Page 61 of Unbreak Me

I’d never seen him blush so hard. His cheeks turned beet red as he quickly submerged himself in the water. "I’ve always been self-conscious about them," he admitted. "All those pregnancies made them bigger. Hard to hide under thin clothes…"

"Why hide something so attractive? You’re perfect," I expressed, swimming alongside him and wrapping my arms around him. "Your body is part of your life, formed by your past, and I accept you exactly as you are."

Day’s eyes were wide open, and then he grabbed me by the back of my head, pressing his lips to mine, opening them eagerly for a moment as we kissed passionately.

Since yesterday, Day seemed more cheerful, more relaxed, even more keen to just chat. He hadn’t smoked a single cigarette all morning, and ate more than usual at breakfast.

We swam for almost half an hour, exchanging subtle smiles the entire time, but Day, who was, of course, considerably thinner than I was, finally suggested that we return to shore, feeling a bit cold.

Onshore, I rubbed his body vigorously with a towel to warm him, and then we sat in the sun for a while, my arms wrapped around his back and his head resting on my shoulder.

It was a new, pleasant feeling, this slowly building closeness between us. There was such peace and a pleasant lack of impatience. Neither of us wanted to rush into anything; we seemed to have this silent agreement.

Later, back at the house, I found him rearranging his nest in his room. This time, he’d added more colors—yellow and orange—and even used one of my sweaters.

Through the partially open door, I watched him for a moment, feeling a spark of excitement as he finished the nest, weaving scarves into it. This time, it had… lower edges. Was that a good sign?

Day caught me watching, and snorted. "Hey!" he teased, playfully pouting his lips.

I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Just admiring the view."

He blushed a little, his hand brushing over my sweater, now part of the nest.

"I… thought about going to your bedroom to start a new one there," he admitted, his voice faltering slightly. "But I couldn’t leave this one messy. I guess I just needed to feel like I was tying up loose ends."

His words left my chest feeling strangely tight. "Thanks for sharing that with me. It means a lot that you trust me enough to talk about your nesting. Take your time—do what feels right for you. And just so you know, my bedroom’s ready whenever you feel like starting there."

"It might be sooner than you think," he said with a small, hesitant smile.

My eyebrows shot up instinctively. "What do you mean?"

Day held my gaze for a moment before softly saying, "I think it’s coming, Jan."

My mind immediately clicked to what he meant. "Your heat?"

It was barely a whisper, "Yes."

There was something raw in his expression as he added, "I’ve only spent one heat in my life with a man. After that, I’ve always been on my own. It’s been… tough."

I stepped closer, lowering my voice. "If you’ll let me, I’ll make sure it will be better this time."

Day swallowed hard, his lips curving into a faint, tentative smile. Then he nodded.

???

That evening, while we were eating dinner, Day glanced at his phone. Suddenly, his expression changed.

"There’s something new about Ferguson," he said, biting his lip nervously as he stared at the screen.

I quickly approached him—he was scrolling through the list of articles from the local news service. One of them read:

"Changes are underway in the management of DarenCo Company; the board announced the formation of a search committee consisting of board members to vote for a new CEO. They have several new candidates. As the company spokesman put it, there are certain reasons for replacing the current CEO, Mark Ferguson, which are currently an internal matter of the company."

The article was short and lacked any sensational tone; apparently, the company was proceeding very cautiously for now. And the journalist who wrote this news didn’t seem to sense any scandal behind it, so the news had a strictly informational tone.

I looked at Day and gently squeezed his hand.

"Another blow for that bastard. I suspect he already got one yesterday when Jared found out the truth, and this is the second one. Now we’re waiting for the third one. For every single time he hurt you, that pervert will have to pay."

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