Page 79 of Pit

“Why?”

“Because he’s my President and he’s the first person I need to talk to about us.”

“What if he says you can’t stay?”

“We’ll cross that bridge,” I mutter. Axel has other brothers who would jump at the chance to live life on the road, so I don’t think it’ll be a huge problem. But with Axel, you never know what he’s thinking.

We get to the clubhouse an hour later and head straight for the office. Tessa squeezes my hand, and I give her a reassuring smile. I want her to feel comfortable here at the club, but I know it’ll take time.

Axel looks up as we enter and frowns, his eyes falling to our joined hands. He chucks his pen down on the desk and leans back in his chair. “This is the part where you tell me you wanna stick around,” he guesses.

“I’d like to, Pres,” I say firmly.

“You’d better take a seat,” he mutters, and we sit down. “Are you gonna stay at the clubhouse?”

“We haven’t talked about it yet,” I admit. “But eventually, I’d like that.” I risk a glance at Tessa, who is staring at the ground with a frown. “But for now, we’ll stay at the house.”

Axel gives a stiff nod. “Any thoughts on claiming?”

It’s another thing I haven’t discussed with Tessa, and I inwardly kick myself for coming here so unprepared. “It’s early days.”

“So, you want me to pull you from long distance runs while you trial and error this?” he asks, arching a brow.

“It’s not like a normal relationship,” I say, rubbing my thumb over the back of Tessa’s hand. “We have to take this slow to make sure it’s what Tessa wants.” This gets her attention, and she gives me a quizzical glance. I turn back to Axel. “This could be because I took her, or because I was her first.” Tessa slips her hand from mine and folds her arms over her chest, staring back down at the ground. “We need to make sure it’s for real before we talk about claiming.”

Axel gives a nod. “Okay, understood. Go do what you gotta do.”

I grin. “Thanks, Pres.”

“I’ll take you off duty for a week. Come see me again, so we can see where you’re at.”

Tessa pushes to her feet and walks out. I stare after her confused, and Axel smirks. “Welcome to relationships, brother, where you have to learn to read minds and watch what you say at all times.”

I find her just outside, and I smile to myself. “Didn’t get too far?”

She glares at me. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

I shake my head. “Nope. What’s up?”

“You’re doubting me,” she snaps. “I tell you I love you, and you’re doubting that.”

“I’m not,” I say gently, stroking a hand through her hair and trying to get eye contact, which she actively avoids. “We just need to be sure this is for real, Tessa. We haven’t spent any proper time together. We’re going on feelings that developed at a time when you were distressed and scared. We have to get to know one another again.” When she doesn’t reply, I sigh. “Which is why I’d like us to take the dogs and stay back at the farm.”

She finally looks at me. “What?”

“Let’s go back to where it all began.”

“You think going back to the place where you held me captive is a way to test or prove our love?”

I groan. “I’m not trying to get proof, Tessa. I know exactly how I feel about you. But let’s stay in the middle of nowhere, where no one can interrupt us, and learn about each other all over again.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Tessa

I’m not sure how to feel about going to the farm. Under different circumstances, it would be a place I’d love. The farmhouse is cute and homely, and I love that it’s in the middle of nowhere, like a secret hideaway.

We load King and Gigi into the van and head to the house. Chance is sleeping on the kitchen floor, but he perks up the second he sees me. The other dogs rush to him, and he cowers while they sniff him. Eventually, he rolls onto his back, and this seems to please Gigi, who struts off like the queen she is. King sits beside Chance and licks his eyes. “Well, that went better than I expected,” says Pit, holding up a can of dog food. “I hate giving him this crap, but it’s all I had on hand,” he says, opening the can and forking some out onto a plate. “At the farm, I got a whole freezer of meat cuts and chicks.”

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