the sound gave me butterflies as I remembered hearing him laugh all too often. My body flushed as I remembered him in silver armor looking like a fierce warrior, who looked at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off, but his boisterous laugh made my body tingle even more.

Sol, stop looking at me like that. He won’t like you looking at me like that.

My body didn’t listen, and I ached for Maxton. The memory of his hand on my cheek made me shiver.

“Blondie?”

My memory vanished, leaving me to look at Maxton who looked just as fierce, but he looked different. His hair was braided on the side with a bigger braid giving him the look of a mohawk. He looked very similar to Tay in my memory.

“Taylin,” I whispered, and I saw the subtle differences,

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