Chapter Eleven

Timber's heart felt busted wide open, but there was a sense of relief too. Sasha had validated her feelings. Corey and the other females of the Fastlanders had been offering her comforting reassurances, and were doing the same—validating her feelings. She was being told she wasn't the villain, and there was great healing property in finally, finally feeling like she was understood.

She turned and waited on Wreck, wondering if he'd stayed to say something more to her family. The bar wasn't on fire, so there was that. Gunner was walking toward them, blocking her view of Wreck, and he was rubbing his hand with a flinch of pain etched across his face.

"You okay?" Hallie asked her mate.

"I touched him," Gunner muttered as he passed Timber. "Apparently you're the only one allowed to do that."

A surprised laugh escaped her, and she dashed her hands across her damp cheeks to wipe away the tears there.

Wreck was smiling to himself like he was pleased with the burn on Gunner's hand. Wreck's eyes were glued to the ground as he sauntered toward her. When he looked up, the smile faded and worry consumed his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked low as he pulled her against his chest and hugged her so tight in his warm embrace. He did it easily, without hesitation, like the potential to burn her wasn't a concern, and she liked that. He was trusting himself as he gained control.

God, this felt good. She inhaled his scent—cologne, and a faint hint of that metallic smoke—and melted against him, closing her eyes to the rest of the world.

The pad of his thumb brushed her cheek, and she looked up at him. "I'm okay."

"I shouldn't have asked for us to do that."

"No, no. None of that was on you. I actually feel…" She shook her head, looking for the right word. "Relieved."

"Do you feel seen now?" he asked softly.

She pursed her lips against a smile and nodded. Exactly right. She did feel seen. She wasn't the villain in the story with these people. They had her back when they barely had a reason to do so.

"Crew," she called, and the Fastlanders slowed and turned. She wished she had her phone up to take a picture of this. Gunner's arm was slung around Hallie's shoulders. She had her hand pressed to her still-flat belly. Ace had picked Corey up at some point, and she was thrown over his shoulder, laughing. Silver and Sloane were arm in arm, and their mates, Owen and Captain, were behind them.

And Wreck was beside her, with Sasha walking up to her other side.

It was a beautiful thing to come from that awful outsider-moment, to feeling like being a part of something bigger than herself.

"First round is on me for having to put up with that fuckery. I'm so sorry. Honestly. You barely know me and you got this awful look at my family drama, and it's too much too fast—"

"Captain and Owen fight each other like, every day," Silver called out.

"It's true," Captain and Owen said in unison.

"Gunner doesn't even like being Alpha of this Crew, and he barely likes any of us," Ace said.

Gunner nodded. "He also speaks the truth."

"I was human just last year," Hallie said. "Turned against my will, and then the first thing I did was Turn my cousin. Corey is a shifter because I couldn't control the animal."

Corey shrugged. "We have dozens upon dozens of people camping out in our woods because we are headed for a war we didn't sign up for. Your family drama is a slow Tuesday for us." Corey winked. "We're used to the mud."

She huffed a sigh that tapered into a relieved groan as she slumped forward. "I'm glad my mess can match someone else's mess," she joked.

"Yeah, you fit right in, freak," Captain called. "Veto to you paying for the first drinks. Your only job tonight is to have fun and forget those lame fucks. Your ex especially. He looks like he doesn't know how to use a drill."

"Oh my gosh," she whispered. "How did you know? I had to hang all of our blinds and curtains while he held the ladder."

"Hahaha," Silver belted out. "Of course you did. Let's go, it's starting to rain and I actually brushed my hair tonight."

They started walking, and Sasha looked over at Timber. She grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Your friends seem really nice."

Timber squeezed her hand back and nudged her shoulder against her sister's. "This is Wreck."

"Official introductions," Sasha said, reaching across Timber to offer her hand for a shake.

Wreck frowned at her hand.

"Oh, he can't touch people," Timber explained.

Sasha looked confused, but let her hand drop.

"I'm good, probably," Wreck murmured, and offered his hand.

Sasha shook it, and didn't even flinch back.

"Timber has told me a lot about you," he said.

"Well, she's said nothing about you, other than she had a crush on a guy, but she wouldn't spill any details. So lame. Are you the one who came to visit her at the hospital?"

"That was me."

"Pink roses?"

He let the ground have his smile and said softly, "Also me."

"He's also the one who pulled me from the burning car," Timber said.

"Holy shit," Sasha murmured, slowing. "Thank you."

"Sister!" Sloane called.

Sasha looked at the others, who were already up near the bar, waving her to come with them. "I'm going to go get to know your friends," she said, walking backward. "You two…you're all right."

Timber was practically glowing as she watched her sister join the Fastlanders. The rain was falling in earnest now.

"Do we need to get inside so your hair doesn't get messed up?" he asked. "I don't know about girl-hair. Silver made it sound important."

