Page 56 of Wandering Closer

They won’t care what you wear.

Thoren:

Scratch that. Wear a dress and no panties.

Lily:

I can’t do that!

Thoren:

Do it princess, and I’ll reward you.

This week has flown by with both Thoren and I working overtime. It’s been wet and cold out, which was perfect for Thoren’s team to simulate risky training situations. He was out most of Wednesday evening, coming back soaked to the bone and exhausted. His week left him physically tired, while I’m mentally drained. I was a little behind on my book, but with my new cozy office space and Shadow’s company, I wrote another fifteen chapters this week. I am almost done with the first draft now, finally back on schedule. Mostly, I needed a distraction from everything going on around me and writing gave me that escape.

The more I use writing to escape, the easier it is to see this is what drew me to it in the first place. I’ve been hiding inside my shell since I was a child, and this is my one creative outlet. Writing gives me the escape from the confines that I have given myself, allowing me to be myself and express my thoughts and emotions in a way that was still hidden from the world. As a teen, it was the one thing my mom couldn’t criticize me for. She never knew I was writing then, so I could let all the emotions she made me suppress bleed onto the pages. I guess in a way, I have her to thank for this budding career and love for pouring myself into written word.

Andrea has been blowing up my phone with questions about the lawsuit and the book, and I have been terrible at answering. No time like the present to divulge it all to her since I just sent off my newest set of chapters.

As always, she’s polished and working when I video call. “You’ve been avoiding me Lily,” she chides in a kind voice.

“Not avoiding, just busy working. I sent over fifteen chapters today.”

Okay, I might be avoiding, but I haven’t told Michele or Thoren about Tyler’s texts and if someone is going to break me, it’s Andrea. She’s been my publisher since the beginning andwas there through every stage of my relationship with him. She never liked him, and while she was furious about the whole situation, his deceit wasn’t a shock to her; she was just glad I was free of him.

“You did? I can’t wait to dive in. I’m obsessed with your characters. Are you done with the book, then?”

“Not quite. I need the ending and it hasn’t quite come to me yet.” It turns out, happy ever afters are hard to write about after yours gets crushed. With Thoren around though, I think it will come to me. I’ve never written over ten chapters a week before this, and it’s obviously due to him.

“It will come when you’re ready. How’re things with the lawsuit?”

I chew on my bottom lip, debating telling her everything or just skimming over the basics. “They denied mediation, so we are going to trial. Tyler texted me.”

“Shut up! He did not! What did he say?”

“He told me to drop the lawsuit.”

Andrea’s face turns a mottled shade of red as she grinds her teeth. “I fucking hate that guy. Do not let him intimidate you, Lily. He deserves everything he has coming to him and more.” A pensive look crosses her features. “You write these incredible, badass women who take what they want and know their worth. I know that same woman is inside you, she just needs the guidance to see the light of day. Stay the course, Lily, and don’t let him break you down again.”

A silent tear tracks down my cheek that I don’t bother brushing away. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, go be the beautiful badass that I know you are and keep me in the loop. I need to go read your book while picturing River.”

“Get out of here with that. I appreciate you, and I promise I will keep you informed.”

We say our goodbyes in time for me to get ready for the evening with Thoren’s parents. I needed the distraction before hopping into the shower to do my ‘everything’ shower. By the time I am out and drying my hair, Thoren is home and taking my spot in the shower.

I’m a nervous wreck waiting for him to get out so we can go. He asked me to pull out clothes for him, so I’m rifling through his clothing, trying to find a nice outfit. I went with a knee length dress and boots for me and a nice flannel and dark jeans for him. His lumberjack look gets me hot every time.

I’m pulling on my second boot when he steps through the bathroom door, completely nude, drying his hair with the towel. Water droplets trail down his abs to the small smattering of hair at the bottom.

“Lily, baby, stop looking at me like that unless you want to meet my parents with my cum dripping down your thighs.”

He looks down at me with a wicked smirk before discarding the towel and pulling on his boxers. How he gets more mouth watering every day, I will never know. Leaving him to finish getting dressed on his own, I bring Shadow downstairs to put on a fresh bandana. With the three of us ready to go, we load up into Freya. Thoren pulls a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers from the back seat, setting them on my lap when he buckles me in.

“I will tell her they are from you,” he winks at my frustrated sigh.

“I was supposed to get them for her.”

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