Or there will be a lull and I’ll have to suffer watching and waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. That’d be my luck, my penance for dreading what’s to come.
Of course, I’ve looked around both in the airport and on this plane wondering if I’ll scent her, whoever she is.
A shifter? A witch? A human flight attendant?
I’ve been trying to tell myself thatque serashit – whatever will be is what it’ll be, to just wait for it. But patience probably isn’t one of my strengths and I’m braced for a gut punch. Because each of these girls mated to my council brothers has been in peril, some of them repeatedly, which means I’m probably looking toward more of the same.
Linc is all moved out of the house, set up for now above Roxy’s Bar with plans to build a place on the shores of the lake between Tyson and Mase. My mom and Taylor went over and cleaned it just in case I wind up bringing my mate home with me. My house is probably the cleanest it’s been since me and the guys moved into it when we finished school so if I do bring my mate home with me, at least there’s that.
2
BAILEY BLACKWOOD
My eyes open and I blink away the cobwebs after that dream.That… dream. What was that?
I’m leaning on someone. A human.Oops! I straighten up and mutter, “I’m so sorry” to the older woman in the plane seat beside me as I fix my askew eyeglasses.
“That’s okay, dear,” she chirps happily and adjusts the little yellow baby bootie she’s knitting. “Good you woke up when you did. My arm was falling asleep.”
I repeat my apology as I check my wrist for the time while squeezing my crinky neck. Still four hours left on this flight.
I didn’t sleep for very long, but I had a weirdly vivid and veering towardsexualdream. About Jason!
I need to splash cold water on my currently flaming face.
Dream Jasewas shirtless, jeans undone, and he was hovering over me, asking me why I smell like apple pie. But then he quirked up his left eyebrow and gruffly said, “Did you know apple pie is my favorite, kiddo? And I gotta tell you… I really,reallyneed a bite.”
And then he leaned in and put his nose to my throat, inhaled deep with a primal growling sound, and then…
And then I woke up before it got good.
Goosebumps cover me. And maybe there’s another place where the cold water should be splashed, too!
As much as I’ve carried myJason Creedtorch for most of my two and a half decades on the planet, I’ve never dreamt about him while asleep before this. I have my sexual fantasies about the tall, dirty-blond, inked Adonis when I’m awake and imagining him with a dirty mouth, telling me how much he wants me, explaining in explicit detail what he’s going to do to me.
How many nights have I lain in my bed with the window open, watching the breeze move my gauzy curtains while I imagine he suddenly appears in my window, the moon at his back, lust in his gaze?
Too many.
And no more!
Things weren’t super clear to me about why I decided to do this today, beyond not wanting Jase to face danger, but I’ve thought more about it, and I think this is my closure.
Yep, closure in a way that saves face while also helping out. And I can walk away with my head held high because I’ll have given him tools to help himself in case of an emergency. And I’ll be walking away making it clear that I’m not pining for him.
I excuse myself and the nice lady twists sideways, scrunching up to give me room to get into the aisle and make my way to the restroom.
I didn’t tell a soul at home where I was going, what I was doing, but I did leave a note on the fridge for my parents to tell them I had something important to do for the pack and that I would be back in a few days. I’m going to get these things to Jase, check into a nice hotel, do some sightseeing, spend two more nights at the hotel, then fly home. A mini getaway that will signal a newstart along with some soul-searching about an opportunity that landed in my lap via the text message I got just minutes before I turned my phone to airplane mode.
I closed the library early today, messaging Audrey to ask if she could take care of things the next couple days, to ask Leona to help if she needs to. Audrey helps out part-time and she was already scheduled for tomorrow. I know she’ll take good care of everything while I’m gone. I also know she’ll need Leona’s help because the folks staying in the town hall are devouring books while they’re hunkered down and waiting to move to their new land. And Leona hangs out at the library often when Audrey works anyway, so I’m hoping she won’t mind.
Although the library will be in capable hands, I’m not feeling as good about leaving Mom and Dad right now. Things haven’t been good since Grey’s bio mom did what she did.
I know it’s only been a couple days and while Mom seems fine physically since coming home from the hospital, it’s Dad I’m concerned with.
He’s not himself. Of course not… his former mate hurt Mom, held his son’s mate captive, and meant to do harm. And now she’s dead. She’s dead at Grey’s hands and of course my father would have feelings about all that, especially with how Grey’s bio mom almost killed him as an infant.
My parents are always touching one another, always snuggling on the couch or on the porch swing. My father is a super alpha, so pretty strong and macho, but there’s constant affection and togetherness with them.