Page 62 of Peer & Coco

She walked out of the house and to her car. She had no doubt he told the truth when he declared his love for her. But that love was obviously limited.

Driving away, she held on to the steering wheel with both hands. She wouldn't allow herself to cry.

Cars entered her line of vision. She braked at the stop sign and watched for an opening in traffic. Once it was safe, she entered the flow of vehicles.

She refused to look in the rear-view mirror at the empty backseat.

She squeezed the steering wheel. Last night had been a nightmare. When she'd received the call that Peer needed her to drive him home because he'd had too much to drink, she'd assumed it was a happy occasion.

Slag Motorcycle Club liked to drink in celebration. She'd joined them at parties before and knew they were always up for a good time. The men drank a lot and everyone had fun, including her.

She'd assumed the reason for him tipping the bottle was because of the club business he was called away from home on.

But, right from the start, his mumblings about leaving tomorrow set off red-flags for her. Once she got him home, he dozed in bed, frequently waking to tell her Tyr needed a passport or he needed to get his money sent over to the Mother Chapter ahead of time. Or—the idiot—asked her to remind him to take his extra pair of boots.

After a while, she could only listen to him plan his trip with tears rolling down her face. None of his plans included her. Though he never spoke of talking to Kelli, going by his anger toward her, the threats of Tyr's mother coming back in the picture was a real fear to him.

By the time he'd finally fallen asleep for the night, she'd laid in bed with the worst pain in her chest. That pain only worsened that morning.

She stopped across from The Fire Ring, and turned into Roar and Lizzy's driveway beside Roar's Harley. Her heart raced, aching inside her chest. She grabbed her things and walked to the front door before she could change her mind.

Lizzy stepped out, greeting her with her arms wide open. She shook her head. Any form of comfort would cripple her, and she had too much to do, too much to think about, too much to process yet.

"Hanne's sleeping in our bedroom. The bed is still in your old room. I moved all the toys and baby clothes into the closet." Lizzy watched Coco carefully. "Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

"Not yet," she said in a shaky voice. "I need to call the clubhouse and make sure they get Tyr's car seat out of your car. He'll need it in Norway."

"Roar's in the garage. I'll have him walk it over to the clubhouse." Lizzy took the bag out of Coco's hand. "Sit. I'll be right back."

She walked over to the couch and plopped down. The quietness of the house unsettled her. Peer was probably at home packing boxes and all of Tyr's toys and clothes.

Her chest quivered. The pain doubling at the realization she was losing both Peer and Tyr. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move.

Shit. She was having a panic attack.

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