Page 37 of Broken-Hearted

He nods. “I get it.”

I wanted to know what it would be like to kiss Nathan Blackshaw. Now I do. I know what it feels like to do a hell of a lot more than that, and it felt good. Like, really good. I want to do those same things again, but that is a complication I don’t need in my life.

So it was an itch. One we both scratched, and that’s that.

“Get some sleep, Clara.” The sheets rustle a little more as Nathan turns to face the wall. “We’ll be leaving first thing.”

“Okay.”

I close my eyes, but I don’t sleep.

There’s a tightness in my belly and a lump in my throat. This is an itch I can’t scratch, and it fucking hurts.

Nathan hasn’t moved for a little while. He’s not snoring and his breathing is even, but I think he’s awake, just like I am, lying in the dark, with no desire to sleep.

We’re on the road early.

I’m back in my jeans, a fresh T-shirt I borrowed from Nathan, and no panties given Nathan ripped mine off me the night before.

I’m trying not to think about it because it wasn’t a big deal when we were both… well, into it.

In the light of a brand new day, after I tossed said ripped panties in the trash, I’m painfully aware that the man sitting in the driver’s seat was responsible for my lack of underwear. I’m also trying not to look at the hands he wraps around the steering wheel because they’re a reminder of what we were doing to each other last night before things turned serious.

Nathan pulls off the highway and into a small-town mall an hour away from the motel we checked out of. There are a couple of boutiques, a grocery store, an arts and crafts store, and a couple of restaurants. He parks up in front of a boutique, confusing me.

“Uh… Nathan?”

“Wait in the car,” he says, cutting the engine. “I’ll be a few minutes.”

“Sure,” I agree, not meeting his eye because things are still awkward between us.

As he gets out, I stay alert. I haven’t forgotten that an alpha is hunting me. Neither has Nathan for him to pause before he slams the door shut. “If there’s trouble, come in the store or blow the horn and I’ll come, okay?”

I meet his eyes now. Yes, it’s still awkward as hell, but he’s trying to protect me when, really, he should be kicking me out of his car after what I said to him. Eye contact is the least he deserves. “Okay, thanks.”

He walks into a boutique just as it opens and approximately twenty minutes later, emerges with a large white paper bag he places in the backseat.

I eye the bag curiously as he gets into the car and starts the engine. “Looks like you did some damage in there.”

“Just needed a few things.” He pulls away from the mall. “We don’t have a lot of options for shopping in Hardin, so this is the last stop with a decent mall.”

“What do you want for breakfast?” he asks.

“Anything.”

“We can hit a Denny’s and grab something to eat on the road.”

So we do.

I have a breakfast burrito with chorizo, eggs, potatoes and bacon. Nathan has two. It’s delicious. Surprisingly, so is thecoffee. I have had exactly one Denny’s coffee before with Martha and you couldn’t have paid me to drink the stuff again. I guess it’s store dependent whether you get a nice smooth coffee or the watery stuff I had before.

Things are still awkward, at least for me, but the closer we get to Hardin, the more Nathan opens up.

We have the radio on low; the sun is rising in the distance and it’s making me think today is going to be a beautiful day. Nathan is chatting about his packmates, cracking jokes every now and again, and almost always with a smile on his face, but he’s hurting.

Correction.Ihurthim.

I look at him and I don’t see the smile on the surface; I see the anguish beneath.

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