31. Rory

CHAPTER 31

RORY

I hurried down the steps on the side of the building and rounded the corner with a nervous, fidgety feeling about me. I was simultaneously determined to talk to Nic as soon as I could and totally terrified of opening such a vulnerable can of worms.

Walking back to my car, I passed the front door to Smart Choice and heard a familiar laugh echoing within. I took two steps backward and peered through the doorway to see the very person I was on my way to talk to.

“Nic?”

“Oh hey! I thought I might catch ya.” She waved me over. She sat at the bar with three shot glasses in front of her. Two of them were empty. Al filled a glass of water and put it down next to her drinks with a wary look in his eye. “Have some water.”

“What are you doing? And how did you get here so fast?”

“I left right after you did,” she said. “Ordered an Uber.”

“Is everything okay?” I slid into the stool next to her. “It’s a little early to be throwing shots back, don’t you think?”

“I think that after the last couple of days we’ve had, it’s not early enough.” She whirled her finger in the air. “Al, can you get me and Rory another round?” She then brought the third shot glass up to her lips and drank.

“Alright, but this is the last one for now.” Al poured gin into two little glasses and slid them across the bar to us. Nic held hers up in the air, clearly wanting me to toast her. I didn’t go for mine right away, but then I remembered the conversation we were supposed to have and decided a little liquid courage wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I clinked my glass to hers, and we both drank.

“Bleh. Why are you drinking bottom shelf?” I said, grimacing. “I know we’re not exactly rich, but I didn’t think we were struggling this bad.”

She shrugged. “I think it tastes alright. If you hold your breath while you swallow.”

“It tastes like lighter fluid,” I corrected her. “But whatever. A free shot is a free shot.”

“Who said I’m paying?”

“It’s on the house,” Al said before walking away. “As long as you promise you’ll watch her drink that whole glass of water and order her a ride home.”

I nodded. “You got it.”

“You two are acting like a couple of lame dads,” she said with a laugh. “I can take care of myself, you know.”

“We know that. But we care about you, that’s all.” I pushed the water closer to her, and she begrudgingly took a sip. “I’m actually glad I ran into you. We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“About us.”

She frowned. “What about us?”

I spun the shot glass around a few times on the bar, not sure how to begin. I was hoping to have a little more time to prepare what I wanted to say, but fate had other ideas. “I was talking to Daphne just now,” I said. “We were discussing Cornelius’s decision to go back to the compound, and she asked whether or not I thought you would return as well.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I said I didn’t see any reason you would… She argued that you didn’t have much of a reason to stay… She seems to be under the impression that you wouldn’t be very happy staying here now that so much has changed.”

“She said that?”

I nodded. “In so many words.”

“What? Nic scoffed. “Is she trying to get rid of me? I hope you told her that she has nothing to worry about. I’m not a threat to your relationship or anything. She has to know that.”

“No, it wasn’t—” I sighed. “She isn’t jealous of you or anything like that. But she does think that maybe… that there’s a chance you might…” I rubbed my face in frustration. “God, why is this so fucking hard?”

“Oh. I see. She thinks I’m in love with you.” The way Nic said this, as if it was so obvious, made me realize that I truly had been deeply, unforgivably naive this whole time.

“Yeah.”

“I had a feeling she would see it right away,” Nic said. “From another woman’s perspective, I’m sure it was written all over my face. Honestly, I’m shocked Cornelius or Matt never said anything. I’m fairly certain they know the truth as well.”

“Nic—” I shook my head. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

She laughed. “What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t know you felt this way,” I said. “And for anything I might’ve done to lead you on. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to figure out if there were signs. I would hate to think that I’ve just been so dense this whole time. That must’ve been so frustrating for you.”

“It was at times. But none of this is your fault.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth,” she said. “Really. You never led me on, and I went out of my way to make sure that you never found out about my feelings.”

“You know you could’ve told me.”

“No. I couldn’t have.”

“Why not?”

“A million reasons!” she cried out. Then, she gathered herself and continued, “But mostly, I was too scared of doing anything to ruin our friendship. I thought that if I told you, things would become awkward. I’ve always known you didn’t feel the same way, so there was no way in hell I would let you find out.”

“I still wish you would’ve said something sooner… I could’ve at least been more sensitive when it came to talking about the women I dated.”

She laughed. “Yeah, sometimes those conversations were hard for me to get through. But they were still easier than a conversation in which I revealed my true feelings. You might not be able to tell, but right now, it’s taking all my energy to keep sitting here instead of running out the door and never talking to you again.”

