Page 5 of Timeless

“No.” I tried to close the front door. Looks like we were moving and I was putting my back-up plan into motion.Run.

“Really?” Troy caught the door, keeping it open.

“Come on, we’ve ridden for a full day. It’s wet. Cold. Just let us in.” Adam did his best to reason with me.

“There’s a hotel down the road.” I tried to close the door again but Troy was stronger than me.

“Let us in, Amber, or we will wake up your whole neighborhood,” Cole threatened from behind Troy.

“Fine.” I let the door swing open, unable to close it against Troy’s force.

They walked in like they owned the place.

“So, how are you?” Tyler said rather loudly and closed the front door.

“Will you be quiet!” I whisper-yelled at them.

“Why, you got a husband asleep upstairs, Amber?” Cole grunted.

Adam grabbed my hand, looking at my bare ring finger. “Nope, she isn’t married.”

“Maybe I don’t sleep with rings on! Why are you all here?” I demanded, keeping my voice down. “You can’t stay!” I waved a hand at them to silence them before they spoke. “And keep your voices down.”

“You made one slip up in six years. You should be impressed with yourself,” Adam said, smiling at me. “God, it’s good to see you.”

I frowned. “Yeah, you, too, I guess.” But the reality of the situation hit me quickly. “But you all have to leave. And you can’t tell—”

“Jax where you are?” Cole cut me off, guessing the rest of my sentence.

“Why did you run from us?” Troy barked. “Six years, Amber!”

“Don’t yell!”

They all grunted.

“You ran from us and hid from us for six years. Forgive us if we are a bit short with you,” Cole snipped at me. “We don’t care who we wake up. We want answers. Why the hell did you cut us off!”

“I had to. I had to put him first.” The reality of this situation was scaring me more by the second. God, I had hoped this day would never come.

“You love Tae so much you had to cut us out of your life? He had to come first?” Tyler shook his head. “We would have supported you. We wouldn’t have pushed you away. We understood what Jax did.”

“We wouldn’t hold it against you for going back to Tae,” Adam added with a softness in his voice. A softness he never showed anyone else.

“But did you have to cut us out!” Cole barked, hurt so clear in his voice. Pain I had put there.

“I wasn’t putting Tae first! God, I would never put him in front of you guys!” Didn’t they understand it wasn’t Tae? It was Jack. But I couldn’t tell them that. I couldn’t tell them they had a nephew. If they found out about Jack, they’d tell Jax. I couldn’t face Jax.

“Mom?”

Please, God, no.

I clenched my eyes shut, not wanting to believe my luck was that bad.

“Mom, is Tinks out again?” Jack’s voice was sleepy.

I turned in time to see him coming down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and holding his teddy bear, Chester. Chester had been a present from Tae, who was the only one who visited me when Jack was born. Because he was the only one who knew about Jack.

Jack took his hands from his eyes and frowned. “Mom, there is men behind you.” He whispered it at me, like I didn’t know there were four huge men right behind me.

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