Page 85 of The Puck Decoy

“What the hell, why?” I snap, and she smirks, knowing she has got me hook, line and sinker.

“Levi started talking shit to Josh, and then when Daemon tried to cut in to defend him, he turned his wrath on him, so naturally Archer punched him.” So many words, yet one of them feels as if she physically punched me in the gut.

“Josh is here?” I ask in a whisper, and she nods, smiling at me like I am an idiot.

“Hals, he’s been sitting on the porch for hours, says he isn’t leaving until he talks to hiswife.” She exaggerates the word wife with a smile, and if my heart wasn’t hurting so much then maybe I would smile back. “The guys have been guarding the door and not letting him in, but I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”

Fuck. I’m going to have to go and face him.

I lift myself up off the bed as Maddie follows, and I cringe slightly when I pass the mirror on Archer’s wall and see how shitty I look, but I might as well get this over with. Walking down the stairs feels like walking to my death, and when I reach the door, I hear the guys arguing just outside on the porch.

“Sorry man, it’s not my fault your wife wanted to sleep in my bed,” Archer purrs, like the cocky asshole I know and love him to be.

“Gray, I swear to god, if you don’t stop saying shit about her, I am going to fucking kill you, and trust me I won’t be sorry,” Josh replies darkly, and his voice scrapes along my bones like a phantom touch.

“Damn, after I just defended your honor and everything,” Archer tosses back, as I step onto the porch. Josh has his back to me, so he doesn’t see me right away. Nova and Alexander are just to the left of the door, and Archer is on the stairs closer to Daemon, but looking up at Josh.

“Really, you wanna go there, or should we talk about why you really punched him?” Josh snaps back, and I see Archer’s entire face freeze in a panic. There is a secret there, one he is probably not done chasing the truth for yet, so I decide to put him out of his misery.

“Hi,” I all but whisper, but a bomb may as well have detonated for how fast Josh reacts to my voice.

His head snaps around and his entire face softens as he takes me in. “Hals,” he breathes in pure relief, like just seeing me is the cure to everything, and when I look him over I note he looks just as bad as I do.

“Can you guys give us a minute?” I ask no one in particular, my voice a little louder this time, and the remaining guys scramble like their asses are on fire to give us some privacy. “You shouldn’t be here,” I tell him as soon as they are gone, making his face fall. “Maddie told me what happened with your dad.”

My words already have him shaking his head. “Hallie, do you really think I give a fuck about my father, he can rot in hell for all I care.”

I can’t help but smile softly at his outburst, because some things never change. “I meant you should go be there for your mom and grandma, they’re your family.” I move to stand beside him on the porch, and he looks at me like I have lost my damn mind.

“The only member of my family I care about right now is standing right here with me,” he snaps, looking so desperate and sad that it kills me to see it.

“Josh,” I start, but he cuts me off. “No, Hallie, just let me say this, please,” he pleads with a sigh, and I close my mouth and nod. “You’re right I shouldn’t have lied, and I’m sorry I did, but honestly if I didn’t, I never would have realized how much you truly mean to me. You’re my best friend, but you’re also so much more than that.” My heart starts to beat wildly in my chest at his every word, and I have to swallow thickly to keep myself from crying. “I was so fucking blind, Hals I mean, I banned anyone from dating you, I broke that prick’s arm, I lied to make sure you married me, that isn’t something a friend does.” His hand reaches up and presses hard into his chest like he is in pain as he gasps, “You’re so much more than a friend to me, Hals, you make me feel…” he trails off like he can’t quite find the right word.

“What? What do I make you feel?” I plead, both desperate to know the answer, and not sure I can survive it.

When his eyes collide with mine again, they are so intense that I feel like his stare strips me bare. “Weak, baby, you make me feel weak.” He takes a step towards me, closing the distance between us, and when he touches me, I don’t shy away from it. “I look at you and I know I don’t have to be strong all the time, like the power I have learnt to demand and crave just to get by under my father’s bullshit is irrelevant, because with you by my side, I feel invincible.”

The tears are falling freely down my cheeks now, and he cups my face with his hand and swipes them away. “You know I still remember the first time I saw you, you stormed into the middle of my game with a big smile and a whole lot of attitude. Your hair was in pigtails, and you had on that ridiculous, yellow fluffy coat that you insisted on wearing every day that winter, and youlooked just like sunshine,” he smiles, and now my heart aches for a whole different reason.

“You remember that?” I ask in disbelief, and he nods, pressing his forehead down to meet mine.

“When it comes to you, I remember everything, and it took you walking away from me last night to realize why.” I can feel his breath on my lips, the warmth of him so alluring after just hours apart.

“Why?” I breathe, the one word almost a struggle to get out, as my heart feels ready to explode.

“Because you’re my everything, baby. You always have been, and I want to be yours.”

Fuck. His words are ripping me apart from the inside out, and I can’t help but shake my head in his hands. “But you told me you weren’t capable of falling in love,” I whisper, and the smile on his face is my utter downfall.

“Then I guess I need to apologize for breaking all of your rules, Tink, because I am so unbelievably in love with you,” he laughs, as if his admission didn’t just set my entire body alight. “Are you in love with me?” he asks with a smile, as if he already knows the answer, and I can’t help but smile back.

“Since I was nine years old,” I admit to him freely for the first time, and it’s like a weight has been lifted off my chest.

“Then kiss me, baby, because I can’t take another second of your lips not being on mine.” His mouth slams to mine before I can even respond, the kiss robbing me of my answer, and my breath.

He tastes of whiskey and coffee, but for the first time ever he also tastes like mine, and all I can do is kiss him back.

When he pulls back he looks at me with nothing but passion as he says, “I love you, Hallie Bear.” Five words and my heart ceases to exist completely.

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