Page 37 of Pack Kasen: Part 3
I jog up the stairs, tracking Kat’s scent up them. It’s fresh. She didn’t come back to the house too long ago. But something made her get up and leave.
Regret?
Something her family had said?
The sound of running water grows louder as I approach my closed bedroom door.
I hover at the entrance. Hesitancy is not my usual behavior, but I gave Kat my room.
Do I walk right in or…
No, I have to know.
I need to know she doesn’t regret last night.
Pushing the door open, I walk in and close it behind me as I head to the bathroom.
Only to halt in the doorway.
She’s in the shower, head up, eyes closed. Water streams over her face, washing away tears?
She’s lost in her thoughts because she doesn’t react to me walking toward her.
Only when I push open the glass shower door and step in does her head snap toward me.
She watches me approach, and, to my surprise and relief, doesn’t order me out.
Closing the door, I bridge the distance between us, lifting my hands to cradle her face and lowering my forehead to hers. “Threaten to kill me, punch me in the gut, but please don’t tell me you were in here crying.”
She blinks. “What would you do if I were crying?”
“I don’t know.” It would hurt. That’s all I know.
“You don’t know?” Her eyebrow lifts.
I search her face, and I dip my head, pressing a kiss under each eye. “This. I would do this.”
I feel her hands flat on my lower belly as if she’d been getting ready to push me away.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Aren,” she whispers.
“Do what?”
“Let you in.”
“I won’t hurt you again.” I look deep into her eyes, willing her to believe it.
“I know that here.” She takes my hand and presses it to the side of her head. “But I don’t believe it here.” She moves the hand to her heart, and it guts me to know she thinks that.
“What can I do?”
She shakes her head. “There’s nothing you can do.”
I release a frustrated sigh, resting my forehead against hers as hot water streams over us both. “Gregor says I need to be patient.”
One corner of her mouth lifts in a half-smile. “I like Gregor.”
I growl. “He’s frustrating.”
