Page 32 of Three to Fall

I expected Hawk and Hayden to ignore it completely, but if I could get a couple of hours’ head start, then I’d be inside Ethereal Eden’s gates before they could intervene.

But if today was going to be my last day in Saint View, while Hayley Jade was at school, I wanted to be at the hospital. I owed Willa a thank you, and there was nowhere else I was more needed than with the underprivileged patients the clinic served. I kissed Hawk’s cheek, knowing he’d spend the entire shift hovering over me, making sure he was never more than a few feet away, but I was okay with that. “I’ll get my purse and meet you in the van.”

Hawk paused and then shook his head. “Wait. I got you a present.”

I paused halfway to my bedroom and glanced back at him. “What do you mean? I’m not the one with a birthday coming up in a few days.”

“I know. But I got you a gift anyway. I was going to give it to you tomorrow, before the party, but I changed my mind. I don’t want you leaving the house without it.”

I frowned, following him into his room and leaning on the doorjamb while he plucked a package clumsily wrapped in brown paper from the top of his closet.

It was soft, but heavier than I expected. I shook it as a joke.

He grinned lazily at me, nodding. “Go on. Open it.”

I perched on the edge of his bed and ripped the paper.

The smell hit me before my eyes registered what it was. A familiar scent now, after burying my face in his jacket on more than one occasion.

A gasp slipped out of my mouth as I pulled the jacket out and stared at it. “What?…Is this…”

“Your old lady jacket? Yeah.”

I stared at him and then down at the jacket that I’d only seen on a couple of other women. Bliss and Rebel. War’s mom, Fancy. Queenie. The Slayers’ emblem covered the entire back of the jacket. The skeleton figure holding a scythe a demonic and intimidating figure, but one I’d come to associate with safety and kindness and the love of the people who wore it with pride.

On the front, where Hawk’s jacket had patches that showed his title of vice president, this jacket had a patch that read “Old Lady.”

I ran my fingers over it. To the outside world, it wasn’t exactly a complimentary term, but in here, it was the ultimate sign of respect. It was a commitment.

It was as good as a marriage proposal from whichever man gave it to you.

“It’s amazing,” I whispered. It truly was. It was so intricately made, the stitching neat and precise. The design complicated and beautiful, though I wasn’t sure others would see it the way I did. “I don’t know what to say.”

Hawk plucked the jacket from my fingers and moved in behind me, holding it up for me. His head dipped to my ear, and he kissed me just below it. “Say you’ll wear it. Say you’ll be my old lady, Kara.”

My eyes filled with tears. A “yes” sat hot on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to blurt it out. Shout it from the rooftops. Tell everyone how much I loved him and wear his jacket with pride, everyone knowing I was his.

My reckless heart had me slipping my arms through the sleeves before my brain caught up and shouted I couldn’t do this.

I froze with the jacket half on, but he didn’t notice, he’d already twisted away to rifle through his drawers. When he turned back around, he held two small patches, identical strips to his VP patch but blank.

I peered at them. “What are those?”

He flipped them over, revealing the writing on the back.

One read Little Mouse. The other had Hayley Jade’s name.

My heart swelled so much I was sure it was going to suffocate me.

“I had them made when I got your jacket done. They go here, on my sleeve, so you’re always with me.”

The lump in my throat was enormous. I couldn’t even speak.

All I could do as a tear slipped silently down my face was let him pull the jacket up on my shoulders and zip it up.

It fit perfectly and was by far the most beautiful thing I’d ever owned.

His gaze drank me in, molten eyes tracking every curve of my body now encased in leather. He groaned. “If we didn’t have somewhere we need to be, I’d have you naked apart from that jacket and riding my tongue until your legs don’t work.”

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