Page 98 of Freeing Souls

“That love you as much, if not more, than they love us,” Ryker cuts her off. “We would visit. We would have trips or invite them wherever we are.”

“Have you thought about where you want to go?” I ask her.

“That’s it? Don’t we need to talk about this more?” She gapes at us.

“There’s nothing else to discuss. If you need to get the fuck out of Jacksonville to heal yourself, find yourself, become who you want to be, we will go,” Cade tells her.

After showering and cleaning up, Harley was quick to pass out when we were sitting downstairs in the main room. Ryker carried her up to her room, where they both have been napping since.

Brielle has been sitting at one of the tables on her laptop for the last hour or so. Since she and the guys got here early this morning, they announced they are moving here and buying aplace of their own. An idea occurred to me earlier, but I have been too anxious to actually go talk to her.

“Are you good?” Cade asks from where he sits on the couch across from me, nursing a beer.

I nod and shoot to my feet. “I’ll be right back,” I tell him and head straight towards her before I lose the confidence I don’t even feel and change direction.

When Bri spots me, she smiles at me as my heart threatens to explode out of my chest, it is pounding so hard. “Hey, Grayson.”

“Hi.” I attempt to clear the lump in my throat.

“Are you alright? You look a little pale.” She tilts her head at me.

“Um, yeah. Can we talk?” I rub the back of my neck awkwardly.

“Sure. Want to go outside?” I nod, and she stands, leading the way outside and taking a seat in the chairs on the patio.

“This is a little personal, and I don’t want to overstep, so just tell me no.” I wince.

“Okay,” she chuckles. “What is it?”

“What are you going to do with your house now that you guys are moving here?” I ask.

“Well, I don’t really know yet. I don’t really want to sell it. I love that home, and it was something I managed to do all on my own,” she muses. “Why?”

“Now that things are finally over, Harley is ready to take her next step, which means we need to leave Jacksonville, at least for now. She hasn’t announced it yet, so please don’t say anything. But I was thinking, if you aren’t selling, maybe you’d want to rent it out? To us? She hasn’t said where she wants to go, but I don’t think she knows where. The beach would be perfect for her to really work on healing and figuring things out.”

Brielle smiles at me and places a hand on my arm. “Take a breath, Grayson. I think that’s a fantastic idea. She loved thehouse when she stayed with us. If it’s something you all want to do, you guys can of course live there. You don’t need to worry about rent money, though.”

“Oh no, we would definitely pay you rent,” I tell her, not wanting her to think we are going to just use her for a free place to live.

She chuckles and squeezes my arm. “Okay, we can work that out later. I won’t say anything, but I am really glad she found you, Ryker, and Cayden. You guys were meant for each other.”

“Thank you,” I say as we both stand, and she gives me a hug before heading back inside.

Deciding to stay outside a bit longer, I take a seat again. I really hope this is the right choice. When she said she wanted to leave but wasn’t sure where she wanted to go, I immediately thought of Virginia.

Then, Harley told us Brielle and the guys are moving here. It feels odd that as soon as they move here, we would leave, but I also understand where Harley is coming from. Jacksonville holds so much trauma for her; healing here would be hard. I don’t find myself hating the idea of getting away. I love it here, love the club, and I will miss everyone terribly, but the idea of getting away with just Cade, Ry, and Harley seems like the best thing for us. It really gives us a chance to grow on our own and form an inseparable bond.

I’d like to hope Rage would be proud of us for doing this. I think he would be the most hesitant, not wanting to let his daughter out of his sight, but also the most onboard because of everything that has happened here.

“You alright?” Cade asks from behind me as he walks over and takes the seat Brielle had used. “You didn’t come back in.”

“Yeah,” I breathe out and glance out at the woods. “I talked to Brielle about her house and what she is planning to do with it.”

“You think that’s where we should go?” he asks.

I glance over at him. “Yes. Brielle said we can live there. She doesn’t want to sell it, so it would work out perfectly.”

“Bear has never been to the beach.” He tilts his head in consideration.

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