“You told me that already, and I don’t need consoling, Orla. I need to know he’s all right. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that?”
I peeked around the trouser display. Locke was still at the desk, staring into space until Rubi caught his attention from the door and passed him a plate of food.
It was a toasted sandwich, a big one, and my stomach growled, the first real hunger I’d felt in days. I watched Locke pick it up and take a big bite, equal parts jealous and relieved. Food was healing, it was life, and it felt so good to see Locke present enough to eat it.
I dragged my gaze back to Logan, losing myself in his earnest stare. “He wasn’t all right, and he might not be for a while yet, but we have him, and we’ll take care of him, I promise.”
It was enough for Logan, for now at least. We talked some more, then it was time to say goodbye, and by then, his tough gaze had softened enough that I had fallen a little bit in love with him too.
“It really was nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m a grumpy bastard, and I’m sorry about that, but I know how it feels to watch the people you love most learn to love each other, and I hope I find that with you and Nash someday.”
Dear Lord, as if I needed another man in my life to swoon me to death. But the truth was, I wanted that too.
I blew Logan a kiss and let him go.
A split second later, a strong arm circled me from behind, Locke’s hard body moulding to my back like a dream come true. “You survived.”
So did you.“Stop.” I swatted him, resisting the urge to pinch myself and check that I was legitimately awake. “You could’ve warned me.”
“About?”
“About your brother and his hostile charm. It’s lethal.”
Locke snorted. “That fucker is not charming.”
“Trust me, he is.”
“Should I be worried about you meeting in person?”
“Only if you don’t want me to make him my new BFF, because we’re totally heading that way.”
Locke spun me around. “I fuckin’ love you.”
He hadn’t said those words since the night he came back and we’d huddled up on the floor of the bunkhouse, wet and cold, clinging to each other until Nash had come home and made everything okay. Except I saw now more clearly than ever that Locke hadn’t been okay, and in the days that followed, we’d missed something huge that had led us to this point.
“I loveyou.” I buried my face in his chest and breathed him in. “And Mother of Mary, you smell so good.”
“Really?” Locke sniffed his arm. “I keep thinking I can still smell blood all over me.”
“I didn’t know if it was mine or theirs.”
I hugged him tighter. “You don’t smell of blood.”
Locke hummed. “I want to smell like you again.”
“Like me?”
“And Nash. I’ve felt so fucked up all week. Like...” Locke searched for the words. “Like it’s been switching so fast I couldn’t catch up, and all I could fuckin’ do was try and stay upright for my kids. I’ve always had this ridiculous tick that if they never saw me broken, everything would be all right, you know? But this time, I feel like a wolf who’s lost his pack.”
I sank my teeth into his pec, a soft bite that made him shudder. “You’d never lose the pack you have here,brother. Blood in, blood out, remember?”
“I remember. But all I know for sure right now is that being with you is the most human I’ve felt since the first night Priest ever took me, and I wouldn’t have got through today without dreaming of this fuckin’ moment.”
“What happened today?”
“I had to go to Willow’s fancy music college and act like a normal dad.”
“Normal?”