Page 115 of Apex of the Curve

“That’s great!” she cried. “You shocked him so bad he didn’t know what to do!”

I smiled then and blinked as it sank in and I realized, she was right. He’d honestly expected me to just roll over and show my belly, and probably for the first time ever, I’d shown him some teeth.

I started laughing too, and the bikers that passed the shoebox of an office door just looked bemused, eyebrows raised in curiosity, but this was mine and Amber’s secret inside joke. For now, at least. There was too much to do to stop and explain.

It only took an hour and a half to empty the shop of its kilns, the slab roller, its worktables and benches, and all of its industrial shelving. I swept and cleaned as soon as things were moved out of the way and when the last of it had gone, Fen came back to me and hugged me tight.

“I didn’t think it would be like this,” I said, surprised at how I felt. “I thought I would be relieved more than anything, you know?”

“Shh, I know. I got you, babe.”

“It’s okay,” I said, letting him hold me. “I don’t think I’m going to cry.”

He chuckled and took a deep breath letting it out slow and said, “I’m so proud of you.”

“Proud? Of me? Why?”

“You’re getting stronger every day,” he said, and I nodded.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Let’s go home,” he said, and I nodded and put on another brave smile.

“Okay.”

Fenris drove my Prius, and it felt just a little strange being a passenger in my own car. Not because I was riding shotgun, but because I felt strange for not feeling strange about Fenris driving at all.

Everything about being with him was so easy and I was a little sad, I realized, that everything I loved about this new life going forward was going to be at the farm and I would be in my mother’s house… all alone.

It felt crazy to me, but it was what it was in some ways. I just couldn’t bear to ask to stay. I don’t think it was a matter of pride. I don’t know what it was. Fear of rejection maybe? That fear had led me to make some really poor choices lately, I thought to myself, running fingertips over the rough and dirty patches on Fenris’ vest in my lap.

He refused to wear it in a car. I guessed it was some kind of rule about respecting the vest and the patches on it. Something about refusing to cage something that was meant to be free. They had a tendency to call cars cages, too, and I understood that one. Especially after riding with Fenris.

We tried to only go out during good weather. Or, at least, he only took me out during good weather. He rode no matter what the sky was doing. Rain, shine, mist or even hale, he was out in it. Said he wasn’t a fair-weather rider, but I would be lying if I said that didn’t scare me a little. Not that I was worried about him and his riding capabilities. I was more concerned with all the utter fucking brainless assholes on the road.

He reached over without looking and threaded his fingers between mine, raising my hand to his mouth and kissing the back without taking his keen blue eyes off the road. I smiled, my heart swelling with love and commitment in my breast.

A feeling that turned into a bit of ‘wait, what?’ when we pulled down the long drive of the farm behind the U-Haul, several more trucks and bikes bringing up the rear behind us. I got out of my car and stared across the expanse of grass at the new, but still rustic looking shop building that had been erected next to the barn, the sliding barn doors on its front standing open as Derry and Sauley went in and out, working on something.

“What’s this?” I asked, looking over the roof of my car at Fenris.

“Something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” he said with a wink in my direction.

“Yo, Fen! Where you want this stuff?” Maverick called from the back of the U-Haul, unlatching the roll-up door and sending it rocketing to a sky that was lightening. The rain had finally stopped out this way.

“Gimme just a minute, Mav!” Fen called back and all the guys were looking at us, me standing there, mouth hanging open, breath fogging the air, Fen’s cut draped over my arm with reverence as he shut the driver’s side door and came around to me. I shut my car door and stepped back. He took his cut gently from my hands and put it on.

“Come this way,” he said and led me under the built-out roof section of the house, over the back patio.

I trailed along, my heart beating fast and faster against the inside of the cage of my ribs.

“Here, here, and here, are the plugs for your three big kilns. We figured they’d be safer out here than anywhere and the roof’ll keep the wet off.”

He led me down the flagstone walkway that had been put in from the patio leading to the new shed.

“Out here, is your studio. We’re still working on getting it wired for electricity, but I figured your potter’s wheel could go in this corner where it gets the light from both windows. You could have workbenches here, here, or there and the slab roller could go against that back wall. You still got plenty of shelves, and you could set those up wherever else there’s room as soon as we finish getting it drywalled and painted in here.”

I stared up at him open mouthed and he smiled down at me with an edge of shyness I’d never seen in him before. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t shy but nervous. He was nervous and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why…

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