Page 45 of Heron's Flame

Damn. It made me hungry.

“I-well, not exactly. I’m making cookies.”

Knew it.

“What are the two of you doing here? Together?”

Good fucking question. I glanced at Brax as he cleared his throat.

“I’m not staying. I just came to explain.”

She arched a brow but remained quiet.

“I went to see Heron and asked him to come see you. I think the two of you have unfinished business.”

She seemed flustered. “Brax, I told you. There’s nothing between Heron and me anymore! For God’s sake, he has a woman.”

Hell yeah, I did. A fucking amazing little rebel that I adored.

Brax held up a hand. “I’m not saying there’s anything romantic between the two of you. I believe you. This is about bringing closure to you both about what happened between you. Heron said he had some things to tell you. It’s between you. I’m going to have coffee in town with Rebel and a few of the other Devil’s Murder guys. Take your time. Let me know when you’re done.”

I turned the other way as he kissed her, looking over the house as Brax said his goodbye. Cerys shut the door behind him and pointed to the kitchen.

“Would you like something to drink and some cookies?”

My stomach rumbled in response. I couldn’t help but grin as she led me to the dining table. “You know I never say no to a cookie. I’d love both.”

Once I had warm cookies and a cup of coffee, she sat across from me.

“First, I’ve got to tell you I was shocked when Brax showed up at our clubhouse in Henderson.”

She snorted. “Yeah.”

“He came to tell me he wanted me to speak to you and clear up what happened four years ago. I wasn’t opposed to the idea. I’ve wanted to do it for a while.”

She seemed to think over my words.

“After seeing you at the rally, I thought we’d get a chance while you were in Vegas, but then we didn’t see you again. He told me you left due to a misunderstanding between the two of you. I’m sorry for that.”

She blinked. “Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault.”

“In a way, it is. If I hadn’t left shit the way I did, he wouldn’t have questioned there was still something romantic between us. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten hurt and left.” I shrugged. “He told me he was an asshole to you. The big guy loves you, and I know you love him. Don’t ask me how I just do. Will you pleaselet me explain why I acted the way I did four years ago? It’s not an excuse, but if you hear me out, it might help to learn the explanation.”

She nodded.

I cleared my throat, took a sip of coffee, and forged on. “You know that my dad died not long before you and I broke up. I changed afterward, and you kept asking me to explain and let you help. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate you trying, Cerys. I know I didn’t act like it, but I did.”

“You were hurting, Manu. Err, Heron.”

I didn’t linger on her correction. “I was, but it wasn’t an excuse to hurt you. I want you to know I did love you, and walking away hurt like hell. But I could see that I was making you miserable, and I’d continue to do it and probably make shit worse. I didn’t want to destroy you, Cerys. I was headed down a dark road and wasn’t dragging you with me.”

She swallowed a gulp of coffee, taking in what I said.

“Do you remember when I told you I never felt like I fit in?”

“I do. You said you’d always felt different than your parents, even though they loved you very much.”

“Yeah. Pops told me about the adoption after my fifteenth birthday. Funny enough, I wasn’t shocked. It made sense to me. I never even got pissed until after his death, and it wasn’t because he wasn’t related to me by blood.”

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