Page 72 of TBR: Dead But Well Read

That was easy to answer. “Because I love you and your happiness matters more than mine! I’ll always be there to protect you and your circle, even if I’m not one of your claimed.”

“If you love me so much, why would you whisper all those promises and be intimate with me, and then take another woman on a date less than a day later?” Axelle dropped her head into her hands and her shoulders shook with her sobs.

“What?!” I rocked back on my heels as though she’d struck me.

I had forgotten other women even existed the moment I’d laid eyes on my beautiful little ghost. Where had she gotten the idea I was seeing other women?

“I saw you at the cafe across the street from the library. Giving her gifts and hugging her. You were rubbing it in my face!”

An icy hand squeezed my heart, twisting and crushing. Such an innocent thing had cost me the love of my life. I’d never thought about how it looked, and because of my idiocy, I’d been forced to see the distrust and hurt in her face. I doubted I would ever recover from the memory of her putting the chair between us, as though afraid to let me get close.

“Are you talking about his sister?” Evander asked, speaking up for the first time.

“His… sister?” Axelle’s energy dimmed so fast I thought she was fading in front of us.

“Hey! Don’t fade! Take my energy if you need it.” Breaking the promise I’d only just made, I grabbed her hand and pushed my energy into her.

“Stop! I’m not fading.” She yanked her hand away from me, sending another knife through my heart. But then she touched my cheek and asked, “That was your sister?”

“Yes. I called her to get some information about reapers since her husband was close to Philetus. But then she started prying about why I was glowing and I spent the whole meal talking about you. And the gift was for my niece.”

“Oh, Loch!” Axelle cried, throwing her arms around me and burying her face against my skin.

I swept her into my arms, finally feeling like I could breathe again. I knew I should say something, but I couldn’t speak. My eyes burned, and I quickly closed them, not wanting her to see me cry. I’d caused her enough pain and sadness.

My heart was hers and hers only… whether she chose to keep it or not.

I’d done exactly what I said I wouldn’t do. Instead of asking Lochlan, I’d jumped to conclusions and hurt both of us.

The raw pain and despair in his eyes as he poured out his heart to me was something I’d never be able to forget. Even now, he was clinging to me with a desperation that shredded my heart.

“You’re a better man than I deserve,” I cried against his neck.

He’d been willing to stand—and die, if needed—by my side. All the while believing I hated him.

Evander scoffed from behind us. “That’s taking things a bit too far. You two had a misunderstanding and now you can have make-up sex. It’s what couples do.”

POP! POP! POP!One by one, the lightbulbs in the room exploded.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed, Axelle. He’s already seen you naked. Besides, it’s inevitable. And I’m sick of him hogging the shower while he polishes his dick and thinks about you.”

“Evander!” Lochlan shouted.

“What?” Evander asked innocently, then burst into a deep laugh that was positively wicked. “After the years of razzing you’ve put me through, it’s my turn for some fun.”

Lochlan groaned into my hair. “Don’t listen to him.”

Leaning back, I met his eyes, “I’m sorry?—”

“Shhh. No more sadness, boo. Next time, just talk to me when I’ve been an idiot, okay?” He kissed my cheek. “And I’m sorry I didn’t think about how things might look. I’ll try to think things through better in the future, but I can be thick-headed and impulsive, so I’m probably going to mess up again.”

“He definitely will,” Evander agreed, earning him a deadly glare from Loch.

“Book boyfriends are so much easier to figure out,” I mumbled.

“What’s a book boyfriend?” Evander asked.

“The male characters in romance books that girls fall in love with and think about while muffin’ buffin’,” Lochlan answered before I could.

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