Page 82 of More Than I Can Bear

When he reached over and mussed my hair, that was a step too far. I shoved him out of the way, which just had him cackling, because he’d gotten what he wanted, a reaction.

“Are you right?” I asked, part joking, part serious. “I’m trying to have a moment here.” My focus shifted back to Freya, but I caught the moment when Adam’s smile faded. I paid him no mind though, offering Freya my hand. “I can’t stand to see someone I care about hurting. If you need something, I’m gonna want to give it to you, like…”

I sucked in a breath, knowing this was probably happening too fast, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

“Like your job.”

“What about my job?” she asked.

“It’s not what you want to do with your life.”

“Yeah, but I have to earn money—”

“No, you don’t.” I stepped closer then. “That’s the thing, Freya. I earn bloody good money. More than enough to allow all of us to live in luxury, if that’s what we want, which…” I scanned the lot of them. “I don’t think any of us want. People say money doesn’t buy you happiness, but, shit, does it buy you freedom. Freedom from having to make people coffee or clean up their kids’ messes. Freedom from having to do anything other than the thing you really want to do.”

“You come alive when you work on your art,” River said, stepping closer. “You don’t when you’re at the cafe. You might like the people or your boss, but, if they all went?” Her face seemed to fall then, as if visualising just that. “I don’t think you’d enjoy it at all. Creating is what makes you happy. It’s what you’re made to do.”

“And what about you?” she shot back and we all heard the defensive note in her voice. “You’re an artist. Why don’t you stay home and make all those beautiful drawings? Let Kaine support you while you put a portfolio together.”

“Because that’s not how art works for me,” he said. “For me it’s a way to escape the world and understand it all at the same time. When I draw, I process and shut out all the damn noise, but when I’m done? I toss the drawings usually.”

She winced at that and Adam stepped forward.

“I’ve saved a bunch of them,” he told her. “Pulled them out of the bin or the recycling. They’re too good to be thrown out, but…” He smiled then. “You shouldn’t let whatever’s going on in your head put you off. Footy players at my level, we get a wage, but it’s not exorbitant. The wage cap makes sure of that. I couldn’t afford to take the time off to train full time without my family’s support. It can be a hard thing to do, to accept someone else’s support—”

“But the great artists used to have patrons.” I might have failed art, but I was good at history. I remembered when we covered the Renaissance and the patronage system thriving at the time. “Rich men used to fight over the opportunity of commissioning artists.”

“Well known artists,” she shot back. “Ones that they knew they were either going to get a good return on their investment on or as a show of piety. Pretty sure weird little drawings on sneakers don’t fit that bill.”

“So don’t draw on sneakers.” I didn’t care what she did, just that she was happy but right now I caught a small wince at that, which I didn’t understand, not yet. “Or do. An artist needs to express themselves in the way that makes sense to them.” I nodded to River’s notebook, poking out the pocket of his jacket. “Whichever way makes sense to you, we’ll help.”

“So that’s the way it’s gonna be?” she scoffed. “Art supplies and multiple orgasms until I die.”

We all stepped closer then, because that was the thing about fated mates. They bring a sleuth together in ways that don’t quite make sense until they do. All our differences, all our quibbles were shoved aside right now as we focussed on this.

“If that’s what you want,” I replied, slowly, carefully, letting my eyes run down that damn dress and the beautiful body underneath it. “You just need to decide. So which is it tonight, beautiful? You’ve got an apartment full of art materials to return to…”

Or, that was left unsaid. Or she could let us take her back to the city, not to kiss her cheek at the lift, then leave her in peace for the night. Or she could take our hands and let us in.

Chapter41

Adam

“You’ve got an apartment full of art materials to return to…” my brother said and I wanted that for Freya. I could just imagine her nestled down in amongst all the shit we bought her, going to her happy place and creating, but… We all heard the implied alternative offer in his voice, because Freya’s eyes jerked up to meet his, then ours.

“And if I don’t want that?” she asked, and that’s when I saw some of the fire that had burned in her the night we first met.

She didn’t see it, but I did. Our girl was brave enough, bold enough to do a whole lot of things, including sneak upstairs into my room at the hotel the night of the medal count. No matter what her sexual experience was, she knew what she wanted that night, and right now, I was seeing that same certainty. Freya wasn’t looking at me or the others with wariness or pain. Instead, there was something… possessive about it. It was in the twitch of her fingers, the way her hand lifted slightly, then was pushed back down again, only to be raised again. Her scent bloomed, sweeter than any flower, filling the air until my head started to spin and my heart pounded.

She wanted us, wanted me.

I could’ve damn near cried for the relief of it, never daring to think it could’ve happened again and that’s what shifted me closer.

“What do you want, Freya?” Those could’ve been harsh words but I barely whispered them, treating her like a skittish horse I needed to gentle, although I was the one that was terrified. “You tell me and I’ll make sure you get it.”

And I meant it too. If she just wanted River, I’d haul Kaine away by the collar and if it was my bossy prick brother, then I’d turn River around, go back to the mill and order us a couple of beers as the Ice Man escorted her home. And if it was me…? That idea was so damn tantalising my mouth watered and every muscle locked down, not wanting to do it, to force myself into her space, not after all the shit I’d pulled. Some things need a whole lot of muscle to achieve and some things need razor sharp control and I had both, when I had my eye on the prize. I’d do anything, if it meant winning her back to my side.

“Tell me, Freya—”

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