Page 71 of Scent of Home

Bray heaves a sigh when I stop behind him. We’re in the dark car park, no one is around, but still, I feel like there are eyes on us.

“I’d like this town if they treated you nicely,” I say evenly.

Bray laughs bitterly. “That will never happen.”

“Why? Why are they doing this?”

“Because of my parents. I don’t know, it’s always been like this. My life is offensive.”

“Why are you allowing it?” I snarl, the words whip out of me, across the space, and land a blow.

He flinches.

Silence ticks by as I wait for his answer, and when it comes, it’s said so softly my heart breaks for him.

“Because they are the only family I have ever known. My mother was too drunk to be a mother, and my father got up and left.”

I shove his back. “Damn you, Brayson. Damn you for having the biggest heart I’ve ever seen and for being so damn irresistible. You sneak into my life, worming your way until all I do is look for you, think of you. You are there, beside me, or nothing is right.”

He turns around. “And what about you? You came out of nowhere with no intention of staying. A dream, a fantasy, a woman I could love. I could call mine, and you’re leaving,” he shouts.

We stare at each other, and then I step into his space.

“I don’t know how.”

“What?” Bray whispers.

“I don’t know how I’m going to leave,” I admit hoarsely.

He cups my cheeks, leans in, and pauses just before our lips touch. “I don’t know how I’d let you leave me.”

“Don’t, then,” I breathe out, the words slipping past his lips and into his lungs. It’s a desperate strand of hope I clutch at.

He groans and closes the distance. Our lips meet. It’s not sexy, it’s not a kiss that sets blood boiling. It’s a gentle promise, the softest touches. I can feel his pain, and I’m sure he can feel mine. How lonely we’ve both been is an underlying desperation. This is Bray showing me how much he cares.

And I show him right back.

So what if the town doesn’t love him? I can do it. I could love him so easily.

That word rings in my mind, but it doesn’t cause panic. It settles something inside me like a broken piece slotted back into place.

Chapter twenty

Erin

On the last dayof the River Festival, we arrive bright and early. Last night, Locke and I were so tired, we simply fell asleep. But I woke up with him buried inside me. That room had an air of desperation. He’d fucked me for a long time in a lot of positions, making me feel things I’ve never felt before.

I catch memories of him; me lying on my back, him pushing up into me, while I grab the pillows and hold on, gasping and moaning.

It was a hundred percent the best way to wake up ever. I’ve wondered why Shane, Bray, and Finn are staying so distant, but when I’d asked Locke, he told me that he’d asked them to. Locke had been cautious, but he’d explained the more sexual stuff we’d done together, the faster he felt his heat coming. And he didn’t want to go into heat with the town so full of strangers, during a busy time when his alphas are needed.

I’d been amused but too tired to really think too much about it. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t spot him straight away.

“Erin!”

I lift my head sharply. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Locke is intently staring at the man moving quickly towards us. It’s a dangerous fixation, and he’s already identified the man as a threat before I even saw him.

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