Page 39 of Heatwaves

“You heard her,” Ty says, eyes dropping to the floor as he tries to hide his emotions. “She wants us gone, and we need to respect her wishes.”

I can tell how much it hurts him to say those words, and I do a quick dive into his emotions. Wincing, I squeeze my eyes shut against the barrage of self-deprecation, utter heartbreak, sorrow, regret, and anguish.

I hope they’re keeping an eye on him because he’s a man on the edge, and if they’re not careful, they’ll lose him, too.

Thinking of what that would do to Lila, I know it’s not only going to be on the three other members of his pod to keep an eye on him. I’ll need to be sure his depression doesn’t drive him to do something none of them will be able to come back from.

There’s a moment of silence as the three other men glance at one another before they move toward the door. It’s Oliver who pauses in the doorway to glance back at Ty. “Are you coming?”

Ty nods, finally lifting his head to look at Lila. “I’m sorry if we’ve made this harder on you—it was never our intent. I will do what I can to keep them away if that’s what you want.”

There are tears in his eyes as he stares at her for another moment before following the others.

Lila doesn’t relax until we hear the door open and shut. She squeezes her eyes shut as she fights back tears she doesn’t want me to see.

Instead of commenting on it, I go back to making breakfast. I’ll let her roll it around in her head before I talk to her about it.

“Breakfast is ready,” I tell her softly, nudging her away from where she’s still leaning against the island. She lets me lead her to the table, sitting down and staring down at the plate of food I place before her. “You need to eat, babe.”

She takes a deep breath, lifting her head to meet my gaze. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“For all of it,” she says, waving her arms around. “The food. My heat. Dealing with the jackasses. Being my friend. I don’t think I thank you enough for putting up with my shit.”

I snort. “You don’t need to thank me for putting up with your shit. That’s what friends do, and while we might not be just friends, we are friends, right?”

She nods. “Of course we are. You’re my best friend.”

I try not to wince at that. Not because I don’t want to be her best friend, I do. I just want to be so much morethan that.

One day.

“Eat,” is all I say, digging into my breakfast and smiling when she does the same.

We remain in a comfortable silence as we eat, and I keep my mouth shut until she finishes her breakfast. “So, are we going to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

I snort. “Don’t even, Lil. They walked back into your life out of the blue. You allowed them to help you through your heat and then kicked them out on their asses. Choose whatever part of that you’d like to start with.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She grabs her plate, heading for the sink.

Picking up my plate, I follow her. “That’s too bad, babe. You need to talk about it. I can tell it’s tearing you up inside.”

“Don’t fucking read my emotions, Wyatt.” She slams the plate into the sink, and I wince when it shatters. “Damn it.”

“Still think you don’t need to talk about it?” I ask, nudging her aside so I can clean out the sink.

Lila sighs, leaning back against the counter. “I said I don’t want to talk about it, and I still don’t.”

“Don’t care.”

A small, frustrated yell sounds from her. “I don’t want them in my life.”

I snort again, turning to look at her. “Liar.”

“If you’re not going to believe me, then you can fuck right off, too.”

---