She slid her hand into his. "Let's just enjoy the cool breeze against our skin for a minute before we join the others."

He slipped his hands to her waist and they were warm, not hot. He swayed her gently right in front of an empty alleyway, and the rest of the world slipped away. She slid her hands up his strong chest and around his neck, swaying with the rhythm he set. Raindrops kissed her cheeks, her forehead…but she didn't care.

Wreck's smile for her was so soft, and she knew it was special. She hadn't seen it for anyone else. She'd only seen walls for the rest of the world, but for her, it was soft smiles and understanding.

There was something so beautiful about a man who could burn the world to the ground, but chose to build up a woman instead.

He picked her up, hugged her, and searched her eyes. She rested her forearms on his shoulders, kicked one of her feet up, and grinned. "You sure make my life interesting."

"Interesting, huh? I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Feels like a good thing."

He lowered her enough to kiss her lips, and she could feel the clouds opening up, pouring rain on them.

The hair on the back of her neck rose, and her body tingled. The wind kicked up and lifted her damp hair, and suddenly she heard a tremendous crash. Startled, she ended the kiss and looked up to see lightning strike the middle of the street, shooting sparks everywhere.

She gasped as the second lightning strike hit the alleyway behind her. But when she moved to scramble out of Wreck's arms, he was grinning, so she froze. He wasn't worried at all.

Another flash of lightning struck the sidewalk behind them, and she watched the sparks dance and skitter across the concrete.

It was stunning, and left her in complete awe as she looked around to see lighting striking the street. It wasn't the powerful, destructive kind of lightning that left cracks in asphalt and damage to buildings. It wasn't touching the buildings at all. It was just thin, glowing strikes of electricity that sent little explosions of sparks bouncing all over the place.

"Are you doing this?" she whispered.

"You're safe," he assured her.

And she trusted him. Wreck wouldn't let her be hurt.

She eased down to the ground and watched as lightning struck in the street again. Same place. Lightning wasn't supposed to be able to strike the same place, right? Sparks danced toward them. The alleyway lit up with another strike, and another. She laughed and turned to watch for where it would strike next. These lightning strikes were for show. These were for her.

Wreck could pull that power from the sky.

He was doing it now, just for her.

She laughed in shock and held his hand tightly, overwhelmed by little sparks dancing all over the street and sidewalk.

The murmur of people dragged her attention as the strikes died down. People were hovering in the doorways of buildings all down the street, but her attention was captured by the bar that her family and Brandon were crowding out of. The smile slipped from her face.

A wall of lightning strikes blasted from the sky and landed between her and her family, obstructing her view. It was punctuated with a huge roar of thunder, and she could hear the screams from that bar. When she looked up at Wreck, he was watching her. "They won't be messing with your head any more. You aren't alone anymore."

"I really like you," she whispered.

"You're scared of the word. Me too."

She knew what word he spoke of. Love. Love was a terrifying word to someone who had been destroyed by it before. It was a terrifying word to someone who hadn't allowed himself to feel it before.

The wind rushed around them, lifting her hair and the hem of her clothes upward.

"You can do so much more than anyone knows, can't you?" she whispered.

His slow smile was answer enough. "Those people don't deserve you," he murmured. "You're caring. You're independent. You give yourself to others. You're open. You tell people when they're messing up, and if they see that as a threat?" He shook his head. "They lost you. You didn't lose them."

She leaned up on her tiptoes and placed her lips by his ear, too cowardly to look him in the eyes when she said it. "I love you. I know it's too soon, but I do. It's how I feel."

His hand went to the back of her neck and he tilted her head back, up at the rain clouds and the lightning that cracked across the sky. "It is returned."

"Don't be a mystery-boy. Say it like it is. Tell me where I stand. Don't make me walk into that bar wondering if I'm alone. Don't let me have questions."

He leaned down, his thumb pushing her chin upward. He kissed the tripping pulse at her throat. "I haven't said it before."

Her eyes went wide. "Never?"

The grim set of his mouth was so serious as he whispered, "Never."

Sirens sounded in the distance, and she knew her family had called the police. Perhaps the fire department, because of the lightning and all of the sparks spraying around them.

Timber couldn't find it in herself to care. Bring on the flashing lights. If this was bad, she was bad, and that was that.

"Say it," she said low.

"You already know."

"Do I?"

He huffed a laugh, and leaned down to press his lips near her ear. "I love you too."

The smile that stretched her face felt so damn good. Tilting her face up toward the rain, she closed her eyes and hugged the back of his neck tightly. He lifted her feet from the ground and spun her in a slow circle, and she reveled in this moment.

Nothing had ever felt better than being loved by a man who would set fire to anything that came after her.

For a woman like her—who had never had a man stick up for her—this was everything.