Page 18 of Unravelling The Beast

With frustration, I bite the inside of my cheek and glare at him before giving him a harsh nod and turning around.

I can feel his eyes on me as I head towards my car, clearly checking out my ass and bare thighs, and when I open the door, I glance back at him as I enter the driver's seat.

He calmly pushes himself off the doorframe and then walks back inside, closing the door behind him and I start my car before leaving the property.

Returning home, I mulled over everything that happened today in my head, and I'm confident that everything went well regarding Cree's care. I may have been a little rude to Arlo, but I'm only human, and I'm not there for him.

It's late evening when I finally arrive home, and I make myself some food right away. When I finish cooking, I take the dish of pasta to the living room to sit down when my phone on the coffee table receives a text message.

As I take a slow seat on my couch, I gaze down at the lit-up screen and notice that it is from an unknown number, so I pick it up and open it to read the simple message.

"Pack your shit; you move in tomorrow."

A big smile sweeps across my face, and I let out an excited squeal before quickly composing myself and replying back.

"Thank you."

I exhale with relief and feel my tense body relax for the first time today. Wren, you did it. You won over thebeast.

It's the next day, and I'm moving in with Cree and Arlo. I check myself in the mirror as I pull my long, black leather coat over my white turtleneck sweater dress and tie it at my pinched waist. I slip my feet into my knee-high black boots next before I smooth my long, straight hair down with my palm.

I know this will be a completely new and challenging experience for me, and to say I'm not nervous about it would be a complete fucking lie.

I take a deep breath and stroll into my bedroom, where I pull my huge, packed Louis Vuitton suitcase off my bed and swing an extra bag over my shoulder before dragging the heavy suitcase behind me.

When I get to my front door, I take one final look around at my clean, bright white house before opening the door and leaving.

I park as usual at Arlo's house and then exit the car. I walk around my car towards the trunk and struggle to get the big suitcase out as much as I did when I put it in.

It suddenly thuds on the hard floor and bursts at the seams. My clothing and underwear sprawl all over the concrete, and I sigh as I stare down at everything before crouching down and whispering angrily to myself.

“For fuck's sake, Wren. That's what you get for packing way too much shit.”

I start to place it all back inside when I suddenly hear shoes approaching from behind. I don't even need to look; I know it's Arlo. I sense his overbearing presence whenever he's in close proximity to me now, and I'm not sure how.

When he stops, he crouches beside me, and I side-eye him while he starts putting everything back into the suitcase with me.

We work in silence until I notice him holding something up from the corner of my eye. I glance that way and do a second take, realizing he has my tiny, black lace panties on his tattooed finger.

My attention is drawn to his face as he explores them with his eyes, and then he calmly shifts them away from the thin fabric until they are locked on mine.Holy shit.

I feel my cheeks heat up before I reach out to swing them off his finger, but he simply draws them further away while keeping his piercing stare secured on mine.

“Is this the kind of shit you'll be wearing in my fucking house?”

I take a deep breath before raising an eyebrow and responding confidently.

“What's wrong with them? I like them.”

He returns the eyebrow raise before I attempt to grab them again, but he is too quick, so I speak sternly.

“Give me my fucking panties, Arlo.”

He looks at me with such seriousness that I struggle to figure him out, but I decide to stop playing his games.

“Fine, keep them. I have plenty.”

I draw my eyes away from him but I can see him watching me zip up my suitcase from the corner of my eye. When I’m finished, I get to my feet and drag it behind me along the long path to the front door. I take a step back with my head down as he opens the door for us, and when we walk in, I turn to face him.

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