I laughed. “I appreciate the effort you’re making.”

“You should.”

“So, I take it this is why you’ve been so angry with me lately? Because of Daphne?”

She rattled her fingernails against one of the shot glasses. “Yes.”

“But I don’t understand—you never showed this much anger when I slept with other women.”

“Yeah, but that’s because I knew it wasn’t serious with any of them,” she said. “I could tell that they were just flings, ways to distract yourself and have some fun. But with Daphne… Right from the start, I knew things were different with her. It took you no time at all to fall in love with that woman, and that’s what really upset me. I know it’s not fair, but that’s how I felt. I tried to hide it, but there was no use. Still, I’m sorry for being so hard on you the last couple of weeks and for leaving you in the dark. That’s not the kind of friend I want to be.”

“Hey, you’re allowed to be upset,” I said. “You’re allowed to feel everything that you’re feeling right now. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I don’t think you have anything to apologize for. Truly.”

She smiled down into her shot glasses. “I appreciate you saying that.”

“And just for the record, I’m determined to do whatever I can to make sure this doesn’t affect our friendship in any way. I care about you so much, Nic, and I can’t imagine my life without you.”

She nodded, then sniffled and turned her face away as she wiped away a few tears. “I know eventually we’ll be able to figure this all out,” she said. “And who knows? Maybe it’ll be like people say—we’ll end up coming out of this rough patch even stronger. But for right now, I think I need some space.”

I drew back. “Some space from me?”

“From you, from this town. As much as I want to be mature about this whole thing, as much as I want to celebrate your new relationship, everything is still a little too raw. I don’t think I could handle seeing you and Daphne together all the time. Not to mention, I really only stayed in Solara Bay this long because of you.”

“Wait… really?”

She laughed. “Yeah, I know it’s pathetic. I wasn’t waiting for you to return my feelings or anything… At least not consciously. But I also didn’t want to be away from you. Now, though—I think I’m finally ready to start looking for my own path in life. And that starts with me leaving Solara Bay.”

I sucked in an audible breath. “Does that mean you’re going back to the compound with Cornelius?”

She took a few seconds, then nodded. “I think so.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Soon. Tomorrow, maybe the day after.”

My chest tightened as I faced the reality that two of my best friends in the world were about to embark on what could very possibly be a deadly journey. “I wish I could go with you.”

Nic smiled. “No, you don’t.”

“I do! In a way…”

“You need to stay here,” she said. “Be with the woman you love. Help her understand these new abilities of hers and protect her. She needs you, and I know you need her.”

“I—I just hope you don’t hate me for staying behind.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” she said in a strained voice. “Because I truly don’t think there’s anything you could do that would make me hate you. Not one damn thing.”

Nic and I ended up sharing another drink and strategizing ways she and Cornelius could safely return to the compound. However, I made her drink two glasses of water before we left and called her a car, just like I promised Al.

It felt good talking to her like this—like nothing major or fundamental had changed between us. It was exactly what I needed. No matter what either of us said about maintaining the friendship, there was a part of me that was still worried that our earlier conversation had done irreparable damage, but by the time we walked out of the bar and said our goodbyes, I knew we would be okay.

“Let me know before you leave,” I said, bringing her in for a hug. “Don’t try to skip town without me knowing, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“And let me know if you guys need any more help getting ready for the big return.”

“Will do.” She hugged me back for a second, then pulled away. “Now go back to Daphne and pray that she doesn’t smell the gin on your breath.”

I smiled and did as Nic said. Upstairs in Daphne’s apartment, I heard the shower running. Not wanting to scare her, I called out softly from the front room. “Hey, Daphne. It’s me.”

“I’ll be right out.”

“Take your time.”

But just as I said this, the water turned off, and the door opened. Daphne stepped out of the bathroom wearing no clothes, her skin dripping wet, and her hair falling in darkened blond ringlets around her cheekbones. She smiled coyly. “That’s okay. I’m done.”

I started to get hard within seconds of looking at her, feeling the fabric of my pants tighten across my crotch. But I tore my eyes from her delicious body and said, “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Aren’t you still sore?”

“A little,” she admitted. “But I know you’re not going to hurt me.”

I was still not looking at her, but I heard the soft pad of her footsteps as she approached me, leaving a wet trail behind her. Once she was close enough that I was staring down at her feet, I could feel the warmth coming off her skin, and it was getting near impossible to fight off the overwhelming desire welling up inside of me.

