It was bloody perfection, and there’s not a single thing I would have done.
He’s opening up to me, things are changing, and I couldn’t be more pleased about it.
I fell asleep knowing that tomorrow would be a better day, and when I woke in the morning to the sounds of birds chirping, and Mykel sleeping beside me, I was right.
I roll, glancing at the big, beautiful man in my bed. He’s so goddamned perfect, and I don’t think he realizes it. Asleep, he looks peaceful, like the pain he carries in his chest isn’t weighing him down. His jaw is slack, his eyes are soft, and his face looks relaxed. I reach over and gently run my fingers over his cheek and lips, and then down his neck to his shoulders. God, he’s well-built; the man has some serious muscles.
“Do you touch everyone while they sleep?” he murmurs, in a husky voice.
I remove my fingers, and then give a little nervous laugh because my god, I had no idea he was awake.
“Was it creepy?” I ask, my voice light.
“Little bit.”
He opens his eyes and looks over at me, and sleepy, he looks even better. I smile down at him, and then push myself up into a sitting position. My head aches a little, and as I recall just how much I drank last night, I shudder.
“How’s the head?” he asks, sitting up and stretching his arms.
“It’s . . . okay. I drank a lot.”
“Figured as much when you jumped me as soon as I walked in.”
“I did not jump you.” I laugh, my cheeks get a little warm.
“You jumped me.”
Cocky bugger. “Well, I’m sure it was worth it.”
“Fuck yeah it was.”
I flush and then rub at my temples. “I’m going to feel this one today.”
“Have a shower, and I’ll make you some breakfast. It’ll help.”
He’s going to make me breakfast.
My heart flutters.
I turn and reach over, grabbing my phone off the nightstand. I unlock it to see twenty-nine missed calls from Dax. I must have had it on silent. Oh god, this can’t be good. This cannot be good at all.
“Oh no,” I murmur.
“What’s wrong?” Mykel asks.
“Dax called me . . . a lot.”
I turn the phone towards him, and when he sees the amount of calls, he tells me to call him back right away because it could be important and something they need to know. I don’t want to, everything inside of me doesn’t want to, but I do. I press his number and then put the phone on speaker so Mykel can hear it.
“Waverly,” Dax answers, his voice tight. “Where the fuck have you been? If I fucking call you, you fucking answer me. Do you understand me?”
Mykel’s fists clench immediately, and I give him a worried expression.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t well and I turned my phone off,” I say, trying to keep the anger and frustration out of my voice, because right now, I want to tell him to go fuck himself.
But I can’t.
So I have to be nice.
Dax exhales. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to go crazy on you. I was worried and . . .”
You were worried I went and told everyone what you did.
“I’m okay. Is everything okay there?”
“No. Peter is coming around tonight, and he’s going to lose his shit when I tell him about Bennett. I need you here. I need something that’s going to stop him from fuckin’ having my head. This shit is messy, and I can’t take a whole lot more of it.”
I glance at Mykel again, and his jaw is scarily tight.
“Are you sure it’s safe for me to go around there?”
“Peter won’t hurt you. Nobody will hurt you when I’m around.”
I swallow and exhale. “I can come over later.”
“Thank you. I have a plan. It’ll work. I just have to do some things today to make sure it’ll be enough to please him. Fuckin’ asshole is never happy.”
A plan.
That can’t be good.
That can’t be good at all.
“What’s the plan?” I ask.
“I can’t discuss it over the phone, but I need you here this afternoon, Waverly. Can you be here?”
“I’ll be there.”
We talk for a few minutes more and then I hang up. Mykel growls. “Does he always fuckin’ talk to you like that?”
“No.”
Dax doesn’t talk to me like that, and the fact that he just did scares me a little because I’m worried he might lose it and do something bad. Up until this point, I’ve felt safe around Dax because of how he felt for me, but he’s unhinged right now, and I’m getting worried about having to be alone with him, and Peter . . . God. No.
“I don’t think you should be going.”
“I don’t think I get much of a choice.”
His face is tight. I have to go because if I don’t, this is all going to go bad very quickly, and we’re so close to the end.
“I’ll talk to Alarick and see what he wants me to do. Maybe he’ll want to move the plan closer . . .”
“They’re not prepared enough; you’ll just have to go out there and do your best not to cause any problems.”
That’s not going to be easy—not right now.
I don’t know what to do.
I honestly don’t.
“I’m afraid,” I admit.
I don’t like to show that I’m scared, considering I was the one who wanted to do this for the club. I don’t feel at ease. I don’t feel safe. I know they’re here to protect me, but when I walk through those doors and into that house, I’ll be all alone, and anything can happen to me there.
Mykel sits up and leans forward, taking my face in his hands and