“I just don’t want to do anything too soon,” I said. “The drugs that were in your system?—”

“Have all been flushed out now,” she said. She reached up and put her hands on my shoulders. “And thanks to you, I feel absolutely amazing. But I want to feel what only you can give me.” She stepped closer, leaning her naked body into mine. Everywhere we touched, she left my clothes wet. “Please, Rory. I want to feel that closeness again.”

Finally, I gave in. Looking her in the eye, I succumbed to the temptation and pulled her in for a slow and gentle kiss. She snaked her arms around my neck, and I carefully lifted her off the ground and brought her to the bed. When I laid her down, I made sure not to hit any of her bruises, and when I climbed on top of her, I was careful to keep my weight off of her. I kissed her softly again, then licked the water from her neck and nipples. She gasped as I slipped my hand between her legs and massaged her with circular movements.

She pulled me back down for a kiss, and I pushed inside her with my fingers. She was warm and wet. Inviting. But this was the first time she and I were having sex in a bed, and without there being any sort of rushed nature to the act. I wanted to take things slow.

I continued with my fingers inside of her until she came, releasing a breathy little moan as she finished. Then, she slowly went about undressing me. Once I was naked, she rolled over on her side, and I came up behind her. She lifted one leg up, wrapping it backward around my waist to give me access to her center. I entered her from the back and grabbed hold of her breast as I began to thrust deeper into her. She gasped and shuddered, but I didn’t speed up my movements. If she was going to have a second orgasm, I wanted us to come together.

She reached down with her hand, sliding it between her legs until she reached my balls. This sent my eyes rolling backward in my head, and I could feel the tension building as I slid my cock in and out of her. I let go of her breast and grabbed her hand, taking it away from me and directing it to her apex. I pressed my fingers down onto hers so that there was even more pressure on that most sensitive part of her body, and she cried out.

“More! Yes!”

She continued to pleasure herself with hard and fast movements, and I took hold of her by the hip bone, which allowed me to start thrusting a little harder.

“Don’t stop,” she begged. “Don’t.”

I drilled into her a few more times, and when I knew she was about to come, I let go of what little control I was holding onto and spilled inside of her. She crested over the edge of her second orgasm at the same time that I finished, and we both laid back, breathing heavily.

“God, that was good,” she said, resting her head back on my chest. I moved the hair away from her cheek and kissed her. She brought her hand up to the side of my face and gently stroked me with the soft pads of her delicate fingers.

“Daphne,” I said, pressing my lips to her fingers as they brushed over my mouth. “I love you.”

Her body stiffened, but only for a moment. Then her muscles relaxed, and her body eased back into my embrace.

“I love you too,” she said in a whisper.

I nuzzled my nose into her neck. “Really?”

She laughed under her breath. “Yes. Really. I actually—I said it to you in the hospital. But you had already walked away and were out of earshot.”

I smiled. “Why didn’t you want to tell me for real?”

“I was afraid.”

“Of what? That I didn’t love you back?”

“Sort of.”

I scoffed. “You’re out of your mind. How could you think that?”

“I just… I was worried.”

“I’m confused. This whole time, I thought that I was totally showing my hand. Are you really going to tell me that you didn’t know I was serious about this?”

“It’s a bit more nuanced than that,” she said.

“Please, do explain.”

“Well… It’s like this—everything about our relationship so far has been very chaotic. We went from fucking in alleyways and locker rooms to telling each other really insane secrets, to you having to save me from being sold on the black market. It’s insane when you think about it, and I guess a part of me was afraid that you didn’t actually find me all that interesting. That once everything had settled down, and there was no more drama or impending doom, that you would realize the feelings you had weren’t real.”

“You don’t understand,” I said, pulling her in a little closer. “I had feelings for you before any of that crazy stuff happened. I felt something the moment I laid eyes on you—long before I knew you were going to throw yourself at me in the alleyway or that you were a werewolf.”

She chuckled. “Are you sure that was something more than just physical attraction?”

“One hundred percent. I know what just attraction feels like. This was way more powerful. As cheesy as this is going to sound, it was love at first sight.”

“That does sound cheesy.”

“Well, you know what? I don’t even care. You make me feel so good that I’ll say all the cheesy things that come to mind.”

“Only if I can make fun of you for it.”

“You, my love, can do whatever you want—” I said. “—besides, break my heart.”

She looked back at me with a little smile. “Okay. You’ve got a deal.”